Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy was tired to say the least. In the last few months, he has done two quests in the name of getting college letters of recommendations. Other demigods were allowed to use past quests to encourage submissions. Other demigods did not struggle, especially not members of the seven. But, he was a child of Poseidon and how dare that age old oath be broken by a god and not taken out on the child.

Annabeth had been helping him with the quests as she could, but even she was getting fed up with the lunacy. Hell his letters were probably ridiculous as shit too, because who the hell expected Percy Jackson to have this set of fucking letters.

He collapsed at the hearth at Camp Halfblood with a huff and a grunt.

“Nephew,” Hestia called from her place at the fire.

He plastered a smile on his face to his favorite aunt. “Hello, auntie.”

Hestia stared at him for a moment. “You might as well tell me what troubles you, Perseus. There’s no need to pretend at my fire, you wouldn’t succeed in lying to me, nor keeping what ails you secret.”

“It’s just…” Percy deflated where he sat. “I’ve done amazing things.”

“Yes, you have. No one can deny you the title of hero. Many claim you as the savior of Olympus.”

Percy nodded. “And yet, my accomplishments aren’t enough to earn a break before college. I have to do quests and get letters. Just me, special little me.”

“I am sure that young Nico will go through sometime similar if he ever wishes to go to the university.”

“That makes it worse.”

Hestia nodded to him. “I know, but it seemed relevant to point out that it isn’t just you effected by the oath.”

“He’s not effected the same way though. Uncle H never broke the oath himself. The lady of the river doesn’t call upon him to pay the same price as my father or other uncle.”

“Not yet. I do not believe he will last a thousand years of this and the oath does stretch forever more until all three of them have broken it and suffered the consequences.”

Percy snorted. He imagined that Uncle H would make them wait quite a long time before they were released from the bounds of that oath. He took his word very seriously and this oath was nothing if not a problem.

“How many of your letters do you have?”

“I have two of the three.”

“I may have a quest for you, if you’re interested in it.”

Percy’s attention snapped to her. This was the first time that one of the thirteen had offered him anything of the sort. He half expected to hear the rumble in the sky that suggested that Zeus was displeased by this course of action. The sky was silent. “I would be interested, my lady.”

Hestia laughed gently in the breeze. “I had a feeling you would be. I don’t know if you recall but a part of the hearth is family.”

“I know, auntie. It’s why I always refer to you by the familiar title when I’m speaking to you casually.” He winked at her. “I figured that enough people bow to you that you might prefer someone actually speaking to your domains instead.”

“I do.” She held a hand out to the fire and let the flames dance. “My family has been fragmented for too long now. Eventually, like Pan, I will fade like this. I almost did when we came close to losing Olympus.”

“What can I do?” Percy was surprised to find himself earnest in his plea. He wouldn’t take this quest for just the college letter. He did not want his favorite aunt to be stuck and fading. He barely stood watching Pan fade, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to watch the hearth go dead and know that she was truly gone forever.

“That’s where the quest comes in. The family is splintered and fragmented and at this point there are so many entangled webs of who is to blame and for what are they blamed for that nothing short of a miracle would untangle us.”

“How do I play into that?”

“We need therapy. We need to sit down in our chambers in Olympus and we need to talk to each other. A few outside the thirteen need to be there. Your father’s wife, their oldest son, your camp director’s wife, your Uncle H’s wife to name a few. Or rather I believe that’s all we’d need in addition to the thirteen.”

Percy nodded along. He wasn’t quite sure why these specific extra gods and goddesses were requested, but he could hazard a guess that it had to deal with one of the major issues that Hestia believed the family needed to talk through. “Are you asking me to rule Atlantis while this is happening, since you’d be summoning the king, the queen, and the crown prince?”

“No, little sea child. One of your sisters can rule quite nicely. Your father has trained most of them well for the burden just in case. No, I quite need you to run the therapy session.”

“Auntie!” His shout would have been heard from all the camp if he had not been sitting in her barrier at the hearth. Him, a demigod child, partially hated by many on the council, and he was the one that was supposed to somehow lead the sessions. No, absolutely not. Nothing good could come from that idea. Nothing good could ever come from this.

“I can’t mediate therapy with the family,” Hestia snapped. Her normal composure faltering to show the fatigue around her eyes. “Even at my best, I couldn’t do that, because despite my brothers and sisters constantly taking my love for granted, I also have feelings and opinions about their stupid actions and the pain they’ve caused me. Do you think any one of them has ever looked over at me to see that I am fading and done anything? Do you think that they ever would?”

“Why me?”

“Because you are in need of a quest,” she said softly. “And because no matter how much more divine than you we are, you have never hesitated to tell us the truth that we needed to hear. Even when it put you in danger.”

“But I don’t want to be in danger anymore. Haven’t I done enough? Have I not saved Olympus enough times? Led enough armies? Do I really need to potentially have over 13 gods willing to smite me?”

“I could guarantee that wouldn’t happen. I could ensure that none of them could or would smite you during this session. I could ensure that they were not allowed to retaliate.”

Percy rubbed at his face. There were pros and cons to this, and he needed to list them before he said another word. This wasn’t even a quest that Annabeth could help with because she would never be as rude to the gods as they’d need in therapy. Urgh.

Cons: he would have to listen to the gods bicker, he would have to be neutral in his understanding towards all of the gods motivations, including his Uncle Z who has a tendency to be unreasonable, he would have to willingly put up with quite a bit of nonsense and yelling and potential divine blindings.

Pros: he would keep Aunt H alive, he would get his third college letter, he would possibly reconstruct the family in a way that wouldn’t be broken again, he would be able to understand where most of the adults were coming from, he would gain a better understanding of the pantheon in general, and perhaps most importantly, he might be able to find a loophole to the prophecy hijinks by making all of the family care about him.

The pros clearly outweighed the cons by a wide margin. The only issue was that he still didn’t want to do it. No more quests wasn’t an unreasonable desire at this point in his life. He sucked in a breath. “If I agree to do this, what would I be doing?”

"You would be leading the therapy session. You would say what topics were being discussed, when they are being discussed, and you would keep everyone from being entirely unhelpful.”

Hestia paused. “I would give you the ability to spray water at any of them from the rivers in Olympus if they talk out of turn when they aren’t supposed to. And I suppose I need something greater if any of them decide to get physical with each other, which knowing them, they will do inevitably.”

“Get me a crossbow. I won’t shoot at any major body parts, but if they use violence instead of words during therapy, they’re getting shot. It’ll be up to the numerous healers there if they get healed and when they get healed. They won’t be so bad that they have to reform and they can count their lucky stars that they get even that,” Percy muttered.

Hestia beamed at him. “Yes, that would work.”

Shit, he had already told her that he would. That’s why her face was lit up. She knew that if he was thinking about what he’d need that he was on board. He shouldn’t have let her know. He shouldn’t have because now she was going to know and that was going to be worse for him. He groaned.

“There’s a list of topics that I believe have to be covered to have a hope and a prayer of this working on the family enough that I’ll be okay in the end.”

Percy nodded this time. “Fine. Get me the list.” He tapped his foot. “I will have the right to add on more as needed because there’s a chance things you didn’t think of will come up during the therapy and I reserve the right to say that’s big enough for it’s own segment.”

“That seems fair.”

“Each segment will be followed with a minimum four hour break so that I can still eat and sleep like the good little mortal demigod that I am.”

“Agreed.”

Percy sighed. “You will ensure that the amount of time that I am gone for this will not effect anything majorly in my life by means of doing this.”

“Of course.”

“And you will write me the best letter of recommendation ever because no one on this Earth should ever have to do family therapy with this family because it is likely to end in all of us being extremely pissed off and unhappy.”

Hestia frowned. “Not the very end, I would hope.”

Percy cast a glance towards her. “Auntie, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. I really, really do. And I’m going to do my best to get everyone to the same realm of understanding, but humans at the very least call it quits after a certain point. They go no contact and admit that staying around each other is toxic and harmful.”

“You’re afraid our family has already gotten to that point.”

“Auntie, we have gotten to that point. They’re actively trying to hurt each other worse than the hurt they’ve suffered at this point, and they’re using children to do it.” Percy rubbed at his arms. “My hope for this therapy session is that all of you can see the harm you’ve done to each other and come to terms with it and apologize for the harm you’ve done, no matter your reasoning, because at this point, none of the rest matters.”

Hestia smiled at him. She leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “This is why I wanted you, Perseus Jackson.”

His full name, said by her, tugged at his gut. He ignored the sensation. It had gotten more pronounced lately, and he didn’t want to dwell on it. He wanted his college application to go through and a nice normal life with Annabeth. Everything else was nothing to him.

Hestia handed him over a scroll. “I’d prefer if you looked this over in your cabin and not with me. Also, please prepare yourself to be escorted to Olympus by me in two days time. I will have gathered all of the family by that point.”

Percy bowed to her as he stood from the hearth. “Until you come and get me, auntie.”

He jogged back to his cabin. He was slightly apprehensive to look at the list, but he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep or peace until he knew what was going to be on the list. He had to know. He just had to understand what this was going to be. He opened the scroll and written in ancient greek where he could easily understand and read were the topics that Hestia believed needed to be brought up. And she was not pulling her punches based on the length that unrolled from that little scroll.

Zeus and Hera’s infidelity

Aphrodite and Hephaestus infidelity

Zeus’ murder of previous wife

Zeus’ punishments to the kids: Apollo and Dionysus

Hera’s punishment to the kids: Hephaestus

Hades and Demeter’s fight over Persephone

Zeus’ actions towards you and Poseidon during the lightning bolt fiasco

Hades’ actions towards Thalia and Zeus

Hades’ curse on the oracle of Delphi

Zeus’ restrictions on interference

The oath and the subsequent breaking of said oath

Athena’s murder of Triton’s daughter

Poseidon’s response to his monstrous children and subsequent wrathful waters

Percy had to take several minutes just thinking over that list and how the hell he would even manage to bring them up without getting smote. Before he recalled that Hestia promised him no harm, which honestly a solid goal for a quest. At least this time, he never had to fear for his life. He might suffer in several new and ingenious ways, but at least this will be perhaps the least danger he’s ever been in during a quest.

He fished into his pocket and added a few of his own additions to things that absolutely had to be brought up if they were ever going to get through everything that had gone wrong in this stupid family.

Athena’s constant sending of her children to die

Ares stealing the lightning bolt

Two days was not a lot of time, but tomorrow he’d do his best to reach out to his mother and Annabeth to let them know that he was going on a quest and that he’d be home as soon as he could.

Chapter Text

The conversations went well enough in Percy’s mind. His mother was thrilled that this quest had a low chance of ending with him not coming home to her. She had admitted that she didn’t love the fact that he was going to be surrounded by that many gods because she remembered the warnings that Poseidon had given her about the consequences of being in the presence of contained divinity for too long especially large doses of it. However, Percy had pointed out that he was a bit different than her since he did have some dose of divinity in him. That had soothed her greatly. He had let Estelle babble on the other end of the line since it would be quite a while before he would be able to see her again. And Paul had given him a hearty goodbye and a message that he hoped that this would help him get into college. All in all, a rather good send off for a quest.

His conversation with Annabeth had not gone quite that well. She was unhappy by his decision to do this quest alone. She was worried about his impudence resulting in the gods finding a way to circumvent Hestia’s rules that she would place them under. To be honest, the concern kind of glossed right over his head.

If Aunt Hestia was going to be unable to contain them in her dream family therapy session that they all very clearly needed, then there was no hope for any of them, and Percy would rather die trying than watch the pantheon continue to slowly fracture, splint and injure others in its wake. He also supposed that was a pessimistic attitude born from fighting one too many wars for them with very little good on the other side.

Annabeth had tried to get him to go the hearth to see whether he could bring her with him, but Percy had to be the one to shoot that idea down. He pointed out that a therapist couldn’t be worried about offending people. They needed to be harsh and cruel at times to get this to work out. Because they all had problems, and they all had failed to deal with them.

She told him to come back alive, because that’s what they did. They had gone on quests without each other before, and they would likely have to go on quests without each other again, so the rules had become, come back to me alive. What comes after that? Well, they’d have to work to figure it out.

Percy was sought out by Dionysius sometime before Aunt Hestia had come for him to gather for Olympus. “Hestia told me about her plan already,” he announced.

Percy gave him a nod to say that he heard. He didn’t see much of a purpose in rehashing what they both already knew but perhaps his cousin needed to say something.

“Mental health isn’t quite my domain. Madness is, and the two are intwined, so I know something of the matter. If you find yourself stumbling and unsure of how to handle the emotions being thrown at you, you can turn to me. I’ll try where I can to help you. I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be as unbiased as you were chosen to be, but I will be trying my best.”

Percy smiled at him. “It’s alright, Mr. D. I think I have a game plan.”

“Think it’ll work?”

Percy glanced towards the sky then back at him. “Are you willing to let it?”

Dionysus threw back his head as he laughed. “That, kid, was a good one. I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

“Who do think will be the biggest obstacle?”

“Hades.” The answer came quick and without much hesitation. “He has so many reasons to be angry, and rather than ever letting his anger come out in the ways that he has tried to express it, we fight him.”

Percy shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“What would you know, brat? It’s not like you’ve spent much time with us gods.”

“I’ve spent more than most demigods,” he pointed out. But he does take the question seriously. “He still loves his family. He didn’t have to let me beat him at the mouth of hell to come fight his father. He didn’t have to allow Nico control of the armies. He was angry enough not to show up on his own, but he didn’t come even close to denying us all together.”

“So who do you think will be the biggest problem?”

Percy shot him a glance. “You or maybe Apollo, but I’m betting on you, rather than him if only because Artemis will help ground him.”

“Careful of names, boy.”

Percy shook his head. “I’ll be playing therapist, I should get comfortable saying them because I will have to over the times that we’re conversing.”

Dionysus reared back. “Fuck. Hadn’t thought about that one.” As he stepped away, he hesitated for a moment. “There have been several times while I’ve been here, that I’ve come close to truly praying for my siblings to come by and talk to me, to be my family. I would have taken my cousins on either side reaching out. No one ever comes, but I still want them too. I won’t be the problem. I probably won’t be the solution either, but I won’t deny my family.”

As Dionysius walked away, Percy put another check mark on his list. Of all the gods, he had been least sure about Dionysus and Triton actually being willing to talk to the others like family. Triton did not like the gods above the sea at all. He’s actually not sure how he got the domain of messenger when he fucking hates some communication so much, but if Dionysus was going to try, that left Triton his biggest problem. Not that he would tell Dionysus that, too much of a chance that it would harm the chances he had of getting Triton comfortable on Olympus.

He rubbed at his temple. Hopefully by the time that he reached those issues, the larger ones would have been somewhat resolved. He has a tentative plan for how to construct these meetings in a way that won’t cause everyone to lunge at him or each other in the urge to rip each other into tiny pieces.

Hestia appeared next to him. A shimmer of the light, and there she stood. Her form more radiant than normal. She was hiding less of her divinity. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, auntie.”

He took the arm that she was holding out to him, and he let her essence guide him to Olympus. It was strange not taking the normal way from the elevator. He knew that the gods could guide him all the way up, but most of the time they wouldn’t dare.

Sitting around him on the thrones were all of the gods. They were wearing their mortal suits, kind of. All of them looked larger than life and a bit more close to their elemental domains than normal. Poseidon had two thrones to either side of him where normally there was space, and there sat Triton to his left and Amphitrite to the right. Dionysus had a seat next to him that was clearly Ariadne’s spot for the meetings. Hades had taken the smaller throne next to his normal seat and where he had sat the few times he was in Olympus with the rest was Persephone.

Percy wasn’t sure how he felt about being the last one to arrive to such an event. Still, he walked with purpose to the center of the room and felt as Hestia left him to go sit on her own throne. He stood in the middle of the gods with a slight hint of frustration on his face.

Zeus mustered up some amount of attention as he cleared his throat. “Perseus Jackson, I must ask you a few questions before we begin.”

“Of course, Uncle.”

Poseidon covered his mouth to control the laugh that bubbled out at the way that Percy was willing to use that title right now.

Zeus looked pained, but he did not comment on the affectionate name. “Are you here of your own free will?”

“I am. I took the quest my aunt offered without any fear of retribution.”

Zeus stared down at him. “Did you take the quest without payment?”

“Not a chance. You want me to find a way to get three letters of recommendation, and this will get me my third.”

Zeus blinked. “Did that somehow impact how you agreed to take this quest?”

Percy shrugged his shoulders. “It didn’t hurt, but I probably would have agreed to help with this regardless.”

“That doesn’t sound like you were without coercion, Percy,” Apollo pointed out from his seat.

Percy furrowed his brow. “Well, no offense to all of you gods, but most of the quests we do are under coercion. I mean most of us don’t really want to fight wars or be the subject of great prophecies about which we can do nothing. We just are, and we have to deal with that in whatever way we can.”

Zeus held up his hand to stop Apollo from speaking again. “I will rephrase, so that we all know for sure what it is that you mean and why it is important for us to know. If I were to waive the requirement and say the two letters of recommendation that you have already received are good enough, would you still participate in this conversation?”

Percy nodded slowly. “Assuming the conditions that Auntie promised me are still met, yes.”

“Very well. For the duration of however long this takes, Perseus Jackson, you are immune from harm.”

Percy was about to ask how that would work when none of them had sworn on the Styx or anything else, when a blinding light fell over him. The little barriers against the gods divinity were gone, and they were lounging at peace with their forms. It took him several seconds to realize that one, he wasn’t going blind. Two, he wasn’t in massive amounts of pain or being reduced to ash. Three, that he was also glowing.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Right now, he doubted more than anything that he’d bleed gold. He had gotten a promise for rest, because he’d still need it in a barely held domain of divinity.

“You aren’t a god,” Dionysus reassured him suddenly. “I mean, you’re closer than you ever have been before, but we’ve just made it to where Thanatos can’t claim you. Immortality, not gifting you a domain, you see.”

The only problem with that, Percy thought rather unhelpfully, was that he already had domains. He pulled to them more than his father did often enough. He reached out and tugged to save Annabeth from the poison. He rode the rivers of the underworld. He wasn’t exactly without domains and now he was without mortality. The end of this quest was going to be more than he intended to bite off, but he was where he was now.

“Onto the next issue,” Zeus said. “Where exactly is Perseus sitting?”

Percy stared at the room at large. “A large podium in the center with something comfortable that I can turn in on top of it. That way there’s no chance of anyone claiming that during their turn to speak, I’m not paying as much attention to them as the others.”

“That is a wise suggestion,” Athena murmured. Her hands rose and the platform followed along. A beanbag was gracefully added on top.

Hestia smiled at Percy. “The floor is yours.”

Chapter Text

The floor being his was a dangerous game to play. He was going to be in charge of trying to get the gods to talk to each other and about their problems. He took a deep breath. “Okay, then before we jump into the mess of trying to figure out all of the problems and the root underpinnings of those problems, I think we ought to start a bit lighter. I would like for each of you to answer two questions.”

He took a pause. “One, why are you here in this therapy session? Your answer can be because Aunt Hestia asked you to. It can be because you want to get answers for some wrong doing done against you. It can be because you were bored and this seemed like an interesting way to pass the time. I don’t really care about how you answer this question, or if you have a combination of answers. But it will be important for everyone here to know what your goals coming in here are, because they won’t all be the same, and it could be important for you all to consider each other when talking about what comes next.”

“Two, how are you feeling about doing this therapy session? Are you angry that it’s taken this long? Are you scared that someone is going to find out secrets during this that you’d rather they not know about? Are you hurt that people are calling you into question during this? Again, your answers can’t be wrong. They just need to be honest and stuff.”

Percy stared at all of them. “For this session at the very least, we’re going to do this in a one-by-one manner. You are going to allow whoever’s turn it is to speak to the fullest extent that they’d like to before moving forward. Interrupt someone and I will blast water into your face to get you to shut up and probably glare at you.”

Apollo raised his hand.

Percy nodded at him. “Cousin?”

“Umm,” Apollo froze at the address, then clearly decided that wasn’t the sticking point that he wanted to make it at this time. “As the only god who can tell if people are lying or not, am I supposed to be calling people out for not being honest?”

Percy considered that for a moment. “Not in this session. If they give a lie regarding facts of a situation at a later time, feel free to call them out, but since this is supposed to be about emotions and feelings, I personally don’t think that there is much good in saying that a feeling is a lie.”

Apollo nodded.

Percy waited a beat to see whether there were any other questions. “Alright in that case, Aunt Hestia, you are the one that called this family therapy session into being, how about you start us off with your answers to these questions.”

Hestia’s eyes were wide. Something told Percy that she hadn’t expected him to be quite as bold as this for a start. Maybe she was expecting him to work off the bullet point list and leave the finer details to others. Still, she stood up from her throne. She took in all the eyes on her.

“Most of you know the reason why I want us all to be here. I am a goddess of hearth and family bonds, and our family is not doing well. It hurts me deeply and there is a part of me that is genuinely worried that if the family isn’t brought back together that I will eventually fade like others who have come before me have.”

She smiled at the room. “I guess that means that my goal for this is to have the family back together again. I know that we’ll always have moments where we disagree on the best course of action, but I miss the family dinners that we used to have on occasion. The way that we called on each other for company as well as deals. I would like to have that back.”

Percy kept his eyes on her, showing her that at least one person in this room was listening to her entirely. She had the second question to go, but she seemed a bit more forward with her first answer than he had expected any of them to be on the first session of the therapy to go.

“As for what I’m feeling, well I’m feeling quite scared. I’m worried that our family is beyond being willing to work on our issues and that all this will have done is create more tensions between us that we’ll never manage to fully work through. I want this to work, and yet more than anything I’m filled with dread because if this doesn’t work, then I don’t know anything else to try to save us.”

Hestia sat down abruptly after finishing that speech. There were flecks of tears in her eyes that she brushed at with the soft cotton of her dress.

“Thank you for telling us that, Aunt Hestia,” Percy whispered softly into the silent room. “Before we take volunteers for who would go next, does anyone have anything they’d like to say to Aunt Hestia?”

Hades nodded immediately. “Sister, we’re here. I know for many of us, this is the last place we’d ever want to be, but for you we are here. I know that it might seem like we are too far apart to be bridged by anything short than a war, but the fact that we are here, and we are talking to each other, and we are allowing Jackson to lead us in therapy shows that we are going to try.”

Dionysus glanced up when Hades was done speaking. He made eye contact with Hestia. “You came to each of us, and we came when you called. It’s not a family dinner, but its more than we’ve done in ages for one another. We can hope that’s enough to start us down the path of healing.”

Percy sat silently on his beanbag chair waiting of the next person. He was taking note of what everyone was saying too. It would be important to be able to call back to this at different moments. He has no doubt that at some point Hestia would be angry. When she got angry, it would be good to be able to point and go, that’s not why you’re here though. You aren’t here to be angry as righteous as that anger is, you’re here because you want to forgive them, so be angry and do it while loving them anyway.

Demeter swallowed. “I could go next.”

“Take the lead, Aunt Demeter.”

She stood from her throne. She cast a wide arc of her eyes over everyone. “Well, I mean primarily I’m here because my sister came to me and said she was worried about fading and the idea of an eternity without her is too much to imagine. So, one of my goals at a minimum is keeping her alive and with us, which based on her assessment means that one of my goals is mending the rifts of this family.”

“A lesser goal of mine is to be able to talk to the whole family about how upset I still am over what happened centuries ago with Persephone and Hades. I feel as though I shouldn’t have had to go through the lengths I did to get anyone to listen to me back then and it weighs on me even now that if I had a problem like that again, what I would have to do to get everyone’s attention towards the problems that exist.”

Percy nodded along with her explanation. He circled that issue on his list of things to talk about. It was good to know that this did in fact cause enough tension to be brought up. He waited for Demeter to continue talking and his gaze likely told her that, as she stared at the ground.

“My feelings on this are rather pointedly neutral at the moment. I don’t think that this could really put us any worse off than we already were with each other, but I also don’t know if this will help us at all. I mean we’re literally currently sitting in a circle and answering two questions, and I don’t see how asking these questions can do anything about the larger issues.”

Dionysus waited for Demeter to sit then turned to Percy. “Can we respond again?”

“Of course.” It was for the best to let them get some of the tension out of the room as they go and get to respond. As long as they weren’t interrupting each other or saying anything that was beyond the pail of acceptable, that would be fine.

“Aunt, these are building blocks. We can’t just jump into the issue of what happened with Uncle and my cousin. Can you imagine it would go well if Percy said that was the first topic up for conversation? You and uncle would have immediately started yelling. This way, we have some semblance of understanding when we get to that conversation. You’re hurt that no one listened to you at the time and that you had to force us to listen. We can talk about that. We can’t talk when we’re all yelling.”

Zeus nodded. “I also did not know that you felt that way regarding the lack of listening. I thought that there was more of a disconnect of you being unhappy with our decisions not that you thought we weren’t paying attention.”

“We’re getting a little side tracked,” Percy commented.

Zeus snapped his head around to Percy before slowly inclining his head. “The point I wanted to make there was that if we had started with the fight. I have a feeling the way you phrased that would have been a lot more attacking on us rather than offering us a chance to understand your position.”

Demeter nodded. “I hear you,” she said finally.

Triton stared at the solemn thrones. “I could go next, brother.”

Percy waved him forward giving him a bright smile. He was thrilled that one of the sea gods was willing to give this a shot.

“I’m here because Aunt Hestia said that there was going to be a conversation brought up at some point that my position on is necessary. I’m not quite sure which conversation that could or would be, but I like to think that anytime my father or mother has needed me to be present, I have been. So I’m here to you know answer the call for information when it comes.”

Percy made a gesture with his hand for Triton to keep going. This wasn’t an easy conversation by far, but he was doing great with what he’s said so far, so he’s hoping that Triton will keep going down that path.

“Similar to Aunt Hestia, I feel a bit of fear being here. Only, I don’t think it’s for the same reasons. At least, I’m not terribly concerned that I will fade as a result of the conversations here. I am slightly afraid that I will say something and someone will take offense and demand either father punish me or that King Zeus will. I tend to stick to the sea courts and official messages in order to avoid that if I’m being completely honest.”

Zeus blinked at the conclusion of that answer. He waited until Triton had sat down before sighing. “No harm will come to anyone during these discussions. If we can’t talk about these things without resulting to violence and demands of vengeance, there is little hope of mending bridges.”

Percy was impressed with Zeus if he was being honest with himself. The god was actually taking this incredibly seriously to the point that he was flat out telling people to not worry about fear. It wasn’t quite an oath, but it wasn’t nothing either. What had gotten Dionysus his punishment hadn’t been an oath but a law and this seemed to be closer to that nature.

“I would also extend protection, my son.” Poseidon didn’t look up from his throne when he said it but the words clearly set Triton further at ease.

Ares stood next. He made his way to the center of the floor. His height and power made it look like he was confident but the fact that no words were making it out of his mouth yet, told Percy that this was not going to be an easy session for him.

“Well if the son the sea was going to go, I figured that one of us Zeus’ kids should give this a shot. I’m mostly here because I was bored and figured this might be a fun little side quest to immortal life. Well and because despite Hestia’s request, I’m like ninety percent certain I’m going to watch the sea brat get pummeled before the end of this. Or at a minimum get to see the uncles and father go at it like vultures. All of which is just really fun for me.”

Apollo’s arms were crossed, and he was glaring daggers across the floor to Ares. Percy was prepared to blast him in the face with water if he said something negative. He could already feel it building in the air.

“I guess, since we’re all being honest and shit here to try to save each other or whatever dumb shit is going to come out of the brat’s mouth, I should say that there is a small, like minuscule, absolutely tiny, part of me that is here because I miss having the family meetings that Hestia was talking about earlier.”

Percy had a feeling that had a lot more to do with it than anything else. However, he had said that this was about expressing emotions, and he meant that. They could say as much bullshit as they wanted and it wouldn’t change the ways that Percy responded to this.

Ares stared down the council. “Emotions, that’s the other question, wasn’t it? Well as far as anyone here is concerned, all the emotions I’m capable of feeling are nothing and anger, so take your pick. It’ll probably depend on the topic whether I’m indifferent or angry.”

“That’s not the question,” Percy interjected. He met Ares’ eyes without fear this time. “The question is how do you feel about the family therapy session being called? Are you angry that they’re forcing you to do this?”

“No,” he snarled.

“That’s great to hear. Probably a relief for everyone here who might have been concerned about that. If not that, are you indifferent to the therapy just here to be a body on a throne?”

“No,” came the absolutely gutted response.

“Good, then we’ve clarified that you can in fact feel things that aren’t indifferent or angry. What do you feel?” Percy could tell that there were several gods now watching him with a bit more wariness than they had before. They thought that he was going to let this be a simple little thing, but he was not. Under no circumstances was anyone leaving this room before he got answers from each and every one of them. He could last several hours.

Ares’ face curled into rage, but he didn’t back down to his throne. “I don’t fucking know what the emotion is called, Jackson. Literally for the past several centuries, no one, not even my own family, has believed that I had actual feelings. I just know that I felt gutted when Aunt Hestia said she thought the family was fucking broken. Because like if we’re broken then maybe it’s not okay that I don’t get to have feelings, but also if we’re broken, does that make it partially on me that it got that way? Should have I done something?”

His body deflated. “I feel like all of us have responsibility in this mess and yet so far not a single person in their emotions and goals has mentioned a damn thing they did. So, here’s mine. I fucked my brother’s wife repeatedly knowing that it hurt him, and it was probably a really shitty thing to do.”

Percy covered his mouth behind his hand to avoid grinning like a madman at Ares. Not quite the full confessional yet, but they’d get there.

Ares stiffly walked back to his throne and threw his butt down on it. His eyes daring anyone to speak.

“Glad you walked back the first lie,” Hermes quipped. “Because further apart or not, I knew better than to believe that you felt nothing other than a desire to watch people get pummeled dragging you to therapy.”

Hephaestus glanced up when Hermes spoke. “Oh, also because you flat out mentioned it, I figure Percy will have a time for us to talk it out with the whole you fucking my wife thing.”

Percy shot him a thumb’s up, just so he knew that was on the books and something that Percy had seen coming.

Hephaestus nodded at Percy’s gesture. “But just so long as we’re being truthful and not rude and shit towards one another, if you’re taking accountability for that. It’s not something I can’t forgive or some shit.”

Ares’ jaw dropped open, so did Hera’s.

Hephaestus pushed himself up with the cane and walked to the center of the room. “Since, I’m already speaking. I guess I’m going to speak, speak now.”

He leaned heavily on his cane. “A part of me is here to fix my marriage. No offense, but it sucks. I don’t even know now how the hell it got as messed up as it did, so I want to get to the bottom of that mess. Aunt Hestia is the one that helped teach me how to walk with a cane, so I definitively also don’t want her dead under any circumstances which places a role in these decisions apparently. Oh, and I do want to have a conversation with mom about throwing me from the mountain top to make it to where instead of just walking with a limp now I have to walk with a cane, because uh, I think that was some truly shit parenting and I’d really like to be fucking angry about it for once in my life.”

Hephaestus paused. “I was going to say that I felt hopeful about all this because I do truly want to fix the family and I don’t really believe anything is unforgivable in the light of immortal beings who have an eternity to figure each other out and how they went wrong in the ways that they did. However, I think I’m just angry. I’m angry that I’m the blunt of everyone’s jokes. I’m angry that I’m the one who gets thrown from mountain tops for not even my own decisions.”

“Like I firmly believe that being turned mortal would have been a kinder fate, and Apollo got that for basically telling the king of gods to fuck off with a shared domain of theirs. And I definitely would have taken being camp director even if it did come with being cut off from my domain over this eternity of needing a cane to walk. Only here’s the kicker, I did nothing. I was a fucking child. We were still heavily worshipped. I did nothing to deserve this, and yet I suffer this cruel act on my body, and I’m still the second son.”

Hephaestus turned to Percy. “Is that good? Can I sit?”

“Yes.” Percy paused. “Also, if you don’t want to stand in the future, just let me know that you want your turn and I’ll ensure everyone else respects your moment.”

Hephaestus turned to Ares. “Will you stand up when that happens so everyone acknowledges it without Percy having to scream?”

Ares nodded once.

Zeus swallowed. “I know that this question is significantly too late in life to be anything other than an insult, but has Apollo looked over your wound?”

“Repeatedly,” Apollo answered. “There’s very little that can be done because his divine energy for whatever reason wants this to be the way his body is formed. I could maybe heal the damage from the mountain throw but trying to separate what’s the fall and what’s natural is difficult as hell and if I guess wrong, he’s in a lot of pain as the injury reforms.”

Hephaestus waved off Apollo’s apologetic glance. “I know you’ve tried. I hold no ill will that you can’t heal this, brother.”

Apollo goes to stand, but he’s beat by Hera standing and making her way to the center of the room. Her essence fills the space. She stares at Hephaestus before shaking her head and dispelling some of the energy in the room.

“I am here because as queen it is my duty to at least be present at major events in the pantheon, and this will be one. I am here as a wife because my marriage has been crumbling for millennia and we need help. I am here as the goddess of family because well, we’re a family.”

“Anything that’s not associated to a title,” Percy drawled from his position. He hadn’t heard a single fact that she actually wished to be here.

“As a sister, I am here to save mine.”

“Still a title,” Percy said.

Hera’s brow furrowed. “I am all of these things. I don’t think I have much that matters to me outside of that, if I’m being perfectly honest with you.”

Percy circled that on his little notepad. That was going to be something they’d need to circle back too before long. “Okay.”

Hera bit down on her lip. “I’m a bit upset at the ways that this conversation has gone so far. I feel like we’re not focused on the family as a whole but on individual relationships and I don’t see how the benefit of fixing those will exist.”

She turned to walk away, only Apollo stood up. “We can’t just fix one,” he shouted before Percy managed to douse him with water.

Percy glared at Apollo. “Her turn to speak. Her feelings are not less valid just because they aren’t the same as what we’ve heard.”

Hera sat down and stared at Percy for a second. “You can let him speak, Percy.”

“He doesn’t get to interrupt. No one does.”

Apollo turned to Hera, ignoring Percy. “We can’t just fix the family without looking at the relationships within the family. Just patching things up doesn’t work. You should know that better than any of us.”

Zeus glared at his son before sighing. “That’s not what she meant. I think what she meant was that we’re all focusing on individual wrongs or harms rather than the entire family. Our feelings are individual versus group related.”

Hera smiled towards her husband. Her head tilted towards him. “I don’t remember the last time you defended me, husband.”

Zeus blushed down to his roots.

Apollo pushed himself the rest of the way up. He paused to see whether Percy was going to ban him from speaking next after talking after turn, but Percy ignored that part of the hidden glances. He leaned back into his beanbag and waited.

“Okay, hi, everybody. I’m here in part because Aunt Hestia asked for my help. The other parts are mostly just curiosity on whether we can grow from what we’ve done in the past few millennia.”

Apollo breathed out. “I’m feeling a little dejected after hearing from people. I’m just now realizing how deep these issues go. Originally, all I was going to bring up was my time as Lester, because I have some questions for Zeus on the matter that I’d like to get addressed, but I’m starting to realize things are worse than that.”

Percy titled his head to the side. “Do you want to elaborate?”

Apollo froze on his way to his throne. He swallowed harshly. “Someone cursed the oracle of Delphi. They did it, I think in response to the great prophecy being spoken. They cut off one of my largest sources of prayer and vocal points for my domain. Then they cut me off from sharing prophecies. They tried to circumvent fate. That must be reckoned with.”

Without breaking stride, he began to speak. “And for whatever reasons we might have, none of me and my siblings have stood up for each other when the larger gods decide to crush domains and fuck with the natural order, and we have to stop allowing that. We can’t survive another war in such short time, so we have to heal. I don’t think we will. I think I’m dejected because if this is how deep our wounds persist, I don’t think we’ll heal.”

Percy nodded as Apollo sat down heavily.

Artemis threw herself up before anyone could say anything to Apollo. Her eyes were wide and open. “I’m here for him. Let me be clear, I wouldn’t be here if Apollo hadn’t agreed to come. I don’t care about therapy. I don’t really care about whether this family comes back together. I want my twin happy and alive.”

Her eyes darted across the room. “Correction, I would like my siblings alive and happy. All of them, I’m closest to Apollo, but I would be unhappy with any of them being continuously harmed.”

Dionysus scoffed in his throne, but at Percy’s glare, zipped his lips closed.

Artemis shrugged. “My emotions are rather all over the place. Sometimes I’m angry because I’m watching men fuck with women in this family. Sometimes I’m beyond the concept of hurt because I’ve been separated from one of my siblings again. And more than anything else, I’m picking up the slack for the poor parenting decisions. My huntresses are the safest place for a female demigod to be, and I think that deserves to be recognized and talked about.”

She made her way to her seat.

Dionysus waited until she sat down. “Do I even count in your definition of siblings?”

Artemis blinked.

“Because there are times when I still feel like that demigod that ascended. I did it on my own. No one granted me godhood, I took it. And I managed to get all the way to this council, but there are times that I don’t feel like a member of this family.”

“How about you take the floor, Dionysus?” Percy announced at the way everyone had turned to stare at him.

Dionysus heaved a heavy sigh but he stood up. He sauntered to the middle of the council room. He threw his hands up in the air. “We’re starting with feelings. Obviously I’ve already said one of my big ones, there are a lot of days and times where I don’t feel like a full member of this family. I also feel like I’m here as a footnote. My sister just said siblings, but she’s had many opportunities to make my suffering lately a little less. She exists on the mortal realm around her demigods more often than any of the rest of you, and in the last 50 years of my banishment. I count two times that she has come to see me. She could have, it wouldn’t have violated the terms and conditions of the punishment. Any of you could have come. You, father, could have come to see me. At least you know acknowledge that you banished me away from the family but didn’t see me as completely gone, but you didn’t. Not a single fucking one of you.”

He sucked in a rough breath. “I slept with a nymph. I slept with her in an orgy that was a part of my domain, as she was part of the species that is connected to my orgies. I didn’t even know until morning that I had accidentally slept with yours. In the words of my dear, potentially very wise brother, I take ownership of that. I should have thought of a way to ensure that I didn’t, my bad. Did that deserve this? Hell if I know. I’m not the one in charge of it.”

He rolled his head to the side to stretch his muscles. “I’m in pain, all of the time. My domains are cut off from me and it hurts. I don’t have access to the powers I should, and I still fought two wars by your side and not a one of them was enough for you to agree to lift my restrictions even for a night to heal.”

“I’m here because Aunt Hestia asked me to be, and she’s alone in her visiting me during this punishment. In the fact that her hand has held mine in my grief as one of my twins was ripped from me as a result of the first war.”

“I don’t want a damn thing out of this meeting. Because if I want something, I know for a fact that one of the people in this room will do everything in their power to ensure that I don’t get it. I’d like to believe that you’d prioritize Aunt Hestia’s life over hurting me, but I know better. I know better.”

He blinked back tears. “Right. I think that’s enough of my thoughts for the moment. I think I’m seconds away from breaking down, and I’d like not to.”

Hades blew out a breath of air as Dionysus sat back down. “Next time, dumbass, pray to your uncles.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know that it was bothering you that much. I had no way of knowing. I have an entire kingdom of my own with gods and goddesses that I’m in charge of. I would have brought up the conversation to Zeus at least twice had I known that you were hurting.”

“As would have I,” Poseidon added.

“I’m not the only one who could have reached out.” Dionysus shook his head. “I don’t trust any of you, so you want me to believe that you would have helped me. You should have proved it at least once.”

No one said anything in response to that. For a second the room was silent. Then, Hades pulled himself out of his chair. He stepped forward to the center of the room. He chuckled lightly to himself. “So, I thought I knew the answers to these questions. I thought I understood exactly why I was here, which was to force Zeus to come to terms with the shit that he’s put me and the rest of our siblings through and to help my dearest sister with her issues.”

He paused and shook his head. “I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but Ares was right. Pretending that the whole of our issues comes out to be on Zeus’ head are not actually helpful in the end. For my part, I am sorry if I ever gave you cause or reason to believe that I do not care about you or that I wouldn’t come for you if you called for me. I am your uncle or your brother, and family means a lot to me and mine. I hope that throughout these sessions we can figure out when you stopped believing that was true and how I can best make up for the fact that this has happened.”

“I’m also aware that I need to address the elephant in the room with Demeter that I’ve probably put off for too long. Hopefully that won’t end with another ice age this time. Maybe.”

Demeter flipped him off from her spot on her throne.

Hades gave another little chuckle. “As for how I’m feeling, I’m sure this is going to be inappropriate and cause a lot of people to have problems with me here, but we’re being honest, so I’m amused.”

“I think it’s funny that Poseidon’s demigod brat is trying to lead therapy for a family that has been fucked up since the start or at least since we were all eaten by our father and are attempting to be better parents from that fucking low ass bar. I think it’s hilarious that Hestia thinks that this will fix any of the problems in our family because damn the wars couldn’t even bring us fully together. I think the rampant issues between me and Zeus are the peak of hilarity at this point. Oh, swear this oath to fix the problem. Oops I broke it, don’t be mad. And somehow I’m still the one hat gets blamed, and its funny how you all manage to twist the stories like that.”

“The only thing I don’t think is funny is how bad of a parent Zeus and Hera turned out to be because come on, you should not be going for barely better than father. You want to be like four to five steps above that whenever possible. I really only feel disappointment to that end.”

Hades nodded to Percy as he sat back down.

Ares stuck his hand in the air before anyone else could stand. “I would like to ask Uncle Hades a question before we move on.”

Percy waved Ares forward for the question. That wasn’t quite in his plan for the evening, but he couldn’t really deny that it was a good idea to consider questions in the grand scheme of fixing things would be necessary, and it was ensuring that Percy had a good background for what was going to come up at these meetings.

Hades stared at Ares. “What would you like to know?”

“You said you’d come for us if we called, and for the moment, I want to brush past the sentiment behind that, and ask whether that’s unwavering?”

“Unwavering?”

Ares nodded. “Yeah, because like dad claims to love us and then hurts us in the same breath. So, you say that you’d come for us, but is that actually constant or are there things that we can do that would make it to where you don’t come for us?”

Percy blinked. He held up a hand. “That might be going a bit far for the first session.”

Hades turned to Percy with a frown. Then, he flat out ignored him. “Do you think you’ve done something that will piss me off so greatly that I would refuse to come for you?”

“Yes,” Ares said blandly.

Hades reared back as did several of the others, and Percy sighed heavily. He circled the part of his notepad where the lightning bolt being stolen was written. Underneath, he added stealing of Hades helm to facilitate the continued hiding of the bolt. He had forgotten that Ares played a role in that theft as well.

Hestia froze. “Are you confessing?”

Ares threw his head back and laughed. “The brat already knows what I did. I’ve been waiting for him to throw me under the bus one of these days, but he never has. I figure with him leading therapy I have zero chance of continuing to hide my crimes, but no, I’m not about to list them out on day one. I have some restraint and desire to survive this for a while.”

Hades rubbed at his temples. “It’s not conditional.”

“What?”

“Even if I’m pissed off at you, if you pray to me, I can tell the emotions behind your prayer, assuming that you aren’t just fucking with me again, I would come for you anyway. It’s not like pissing me off will change the fact you’re my nephew or the fact that I held you when you were born or that I love you, so yes, if you called, I would come no matter the rest.”

Ares froze. “I’m going to hold you to that later.”

“I had a feeling you might.”

“When this comes up again,” Percy said in a voice that left no room for any of the gods to interrupt him this time. “And this will come up again, as much as I think that it will not be for anyone’s benefit, but rather be a secret dug up later that will cause more harm, you, Ares, will not hold him to this statement. He is making it with what he feels at the moment, and during this therapy response, we will be fostering many emotions. If Hades wants to not respond to your call then, he does not have to.”

“That’s not what he’s asking.” Aphrodite looked up. “Ares is not saying that he would deny Hades’ anger, just that Hades better still come for him afterwards if Ares ever needs him. The point is that Hades has made an offer to claim us when we call, if we call, and apparently that’s an open ended thing we’re allowed to request.”

Hades inclined his head. “Call on me as you wish.”

Aphrodite stood and took the floor. She stands there for a few seconds in the silence. “I’m here because I am the goddess of love, and that does include that of family, and it seemed important to me that at least one person was here to tell you all that you love each other. Like Aunt Hestia is worried about fading because the family is breaking apart, and that may be true. Evidence certainly seems to suggest that this might be true in recent years, because none of us talk to each other or remotely try to reason with one another, but we do actually love each other still. I feel it every time we’re in a room together.”

She sucked in a breath. “I am heartbroken that we can’t all seem to remember that for more than a few minutes at time due to the damn anger that we all have running around. I mean come on guys, almost all of us have been alive for long enough to know that none of this would be possible without each other. Pantheons do not survive without each other, so can we just maybe deal with the problems so we can admit the truth about loving each other without having to be so convoluted about it.”

She jerked her head in a nod when she was done and glumly went back to her seat. She ignored the way that Ares was staring at her and the way her husband looked a little gutted after she didn’t mention them once in her response.

Percy, on the other hand, was frantically writing things down. Because she hadn’t denied anyone there not loving her or anyone else, and that was going to be important to highlight later. Especially when Hephaestus inevitably brought up the fact that he never feels that she loves him. Important little things that might make or break the understanding that they have with each other.

Poseidon stood up slowly. He reached the center of the room and stared at his own child before shaking his head to clear it. “I would like it known that I have never denied loving anyone in this room. I will never do that either,” he added that on for Aphrodite’s benefit.

“Despite the accusations that have often been laid at my feet, I have no desire to start a war with anyone. I care about all of you, and in my own ways, I have always come through to show that to you. I don’t necessarily feel that this family is broken, so I suppose I’m not here to fix it like some of you are.” His eyes cut over to Hestia.

“If we need to rehash old grievances to fix things, then I will sit here and listen to them, but I’d like to think that we’re past the actions that we’ve done and can move forward from them. To whatever means this helps, I hope it does.”

Percy swallowed. Hearing his father say this was something else. He knew the myths about his father said that he was extremely protective of his family, but Percy had honestly thought that was rarely extended to demigods or the other gods, but here he was proving them all right.

“And for what it's worth, Hades is not the only one who would come if you called and were in need. And before someone has the bright idea to ask, it would not matter what you have done. I have loved my monstrous children just as much as I have loved any of you. I would still stand between them and death’s door when it comes calling for them.”

Poseidon goes to sit down but he’s stopped by Athena towering to the floor behind him. Her glare dared anyone to say a word as he sat back down.

“Alright, I would like to believe that I am beyond anger but apparently I’m not. Because right now, I am filled with rage. He dared to come up here and say that we’re past the actions we took before. Then, why can I not enter the ocean? Why will the sea attack just about all those that I love? We say that we’re willing to move on and fix this, but we are not. It is not logical to do in the first place. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. We could not survive repeating what we have suffered lately which means we need to do better, and I for one am not sure what better even looks like in these situations anymore.”

She rubbed her brow. “I’m here because I agree that we need to try to change. If we don’t grow as gods, then we will eventually succumb to the destruction of our current status in the pantheon and knowing what came before us, I admit to concern for what would come afterwards. However, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

She stared at Poseidon’s throne and shook her head. “And don’t act like you didn’t nearly start a war 5 years ago because of your half god son. You aren’t better than us.” She stalked back to her seat.

Poseidon waited to see whether anyone was going to shoot to their feet in an attempt to distract from whatever that was. When they didn’t, he sighed. “Athena, my affection for you as my brother’s daughter is perhaps the only reason why you are not dead for trifling too close to the sea.”

Athena snarled at him. “And you think that is forgiveness. The fact that you would still kill me says much, uncle.”

Percy considered trying to calm the tensions when Amphitrite leaned forward from her throne and the sea winds picked up in the throne room. The smell of kelp and limestone filled the space.

“You, daughter of Zeus, do not fear my husband in the waters. It is him alone that keeps the tides from claiming your children to make you feel the pain that we have suffered by your hands. It is him alone that keep you from facing the justice of the sea for still standing and taking air. You fear me. It is my wrath that licks at your heels when you step too close. It is me that desires nothing more than to suffocate the last breath of air you draw and drop you in a pit that you can never climb out of.”

“Woah,” Percy said before anyone could say a word edgewise. “How about we don’t go into that today? We will get there, I’m sure.” He cast a glance at Hestia that he hoped conveyed the amount of anger he had that he was unaware that his own step mother wanted his girlfriend’s mother dead and that he was going to be in charge of holding down the fort and keeping that from happening.

“Instead, stand up and tell us what you’re feeling and why you’re here.”

The breeze of the sea did not decrease, but Amphitrite did smooth out her expression as she stood. Unlike most of the others she did not cross into the center of the room. “I believe that I’m here because my husband is rather emotionally attached to this council and its members, whereas I am not. I am here to make sure that he does bend when he should not just because you are his family and he loves you. All of you have stepped on the toes of the sea where you did not have the rights too. All of you forget that we are a domain that held life before the lands. And that cannot continue to be.”

Her eyes ignored Zeus as she traveled her gaze around the room. “I have watched you attack the children of the sea. Not just the demigods that you believe you have rights too, but full blooded should have been immortal children of the sea. Some are lost to us forever, and what would you have us do. Should we hold hands and say that all is well? Will that bring back any of the blood that has been spilt?”

“Let me be clear, in this marriage, I hold the anger. I am holding the vengeance against you all because my husband is kinder by nature. I am not going to forgive you because you say sorry or say that you’ve been punished enough. Tell me that it has been enough when you have bled an eye for an eye. Tell me when you’re willing to suffer the same pain that I have, and then we can talk about moving forward.”

Percy scrubbed at his face. He couldn’t say that he didn’t see this coming. He knew for a fact that at some point or another someone was going to stop considering this rationally and instead went for below the belt hits. He wasn’t really prepared for who got angry at that one.

Amphitrite had barely settled back into her throne when Persephone stood up. She walked to the center of the room. She placed a hand upon her head and a crown stood out on top of it.

Her smile contained layers of anger and deceit written along the words that were going to leave her mouth. “I am here to be a reminder to all of you that you do not know what it is that you think you do. You are all here to remember family and some of you are here to point fingers at each other, and you forget that as we change so to do our names, our myths, our beings.”

She glared at her mother. “The daughter you lost, the one you mourned, her name was Kore, and she is gone. The myth that was is lost to time. I am no longer that girl. I no longer hold those domains. I am the queen of the underworld. What is mine is dead and twisted. You bring me back for half the year and I force myself into the role of your daughter, but what is mine is no longer there. I find that I want to cause the fires in the Summer to burn out land to remind my husband that his wife still stands. I find that I am not kind.”

She sucked in a breath. “I am not kind and I am tired of being looked at like I am still a spring goddess. I am not. Flowers do not blossom under my touch until they have withered and are a part of my husband’s realm.” She tilted her head to the side. “And yet, I do love my auntie Hestia. I would like the family to work together. But I swear, if all of you start talking over me again, I will lose my shit and try to kill you.”

“You will not,” Percy commanded from his position.

Persephone considered him for a long minute. “Perhaps, we shall find out.”

Percy couldn’t deny that. He could and would respond to threats of violence and anyone actually committing any acts of violence, but he couldn’t necessarily guarantee that nothing would happen. That just wasn’t something that he could say for certain.

Ariadne stepped into Persephone’s place. She swallowed harshly in the room full of gazes from her in law family. She met Percy’s eyes. “I’m here because I was ordered to be. I am not an olympian. I have never been a part of this family, not in any way other than Dionysus’ eyes. However, the Lady Hestia commanded my presence, and so here I am. I make a point not to deny any command issued to me by the olympians.”

Her eyes darted around. “I had thoughts once, when I was first married to him that I would be something similar to the Queen Persephone or perhaps Queen Amphitrite. Not necessarily an Olympian myself, but invited to events. I thought that I would be a member of this family that was considered as one of them. I have since learned my lesson about believing such things.”

“A 100 years seemed like nothing to wait for immortal family members to start realizing that I was here to stay. But I realized quickly that wouldn’t happen. Thousands of years past my wedding and this is the third time I’ve been welcomed in these chambers.”

“The first was my wedding day. The second was the day that the King of gods cast my husband’s domains aside and took him from my side, banishing him from our marital bed, our house, and our people.”

Her body swayed in the room in the attention of all the gods rapt upon her. She looked out of place. Hell, Percy had stood where she had been before, and he felt more at ease than she did.

“I am scared of this meeting. I cannot think of many reasons to invite me here. I am clearly here to be the punching bag. I am the person without any true protection in place. I am uncared for by any other than Dionysus. Perhaps in the best of cases, I am a threat to be used to wield and keep him in line. I do not want their eyes on me. I have faded to the background ever since I realized that they wanted nothing to do with me. I know that I was not the favored bride of him, but surely, I deserved slightly more than this.”

Percy gaped at her as she sat back down. He knew that she was not a major goddess, but to not have more than three events in Olympus. He had been in this room more times.

Poseidon crinkled his brow at his niece in law. “If you feel that you have not been invited often, why do you not come to the sea?”

“Pardon, Lord Poseidon?”

“Sure, Olympus can be quite terrifying especially given your husband has not always been welcome among these hallow thrones. However, you also have made no attempt to attend the events in the sea.”

“My Lord, I have never been invited.”

Poseidon waved his hand. “We don’t do formal invitations. We just inform people of the date and allow them to attend as they wish.”

“I was not aware of my welcome.”

Poseidon’s eyes darted over to Dionysus then back to her. “I know that I never spoke to you personally, but I assumed you were aware. Dionysus has always been invited under the sea. He has a room in the palace as most of my nephews and nieces do, exceptions for demigods that I’ve never met aside. His room had an adjoining room the day of the wedding. It was a portion of his wedding gift. Your husband in tow or not, you are always welcome in the kingdom of the sea if you would like to come.”

Ariadne stared at him for a moment as if she was concerned that he was about to yank that away from her mere seconds after offering it for the first time.

Dionysus was the one who spoke though. “I have a room?”

Poseidon reeled away from the vitriol in his voice. “Of course. You, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes. You all have rooms. You can come as you please. The sea will always welcome my family home, and you are welcome.”

“What?” Choruses of the question ranged from across the room.

Poseidon rubbed at his temples. “I don’t know how you all seemed to forget this, but in your youth all of you had your place in the sea and the underworld just as easily as you did Olympus. My relationship with your father does not impact my care and compassion for you. You have all been welcome.”

“But not me,” Athena pointed out.

“You may not be welcome at his palace any longer, niece, but you have never been kicked out of mine.” Hades spoke for the first time in this conversation. “For what it is worth to be blatantly honest, I thought you were all taking your father’s side, but in case it wasn’t clear, you are welcome to my palace as well. You have rooms, some of you still have suites. Your place among me and mine has never been in question.”

“When do we show up? Or do we just stumble in whenever?” Apollo was the one brave enough to ask questions.

Percy was going to allow this conversation for the time. This felt like a good growth moment and honestly something that the younger gods needed to hear from their uncles, and perhaps something that Zeus could go with hearing.

“Stumble into mine,” Poseidon answered. “We rarely hold formal gatherings or any structured events. Too many of us feel restrained by such actions for us to gain any sort of desire to do it.”

“Dinners are once a month where my side gathers,” Hades replied. “We meet on, what day is it, dear?”

“The thirteenth, every month.”

“That. All family is welcome.” Hades pursed his lips into a deep frown. He tossed a disdainful glance towards Zeus’ throne. “All of you, even you brother, could show up at the family meal time and would not be turned away from the table. That’s the point of the damn dinner. You put the issues outside the door. I don’t want to hear about them when the full family is gathered.”

“Right, but that’s primarily for your family,” Dionysus said slowly.

Triton shrugged. “I don’t make it every time. I am the crown prince of Atlantis and have duties that can’t always be put off on the thirteenth of every month. However, I attend at least once a year. Usually more when I can swing it. He never turns me away and he ensures that when I make it that I have food that I prefer at the table.”

Hades nodded slowly. “Your sisters come often too. The monsters occasionally come by, less now with what Father did, but still all of Poseidon’s children are welcome just as you are. They just actually show up.”

Several of Zeus’ kids just look between Poseidon and Hades with various expressions of bewilderment. Percy marked down on the sheet that they really do need to talk about the fact that the uncles at a minimum see Zeus’ children as family at some point. He also underlined the whole Athena versus sea family fight again. Everyone but her was quite an attack, and that would need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Zeus picked himself up off his throne. “Very well, Perseus. I shall answer your questions.”

Percy bit his lip from using that moment for an inappropriate quip. Which he thought really ought to be enough to earn him his letter, and he could skip all the rest of these sessions. Seriously, none of this was a reasonable situation, and he should not be in charge.

“I am here because my sister came to me and requested that I call together this group of Olympians so that we could do this family therapy set of sessions. She made it clear that she believed that her ability to withstand a fade was tied to our completion of these sessions, so I promised her that I would stick them out.”

Zeus glowered over at her. “I feel like this was a trick at this point. It feels like everyone is pointing fingers at me for the root cause of all of these supposedly issues. I am not the only person here with blame.”

Immediately several gods interrupted without hesitation. Apollo started absolutely raving about the fact that none of his children would be in their issues if he had ever parented them decently. Hades ranted about the fact that he forced others to take oaths that they did not believe were necessary or helpful only to break them himself, repeatedly. Aphrodite was screaming about being married off, Percy thought. He wasn’t sure because everyone was so loud.

Hera brought up the affairs, and Percy had enough.

He summoned the water with his eyes closed, and he drowned out everyone screaming with it. The water filled their mouths and several of them collapsed as they were choking. They were lucky that his goal wasn’t to keep them down, because it wouldn’t have been hard to get them unconscious like this.

He stood from his position on his little platform. “You will not interrupt each other when you are being genuine about emotions. Is there every change that all of you are correct about Zeus’ influence on your issues with this family? Yes. Does that mean he can’t feel like the scapegoat of your issues? Absolutely not. He is still one person. Albeit a very powerful god, but a singular person. He is not capable of being the only problem.”

Zeus stared at him. “Did you just defend me?”

“I defended the rules of the therapy session.” Percy slowly sat back down. “Please continue, Zeus.”

Zeus glanced around him at the various gods barely recovering from their brief experience with choking on the waters of Olympus. He sucked in a breath. “I…I see. I do believe that if we are to continue with this therapy we will need to understand that while you might see me as the villain, I am not one. To address a few issues with that, no one is any danger at this therapy session. Trust me, Hestia would kill me if I messed this up that way.”

He sat down abruptly. No one tried to comfort him. He looked at Percy. “What now?”

“One person still needs to speak.”

Everyone looked confused. Until Hermes dragged himself from his throne. He swayed as he stepped forward. He glared at Percy. “Fine, I guess that means that it’s my turn. Wooo!”

He smiled grimly and the look was just as unsettling as the last few times that Percy had seen him. “Why am I here? Great question, I don’t want to be. I don’t like any of you fuckers. However, I do love.”

Hermes started pointing and counting at random gods before throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Let’s round up and say all of you. Therefore, somehow I’m here in the last place that I want to be. So, yay for love. Surely that’ll mean something at some point.”

“I feel so numb it’s not even funny anymore. Some days I spend all my time crying. Because my sons are dead. I lost so many children. Not just in the first war but in the second. One of them was my darling boy Luke. And I know, alright, I’ve heard all of you yell about him. But he was mine, he was worth it to me. He was worth skirting around Zeus’ damn laws about interference. He was worth it and everything went to shit, and rather than listen to me, he went and fell for Kronos’ bullshit, and that ain’t just on him. All of us had a role to play in that. Only no one wants to listen to me mourn for him.”

“But I probably could forgive and not scream about Luke, because I’m a sympathetic guy. I can understand how someone who betrayed all of us might not have any good will amongst us left. I can understand and relate to that. However, the kicker here is that, it wasn’t just my demigod kids who died. For some unknown, unholy, bullshit reason, not a one of you remembers that one of my godly, immortal children just died. Pan died!”

Hermes was screaming at this point, but Percy wasn’t going to say much of anything about it. So far, he had broken none of the rules about anything in the session, so Percy didn’t care much whether he continued screaming until his lungs gave out. Maybe it would help.

“Pan died, and none of you were there for me. I remember when Pallas died, Triton. I remember taking on your messenger god duties for an entire decade to give you space and time to heal. I remember holding Aunt Amphitrite’s hand at social events when she looked around the crowded room for a granddaughter that wasn’t there. Only, you know who was there for me.”

“That’s right, fucking no one.” Hermes flickered for a second. The divine energy pushing at the shield of his form. “That’s a lie. Dionysus was there. He wasn’t even fucking allowed to be, but he showed up claiming that wasn’t a domain that dad took from him. No one else though. Not my parent, not my step mom, not my queen or king. No one!”

He stared around the room. “And I want to be angry. I want to rage and tell you all that I will never forgive you for this because I don’t want to. But also the idea of being alone in this wallowing despair is too much for me to handle. I want to lean on you and trust that you will help me when I need it and in order to do that, I need this therapy session to actually work. For all of us to take it seriously and try to figure out our shit. Because Luke better be the last one that dies like that. Luke has to be the last one that dies like that.”

He collapsed back down onto his throne.

Ares stuck his hand up in the air, barely even waiting for anyone to acknowledge him. “When the fuck did you hold a funeral for Pan?”

“What?” Hermes stared at him bewildered. “It’s one thing not to show up, but did you seriously just not listen when I told you?”

“Hermes, I don’t know when this was held. It’s been booked in my schedule for close to two years at this point. I was going to drop everything. Wars could be fucking ended during this and I wouldn’t split myself. I do not know when you held this, I would have come.”

Hephaestus nodded. “He even reached out to me to ensure that the two of us could both be there without causing a fight so that we were focused only on you. We came up with a plan and everything. Neither of us ever got told when the funeral was.”

Hermes turned a questioning eyes towards Zeus.

Zeus had a hand in his beard and was rubbing it incessantly. “I don’t understand. I mean, I had the invitations and the time and date. I made sure that they were all written. I had just found a new lead on a minor god that could tell me about Father’s newest plans, so I gave them to Hera and instructed her to ensure they were passed out. I also requested that she attend the funeral in my stead since I could not give you my full attention with the war with Father kicking off. I did not want to do you the discourtesy of being only partly there at such a time.”

Hermes frowned. “I would have preferred a fraction of you as compared to none of you.”

Zeus blinked. “I am sorry.”

Several heads whipped around to face Zeus.

Zeus shrank back just a little in the face of all those glances, but he held his ground with his son. “I am sorry, Hermes. I did not realize that you would have wished for even a part of me there. Had I realized that, I would have split my duties to allow a fraction of me with you.”

Hermes considered his father for a long moment. “Okay then. Explain her actions. Because right now, I can offer tentative forgiveness to my siblings who apparently never had the courage to ask me about the situation to make amends earlier because fine whatever, they don’t have to be brave. But you…you knew and theoretically asked her to come for you, so where was she?”

Zeus turned to Hera. “I am very curious to hear this answer myself.”

Percy sighed to himself and put Pan’s funeral on the list of topics that were going to need their own session. This was so not going to be a fun one, but despite what Hermes said that amount of anger was not blowing over with just these simple sentences, and someone really needed to get to the bottom of the deal that Ares and Hephaestus apparently struck up in the potential for this situation in a desire to make things better.

Hera raised a delicate eyebrow. “The invitations were burned shortly after you handed them to me and were gone. I was never going to show up to the funeral.”

“What?” Hermes voice was dead cold, and Percy had a gut feeling that he might need to leap in front of danger in a few seconds.

“You’re no child of mine,” Hera said. “I will not coddle you because you were unable to teach your children how to adapt to the new world that humans have made. I barely wish to do so for my sister, but I do it out of affection for her and a duty to my domain of family. You are nothing to me. You have no emotional attachment to convince me to go and attend a funeral for.”

She licked her lips. “Your pain, it would hurt your father once he learned of it. You are one of the many, many proofs of his unwavering decision to constantly flaunt his lack of compassion in our marriage to my face. Your pain was a delight to accomplish, so the invitations were also an easy decision. If I didn’t send them out, then you would be alone. I didn’t account for the other bastard showing up, but the result was largely the same.”

“You bitch,” Hermes spat across the room.

Zeus’ hands were clenched around the armrests of his throne, his breaths coming out in labored measures. “You are lucky, woman, that you are both my sister and wife, or I would have backhanded through your fucking throne.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Percy said with as much authority as he could lace into his voice when he wanted to tell Zeus to do it and do it now. “I would have stopped you.”

Hera’s eyes turned to him for a flash of a second before meeting her husband’s. “You should have thought about the consequences to your actions when you had bastards. I told you that they would never be welcomed with me. It is hardly my fault that you did not and do not acknowledge this often.”

“Enough,” Zeus shouted. “For a moment, let’s set aside the fact that you are his mother. You are my wife and he is my son, and I have claimed him, making him one of ours whether you like it or fucking not. Instead, let’s focus on the fact that an immortal of our pantheon was dead. They should be able to expect the king or queen to make an appearance at such a horrifying event and make a speech, give hope, especially when it coincides with a damn war starting. So, assuming that you were going to be a bitch about the fact that you are my wife, why the damn hell didn’t you go as queen?”

Hera was silent.

“Okay, that’s enough of that for the day. We are going to loop back around to this, in future sessions, everybody, because this just gave me way more of an insight into all of you than I really anticipated having. All the same, we are done for the day. Please enjoy going back to your domains. I am certainly going to enjoy food and sleep. We will reconvene shortly for the next session.”

“We didn’t repair anything,” Demeter pointed out.

Percy furrowed his brow at her. “Uhh, well no, my lady. Repairs of this nature are going to take time. Although I would say that Hephaestus and Ares are tentatively already working on their issues. Hermes and Zeus appear to be making some ground. And all of the younger gods have ground to work with their uncles. Was there more that you wanted to happen today?”

Demeter frowned. “I suppose I thought that this would be more of an open dialogue that made everyone feel better in a quick and snappy way.”

“Ah, yes.”

Dionysus coughed. “Aunt Demeter, that isn’t how the mind works. It takes time for the pathways that have formed to form, so they also take quite a bit of time to break down. Unfortunately, it will not be an easy road to recovery.”

“Oh.”

Percy paused. He waited to see whether anyone had anything else to say before he hopped off his pedestal. He made his way towards Aunt Hestia. He stopped at her side. “Auntie, where do I sleep and eat?”

“Of course, you are welcome at my place in Olympus, Percy.”

Zeus turned to frown. “Your place in Olympus is a fire. Are you planning on having him camp outside your fire?”

Hestia glared. “I have cots and slumber bags for visitors.”

Zeus groaned. “You have rooms in the palace, brat. Make use of them since you’re staying up here.”

“I have rooms in the palace.”

Zeus’ eyes closed. “Just follow.”

Percy said nothing until they were well away from the other leaving gods. “Seriously though, Uncle, you have made it clear on several numerous occasions that you don’t like me.”

Zeus heaved a sigh. “Perseus, no one has ever turned down godhood before.”

“You made me rooms for when I ascended?”

“I made you rooms because once your ascension went through you would be my full blooded nephew and most of them have rooms in the palace. Not that they have stayed in them for a while. In their defense, I would have used them as pawns to talk to their fathers, so they had ample reason to stay away, but of course, they are here.”

Percy glanced at his uncle in a new light. “You didn’t build them when I was to be offered godhood, did you?”

Zeus said nothing, which was a damning confession from a man like himself. If Percy were a betting man, Zeus had done it when it became clear he would be important to Olympus which would have been when he became the child of the prophecy.

“Thank you, uncle.”

“Tell no one that I said any of this, if you would, Perseus.”

“Your secrets are safe with me.” Percy meant it to. There was only one secret that he knew about a god that he was going to have to use against them, and he did not enjoy one bit the fact that he was going to have to make Ares suffer like that. He just didn’t have any other recourse that would work.

Zeus opened the door to his room. “If you need anything, pray to me. I’ll send a fraction of myself to come help you.”

“Because I’m helping the family.”

Zeus snorted. “Sure, Perseus.”

Chapter Text

By the time that Percy woke up, he knew that the day was going to go to shit. His plan for what topics to bring up first was still an important one, and probably a necessary one to keep them all on the same page and ensuring that no one felt particularly unheard. However, he was not looking forward to day two starting fights, and this would inevitably lead to fights. Hell, if he didn’t get yelled at today, he was going to consider that a miracle of some divine nature.

He rubbed at his temples. Why had he said yes to this quest? He should not have done so. It was a horrible idea and this was not something he was equipped to handle. But, he had given his aunt his word and this was a necessary evil for his aunt to continue living in this world. So, at least he wasn’t going to handle the rest of the day hungry.

Only, as he reached that realization, he also had the dawning understanding that he had stayed the night in the Olympus palace. He had no idea where to go for food. Nor any idea whether his uncle’s goodwill from before he took his rest was still present. However, if he wanted food and not to offend his uncle, he was going to have to try to reach out his uncle.

He closed his eyes and focused on the thread of intent that goes into a prayer. First, things first, the name. Always think the name loud and clear when trying to get a god’s attention.

Zeus. Zeus. Zeus. Uncle, if you can hear me, I realized that I have no idea where to go to get food from my room, and I would like to do that before I venture back into the throne room.

A form of Zeus appeared before Percy almost immediately with a frown on his face. “Have you really never explored Olympus?”

“I do try not to anger you.” Percy paused after saying that sentence. “I generally try not to anger you in ways that don’t involve trying to protect demigods and the world. I did not need to explore Olympus and I knew me wandering would cause you some amount of annoyance if not flat out wrath, so I didn’t.”

Zeus groaned again. “Perseus, outside of when I’m actively in a fight with your father, you are not so different than other demigods.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “My college application begs to differ.”

Zeus waved off his response. “That ties back to your father, not you. I am not capable of bringing much of my annoyance down on him without him immediately retaliating. You are an easy target, so when you are advancing in some way that I can hinder, it behooves me to do so. When you are here in Olympus and your father is not, there is not much point of being cruel to you. It won’t win me any favors or do me any good, so what would be the point of doing so?”

Percy glowered for a moment. “Gods, that’s so fucked up. Please tell me you recognize that’s fucked up.”

Zeus’ lips twitched in amusement. “Just wait until you hear about why I have a grudge against your father?”

“I think Aunt Hestia filled me in on that one, because I’m going to have to lead a discussion in our family therapy over it.”

“How many discussions do you have planned for us?”

“Oh gods, well, keep in mind that each session has the potential for creating more sessions. Because right now, it’s 16, but those numbers might be wildly inappropriate once I’ve done more thinking on the subject.”

Zeus chuckled. “16 sessions won’t be too bad.”

Percy had been aimlessly following behind Zeus the whole time, so when they entered a dining room full of lavish dishes, he had to admit that his jaw dropped open.

His uncle laughed even harder after seeing that expression. “Eat up, and I’ll show you how to get to the throne room from here, so you should be able to easily travel between the three places as you need for the duration of the time up here being our therapist.”

Percy ate and for the first few minutes he was completely engrossed in the food, but eventually his panic from earlier in the morning began to make itself known again. He glanced around the room, and he was alone with Zeus. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Zeus stared at Percy for a minute. Then, his eyes went glassy as he seemed to almost fade out of the room. “Yes, we’re alone. No one else wants to deal with anybody from the session last night, emotions are too high. We’ll be alone. For context, in the future, if we’re in the presence of really anyone else, I’m likely to say no.”

“I figured,” Percy said with a slight grin. He had put together that Zeus was a rather private person and preferred to keep him situation out of the public’s view. “I just… I wanted to know how you did it?”

“How I did what?”

“Make decisions that you knew were going to upset them. Because I know, I’ve gone over it several times, where we need to start today to begin untangling the mess of problems between everybody. But it’s going to make people mad. Some people are going to be upset because they’re not center stage. Some people are going to be upset because they’re being targeted. And I’m just me.”

Percy turned his big blue eyes to Zeus. “I’m just Percy Jackson. I still primarily see myself as Sally Jackson’s son. And here I am talking to gods and telling them that they’re going to be upset, but we have to dig into all of this and deal with it anyway. And I just, how do you do it?”

Zeus’ mouth gaped for a second. “I’m sorry, what?”

Percy opened his mouth to begin explaining again, maybe better this time.

Zeus stopped him by abruptly standing pushing his chair back. “Do you know the last time that someone has acknowledged how fucking hard it is to lead these people? It’s been millennia. Some decisions anger people, it will always piss someone off. Being king means I have to make decisions that I think are best for the largest number, and sometimes that means being unkind to one person. Gods, it’s been forever since anyone acknowledged that.”

Zeus took in a deep breath. “You just do it, Perseus. There’s no hidden secret to making these kinds of decision. You just make the decision and stick to it. Even when they yell and hurt you because they hate it, you just stay the course.”

Percy nodded. He had a feeling that was going to be the answer. That didn’t make him feel any better because that meant that whatever tentative bond the two of them had today was going to be gone. There was no chance that his uncle was going to forgive him for putting him on the hot seat for Apollo’s punishment in the aftermath of the second titan war on the first real session of therapy. He wasn’t even sure if he deserved any sympathy for having done that either.

Zeus huffed. He stormed around the table and pulled Percy into a crushing hug. His arms were tight around Percy. “It’ll be okay. No one is going to hurt you for this, because Hestia and I will kick their asses with Poseidon being close behind us.”

“What if it’s not?” Percy asked softly unable to help the insecurity leaking through his voices.

“Would you like me to make a guess?” Zeus mused softly. “Would you like to know that I’m pretty sure you intend to either talk about Hermes’ grief and the first war or potentially the aftermath of the second war? I know those are logical places to start. They’re the freshest in our minds, and the furtherest from any issues that might need back up before discussing. And I happen to know that most of the people in that throne room are going to attack me. I know that, you are not responsible for that.”

“Aren’t I?”

Zeus squeezed him tighter. “Absolutely not.”

Percy deflated. “Okay. Okay, right, yes, thank you.” He pulled back the embrace ever so slightly. He took a second. “Just so you know, I rather like the uncle I met in this room.”

Zeus stared after Percy as he took off for the throne room without needing to be led. He shrugged after a minute to stalk off towards the room.

Percy was buzzing with energy. Honestly, he wasn’t sure that Zeus hadn’t given him a minor charge up when he had started hugging him. This was weird and strange, but a pep talk from the king of gods, definitely does make him feel slightly better. Now, he just needed to ensure that no one was going to ruin today. He had a plan in place for how to deal with the session, and in order for it to be helpful, it couldn’t be ruined by either of Zeus’ brothers deciding to take this as a means for bullying their brother like they occasionally did on the grounds of pissing each other off.

Percy skidded into the throne room, and his eyes landed on his father. He made his way over. “Dad.”

“Percy.” Poseidon reached out to draw him into an embrace immediately.

The remaining small amounts of his tension faded away. He buried himself into his father’s arms for a moment before he pulled back. “I was hoping we could talk for a moment.”

“Of course. I can’t believe my sister asked you to do this for us, but I am glad that it means that I will get to see you often for a while.”

Percy laughed. “Yeah, I was in disbelief for a minute when she requested it too, but I guess it makes sense, doesn't it? It would have to be one of the big three kids if it wasn’t a god, because we’d be the only ones not scared shitless of saying the wrong thing.”

“Making you the perfect candidate,” Triton added with a teasing tone. “You’ve never once been worried or concerned with being polite to gods.”

Percy laughed along with his brother. It felt nice to be included.

Poseidon led Percy away from his brother and stepmother after a few minutes. “You said you wanted to talk to me.”

Percy nodded. His face growing more somber. “I need to ask you a favor for the day.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t attack Uncle Zeus.”

Poseidon furrowed his brow and made to comment, but Percy held up his hands to stop him.

“Just… today isn’t going to be talking about anything that he’s done to you. Today is going to involve one of his kids, and I’m suspecting a few others that were impacted by the decision. And listen, it would be easy for you to attack him today. It would be easy to hurt him by pointing out that you’ve been the better father. And I’m not saying that you’d be wrong or telling a lie when you did so, but I need you not to do it anyway. I need you to take the high road.”

“Why?”

Percy gaped. That had gone better than he thought it would. He’s not being told to understand how difficult this would be or told that he doesn’t have the authority. “Honestly, because hurting him won’t help him fix it. He has been a horrible father at times, and his children are going to let him know that he has done so, but you agreeing and pointing out the extent to which this is true will not help. It’ll make him want to dig his heels in and defend his actions.”

“He’ll do that anyway.”

The Zeus that Percy had met this morning wouldn’t. The Zeus that had felt attacked yesterday might. The Zeus that cared enough about his sister that he had drawn everyone together and not backed down, wouldn’t. It would depend on how they phrased the responses, and Percy was going to push until he got the Zeus that wouldn’t fucking say something that would further hurt his kids and would instead guide them to understand his perspective. “Let me try it this way, even though you believe that.”

Poseidon rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “Fine, very well. But if at later day, the tables are reversed, ask him to do the same and see whether he will even try to do that.”

“Of course, dad.” Percy wrapped his arms around Poseidon and hugged him tight one more time. “Do you see my other uncle anywhere? I’m going to try to convince him to do the same.”

“You think you can.”

“I think my job is to continuously try whether or not it’ll work or not is another story.”

Poseidon gestured to the other side of the throne room where Demeter and Persephone were holding a conversation, and Hades was leaning on the side of his throne watching the two of them.

Percy gave his dad a thumbs up as he jogged over towards his uncle. “Hey, Uncle Hades.”

Hades turned to stare at Percy. His body sagged. “It does not feel like a good sign for you to seek me out at this moment in time, Perseus.”

“I would like to request something of you in the coming session.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “You have enough of a plan that you have the forethought to ask for requests of others.”

Percy furrowed his brow. “I mean, yeah. Why wouldn’t I? I know that this is a quest to fulfill my requirements for university, but this is also a quest that Aunt Hestia felt strongly enough about to ask me for help. Aunt Hestia doesn’t usually make requests of demigods, she is our safe haven. Anything that made her ask for help is something that I’m going to put all of my dedication too.”

“You treat this the same as you did the great prophecies.”

“Seems to me that Olympus is at stake again.”

“I’m not as sure of that point.”

Percy cast his gaze over to Hestia. “Tell me that what remains of this family wouldn’t fall to distress without her. Tell me that this throne room would not be obliterated in her absence.”

Hades was silent.

Percy nodded. “My request is that you don’t take any shots at your youngest brother today.”

“You do not ask for light things, do you, boy?”

Percy chuckled. “No. It will be easy for you to attack him. We’re talking about something that is going to highlight one of the ways that he is deficient to you and my father, and I need you not to harp on that.”

“Why?”

“Because he won’t take it well. He won’t be listening to his children because he’ll be too busy being defensive as a response to you and father. He needs to listen to them. He has to hear them and hear them as separate from this view of himself as better than everyone like he has to be to be king.”

“That’s not a requirement.”

“Would you allow a lesser god of the underworld tell you that they were better than you at something?”

“No, but I would never let them be better than me.”

Percy shrugged. He didn’t have much of a retort to that. His uncle was rather good at being better than the rest at several things. He wasn’t so confident that he was completely better than everyone in his domain, but not to the point where he could combat the comment.

Hades glanced over to the throne in the center of the circle where Zeus has always sat above the rest. “He won’t change, Perseus. I am not going to offer him any aid in bettering himself when I don’t think that aid will result in anything.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not worth it. He will never prioritize family over his damn image. He will never protect his children for any reason other than that it would look poorly on him to let them die. He will not protect another member of this family for anything short of personal gain. And I will not let him sit there and stand on a high horse without someone to knock him off of it.”

Percy blinked. “You don’t think he’ll ever change, so you won’t give him the chance.”

“It’s been millennia, Perseus. I promise you that if this had happened a few thousand years ago when the issues started, I could have been reasoned with, but I know the situation better now, and I know that this isn’t something that can be changed.”

“You believe this with all of your being?”

“Yes.”

“Bet me.”

“What?”

“I bet that I can prove to you that Uncle Z is different than what you believe him to be. If I’m right, you don’t attack him this session. You say nothing. If I lose, you don’t have to.”

“If you lose, you never ask me to protect that particular family member ever again.”

Percy winced. That was a horrible deal. It would cripple his ability to lead therapy effectively. And yet, he was confident in his bet. He knew that the plan he had would work. His uncle had practically guaranteed it earlier, and Percy was going to take him at his word. “Alright.”

Hades leaned back his arms crossed over his chest. “How are you going to prove it, child of the sea?”

“You’re going to move as if to smite me in this conversation.”

“I’m going to what?”

“You’re going to move as if to smite me, and I’m betting you here and now, that Zeus will reach you to stop you as this is his domain before my father will.”

Hades opened his mouth to say something, then he just let out a bellowing laugh. “Kid, you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. But I’ll show you, just so you can stop almost getting your hopes up about him.”

Percy closed his eyes. He could feel the divinity pooling around them, and he could tell that his uncle was barely holding back enough not to smite him on the spot when he aimed his hand.

“Brother,” Poseidon’s yell rocked the floor, but that’s not what saved Percy’s life.

There standing in front of him when he peeked from his barely opened eyes, was Zeus’ hand wrapped like iron around Hades’ wrist. And Hades was standing there dumbfounded as he stared at his youngest brother.

Zeus pushed Percy back with one hand to get him to be standing further behind him. “What the fuck were you thinking? We all swore to Hestia we wouldn’t harm the brat. You, of all of us, never break an oath.”

“I appear to have been mistaken.” Hades pulled his arm back.

To anyone else that would sound like Hades had admitted to overreacting in wanting to punish Percy, but Percy heard the truth in those words. They were spoken directly to him. They were an admittance of the truth. The truth that Percy had won the bet. The fact that Zeus had come for him when it looked like he was in danger.

Sure, Uncle Zeus had hidden it behind the fancy words of oaths and their sister. But that wasn’t the important bit. His uncle could hide behind as many reasonings as he wanted at this point, but he knew the truth. His uncle loved and cared for him. Loved and cared for him enough to stand in between him and his other uncle.

Percy walked away to his podium. He did not respond to either god down below. Just settled into his position above the rest of them to be able to lead the session once everyone was ready, and perhaps slightly more cooled off from what had just happened.

Zeus watched as Percy walked away. He shook his head. “We’re going to start the session now. Everyone get in your thrones and be prepared to talk about things again.”

Percy hid his smirk carefully. Talk about things, as if those things weren’t emotions and the impacts of their actions on others. Gods, the gods were terrible with emotions. One would almost say they were worse than humans, if one didn’t really mind the fact that those were words that could get someone smote.

Percy waited until all of the gods got situated in their thrones and were looking to him to lead. “Alright. I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and I think the best way to start to untangle the issues you guys have with each other, is to work chronologically backwards. Because while some of your actions may stem from events from earlier, the more recent they are, the more like yourself you were when you did them. When we get to actions further in the past, you won’t just be talking about what happened then but how that effected you today.”

There were a few grumbles coming from Apollo and Hera on this effect, but in the end without support from anyone else, both of them seemed to let this be after a second.

Percy nodded in his head in assent. “That being said, when we’re talking about specific events, it is important for perspective to be given. Priority will be given for individuals directly involved in the situation, followed by people directly impacted by the situation, and then finally everyone else.”

“How will that work?” Apollo asked.

Percy smiled towards Apollo. “Excellent question. I will start most sessions without this long prologue about how the system works and just tell you what the day’s topic is. Then, we’ll go around each of the thrones and we’ll see who all has been impacted by this situation. Preferably, I’d like you to gauge whether everyone is being truthful or not.”

Apollo inclined his head. “Yes, I can do that.”

“Wonderful.”

“What should I do if they’re lying?”

“Shoot them.” Percy watched as Apollo’s eyes lit up. “Non-lethally. Killing would be against the goals of the therapy.”

Apollo waved him off. “Of course.”

Percy did not like the gleam in his eyes, but he couldn’t really say anything else unless Apollo chose to try to shoot someone more than what he had given permission for. Then, between Percy and Zeus they would have to respond to the gods decision to disobey. That could get complicated.

He shook off his concern. “Right, so once we identify those who were effected by it, those people will get to speak after the ones directly involved. After everyone has spoken, the two involved in it will be asked to speak again and say what they would like to have happen now. Obviously, we cannot change time and result in all of this not happening, so the question is what can you do now that might help heal what happened.”

Poseidon raised his hand. He waited for a nod of recognition from his son. “The rest, can we give suggestions during that part?”

“Yes, as long as you are respectful towards the people who gave a lot of emotions during that conversation.”

Nods followed his proclamation. “Alright, then the topic for today is Apollo being made mortal after his actions in the second titan war.”

Zeus’ head snapped up to Percy. In that second of eye contact, Percy knew that Zeus suddenly understood why he had been worried this morning. “Alright, the two people who are directly involved then will be me and Apollo.”

Apollo cut a glare at his father, but slowly nodded his head in agreement. “I don’t see how anyone else would be impacted, but yes, I agree.”

Percy cast his eyes over the other gods, before deciding to speak. “Impacts of this punishment could come from your siblings and their subsequent relationship to your father, their fates as a result of you not being available, the increased work load of helping deal with your domains, and impacts to them because of your actions as a mortal.”

“Oh.”

Artemis stood up. “I’ll start the circle of truth and say that I most certainly was impacted by this bullshit punishment.”

Apollo raised his eyes to the sun up high. “Fine, obviously as one of the major players, I was impacted.”

Hephaestus shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t say that this punishment impacted me all that much. After Dionysius, I expected something like this might happen.”

Aphrodite made direct eye contact with Zeus. “This directly led to the death of your son, which then hurt my daughter. I do not forgive you for not thinking this through.”

“No,” Percy said.

“What?” Aphrodite whirled on him. “You are the one who says that are emotions are valid and need to be spoken.”

“They do, and they will be. But this is not the time for that. You are to say whether you were impacted. You were, and that’s fine. But the time to start bickering about what happened and whether there is any forgiveness to be found, is not yet.”

Ares huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes keep darting over to where Apollo’s bow sat. He grumbled under his breath repeatedly. Then, finally, he made eye contact with Apollo. “Your punishment impacted me.”

Apollo reached for the bow only to freeze after about three seconds. “You’re telling the truth.”

“Yeah, apparently.”

Dionysus snorted in amusement. “I was impacted.”

Hermes blinked awake at a nudge from Dionysus. He glanced over at the rest of the gods, then huffed. “Oh, right. Speaking, guess I’m not allowed to do hiding until the last moment.” His eyes glazed over. “I’m with Hephaestus. This didn’t surprise me, and it didn’t shock me, and I do not feel as though I was impacted.”

Apollo had the bow nocked and loaded before anyone could process. The arrow embedded itself in Hermes’ shoulder flesh. “Liar,” he caroled.

“Fuck you.” Hermes closed his eyes. “I’ll speak when needed.”

Ariadne peered at the other gods. “My apologies, Lord Apollo, but your punishment did not impact me.”

“Nor me,” Triton chimed in from the other side of the room.

Amphitrite inclined her head. “I as well, remain unaffected.”

Poseidon had his head turned towards Apollo. “I do not believe that it impacted me in a way that would be beneficial to this conversation.”

Athena barely glanced up from her hands. “Logic said that this was always going to be the end result of your actions.”

Apollo nodded.

Percy’s head jerked up. “Athena, that did not answer the question.”

Apollo turned. “She was truthful.”

“She was, but she said nothing about herself. Logic may have said this would happen, but what did she feel afterwards when it became apparent what was happening.”

Athena frowned. “Logic is what I am.”

“Logic is your domain,” Percy said softly. “You are not just that aspect of your domain. You have compassion and empathy.”

Her frown deepened. “I feel sorrow for what my brother went through, is that what you’re after?”

Zeus rubbed his temples. “Daughter, he’s asking whether anything about what happened between me and Apollo impacted you emotionally.”

She tilted her head to the side. “No, I don’t think so.”

Apollo closed his eyes. “She’s lying, but I’m not shooting her for it.”

Percy raised his eyes to the sky as he asked for patience from none of the gods here, which made his choices rather interesting to say the least. In the end, he ended up asking for the help of Lady Styx because at least he knew that she would understand needing patience from other gods. “That’s fine, Apollo. We’ll just know that we need her to speak during the conversation.”

Hera barely looked up at the crowd. “I care about what happened.”

“Not because of me,” Apollo scoffed.

“That was not the boy’s question.”

Percy did not argue with her claim on that note. While he had vested interest in having this conversation in the healthiest manner possible, it was also a valid point to consider that none of the gods were perfect. Hera’s opinion mattered somewhat.

Hestia shot a murderous glare towards her brother. “I was impacted.”

Demeter furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure why either of my sisters are saying that they were dramatically impacted by this set of decisions, I can’t say the same for myself.”

“That’s fine, Aunt Demeter,” Apollo reassured her. “Some of these are because of reasons other than the direct responses of myself or Zeus.”

Persephone stared at Apollo for a moment. “I do not have cause to speak.”

“Nor do I,” Hades spat out. His eyes were burning on Percy’s for a second to remind him that while he had won the bet, and Hades would be silent, this was not his desired course of action.

Percy sucked in a shaky breath. It was not an easy thing to be on the receiving end of one of those glares. He felt a little disconcerted, but this was simply the way that the day was going. Now for the harder part, which of the two players would get to speak first.

Zeus watched Percy out of the corner of his eye. When Percy moved to speak, Zeus beat him to the words. “Apollo, if you wouldn’t mind starting with your side.”

“What?”

Zeus blinked. He hadn’t expected the level of bewilderedness in the eyes of the kids and Percy. “Well, I mean, the whole situation started with your actions, your choices, and then the consequences of those actions. Then, there’s your take on the consequences and what they entailed. While I can and do have a perspective on all of this, it shouldn’t come from me first. It should be yours.”

Apollo gaped at his father. “I mean, yes, I agree. But since when do you? I can’t even count the number of times you’ve allowed someone to tell their side of the story before yours. Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

Zeus set his head in his hand for a second. “I’m trying, Apollo. I know that for the rest of you, you don’t really want to see that. But, I am still here at these meetings. I am here and I am making an attempt to hear other ideas than mine. So, if you want to have this conversation, start it.”

Apollo frowned. However, after an encouraging nod from Percy. He took the permission to start speaking. “I don’t really know where to start,” he admitted.

However, despite saying that, he leaned forward on the edge of his chair. “The second great prophecy, I heard it. Being one of the primary deities associated with prophecy, it was quite literally impossible to not hear it. I took it before this council because, of course I did. Despite the last one having near catastrophic impact on us because some people decided that they could beat the fates at their own game, I came to the council, because I am loyal to Olympus.”

At that part of his speech, he glared his father down into his throne. “Despite what others claim, I have always been loyal to Olympus. Arguments ensued and Olympus was shut down and forbidden to contact the mortals and demigods.” He cast his eyes away from Zeus. “I knew that was a direct order from my king, however, I also knew that if I did not assist the oracle, if I did not give aid and instead tried to circumvent the fates a second time, there would be heavier consequences. Almost all of my children died in the first titan war. I was not willing to see what the fates would deem appropriate punishment for me as one of their domain. I couldn’t risk it.”

He sucked in a breath. “I was terrified of what Zeus would do to me in response for my crimes, but again, I also knew that doing nothing would come with a heavy price. No matter where I turned, it seemed like trouble was going to follow me. After the war was over, for a brief second, I really thought that everything was going to be okay. I was proven correct. I was right. I saved us.”

He laughed. The sound was cruel and jarring in the mostly silent room. “But, no, I had defied the king. The king was going to ensure that I would learn a lesson about respect and obedience, so he turned me mortal. He locked my damn domains so tightly in a mortal cracking frame, that it ached and ached. I was less than a demigod and more than one all at the same time.”

“I did not know what to do. I still don’t know what I would have done if it weren't for Perseus Jackson and Jason Grace. The two of them helped me when others would not. The two of them treated me as equal and god in the light of my mortal flesh. And I did meet your expectations and trials to be granted my powers once more, and it cost you your son.”

Apollo’s eyes sheened with a wetness. “Your son, Zeus. Jason Grace. I know that you barely see us gods as children, but he was good. He was a loyal soldier to you even when it got him nothing but pain. He was a loyal steward of your wife despite her hatred and meddling in his life. And he was shot dead, protecting me from a hit that would have killed me while mortal so that the world did not have to find out what would happen if all of my domains were released on Earth without a vessel to hold them.”

“I ascended, but in some ways, I am more Lester than Apollo now. The lessons I learned while mortal, only cemented my choice.” Apollo’s eyes blazed with the light of the sun. “Hear me now, if there comes another time where you decide to try to go against the word of the fates, I will stand between you and that option. Maybe one day you will decide to crush me in the palm of your hand for the hubris, but if that day ever comes, I will welcome it with open arms. I will no longer allow you to ignore my domain when it pleases you. Prophecies just are. Once they are spoken, the threads cast into the weave of fate, there is nothing, even the king of gods can do to subvert them.”

Percy pursed his lips. When it was time for Zeus and Apollo to figure this out and work through this, there were going to be issues with that last declaration. As well put as it was to ensuring that the fates weren’t going to get pissed and try to murder them all again, it also put an incredible pressure on Zeus to either shape up or be righteous in his paranoia.

Zeus waited.

Apollo froze under the silence. “Umm, your turn?”

Zeus offered a weak smile. The look did not really entail any amount of acceptance or happiness, but it was moderately better than yelling or anything else. “At the time of the second great prophecy being read, I was not at a good place, nor was Olympus. The first titan war had left all of us weak and broken. One son was mourning an immortal life on top of mortal ones. Artemis had lost a huntress who had lasted centuries. There were so many problems with the immediate following of the second great prophecy.”

“I will not argue that there would not have been consequences to holding off, to pulling back and ignoring this prophecy. No one who has ever met the fates would think that. Unlike the last time, though, I was not trying to subvert the prophecy. I wanted to delay it, yes. I wanted to ensure that Olympus was strong enough to handle the fight, yes. But, I was not going to try to deny the words like I did the first time. Even I am not stubborn enough to try the same strategy twice when the first time ended in as much of a failure as it did.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes at Apollo. “You did not bring your concerns to your king. You did not come privately nor publicly to tell me that you thought I was making a mistake. It is your domain. I would not have ignored you out of hand.”

Apollo’s hand stuck up in the air immediately.

Zeus wavered for a second.

Percy was about ready to say that it was Zeus’ turn to speak, Apollo would have to wait another round. However, Zeus conceded the floor with a nod of his head.

Apollo, too, seemed shocked by this course of action. But he did not let that deter him from speaking. “You didn’t the last time.”

Zeus snorted. “I wondered whether that was going to be what you were interrupting me for. Yes, I know. When I failed to listen to you then, do you remember what exactly happened after you came to me with those concerns?”

Apollo furrowed his brow. “We voted, didn’t we? You asked everyone for which they thought would be worse. The punishment from the fates for trying to rewrite what they had written or a demigod child getting to choose whether we were saved or ended.”

“Correct.”

“We didn’t vote on this issue.”

Zeus shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t see anyone objecting to the situation. I didn’t know you had such problems with my commands as king that you would circumvent them. Allow me to be clear, if you had come to me, we would have worked something out. I don’t know whether I would have put it to a vote or if we would have talked and I decided that you could let the mortals know what was ongoing, but that the gods still needed time to heal. I don’t know, because you never gave me the chance to find out. You assumed you knew what I’d do in the face of your objection and you went off alone.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes. “We almost lost the second titan war. Let me be clear, the war would have been lost, if Perseus and his companion had not dragged themselves out of Tartarus. The war would have been lost, if Perseus was not willing to battle a giant with no clear faith that the gods were going to come and help. The war could have been ended several different ways. However, none of them were good for us. Most futures involved us failing. And you ignored that concern. You decided that you knew best.”

Zeus shook his head. “You had to be punished for defying your king. You broke my command, and you did so with little to no regard for the risks that you were taking. You were avoiding some consequences while ignoring others.”

He tapped his fingers against his throne. “You could argue that my punishment was overbearing. By making you mortal so soon after the war, I put everyone in a mode of worry. You shouldn’t have had to risk dying for anything, and I should have thought of a punishment that did not require my mortal son to involve himself either.”

“That’s all you’re going to say,” Hera said.

“That’s all that I have to say on the matter.”

“He’s dead!”

Her shout ranged over the throne room.

It wasn’t Zeus, but Hermes that responded. “Why do you care, step mother? You’ve made it clear that us children of Zeus but not yours have no fondness in your heart for anything. You judge us with the harshest of lights. Why does Jason get compassion from you?”

Hera’s eyes were wild. “Do not assume that I would not care if your father got you killed, boy. I do not like you, that much is true. I delight when you are suffering for the pain that it causes your father, also true. However, I do to some extent care whether he is a decent father. He’s fine enough towards you, but Jason. My darling, Jason.”

“Yours?” Dionysus questioned.

She flapped her hand dismissively. “He was my champion. Mine.

Zeus considered his wife for a moment. “What would you like me to do?”

“What?”

“Would you like me to mourn the way you do? Of course, I miss him. He was my son, one of the more polite ones that I’ve ever had. He always asked before he used any of the powers that came from me, because they were mine not his. He was caring, and quite frankly, I thought his plan to help the minor gods and goddesses was something more pure than I ever would have thought of, but he is gone.”

Zeus huffed. “We can bicker over whether I or Apollo is more at fault over the leading causes to his death, but at the end of the day, neither will matter, because he will be dead.”

Apollo’s chest stuck out. “My fault? I was on the trials to appease you.”

Zeus stared at him. “You were meant to do them alone. I certainly never imagined that you were going to be bold enough to ask for demigods to help you on your mission. Never in my wildest dreams did I see you looping in your own son, Hades’ son, and mine to help you.”

Apollo’s eyes darted over to where Percy sat at the top of the dial. “They weren’t the only ones. My first stop was to Percy.”

All eyes turned back to Percy. He shrugged in the light of everyone’s attention. “I was not able to do quests at that moment, Lord Apollo.”

“I know. You explained it to me then, but I figured just to highlight the rest of the interactions. I did go to most of the large demigods to see who would come. I was mortal and I didn’t know how to cope without my divinity and the pain of being ripped from these important features of myself. Of course, I needed help.”

Zeus rubbed at his temples harshly. “This pain, explain it.”

“What?”

“From my understanding of what I did, it should not have hurt you, and yet you are consistently bringing up pain. So, describe the pain so I can know what went wrong or at least what I failed to consider when I did it, if it was a natural consequence of what I did.”

Apollo froze in his place. His hands halfway to his face. “You didn’t intend to cause me pain.”

“No.”

Apollo’s hands lowered. “That wasn’t a part of my punishment?”

“No,” Zeus repeated drawing the word out slowly. “I don’t prefer to use pain in punishments. Teaching you a lesson involves you learning, and pain doesn’t accomplish that.”

Apollo pursed his lips for a second. “It’s like a gaping hole that is still bleeding out. There are missing pieces to who you are. I still knew I was of the sun, the powers were just there, but I was unable to actually reach them. The pain was a constant low intensity horror of reaching and finding nothing but missing pieces. It was there for every piece of me that you put away, which was quite a lot of them.”

Zeus’ brow furrowed. “I’m not sure what that entails.”

“You wouldn’t,” Hestia finally responded. “Those of us in dad’s stomach would, as our powers were cut off when we were swallowed. It’s an ache that never heals. No matter how much ambrosia you drink, nor how many healers take a look at you. For as long as you are without that part of yourself, it will ache. It would be like missing a limb.”

Hera nodded. “The pain is indescribable.”

Zeus glanced around at the rest of his siblings, who were all wearing similar faces of sympathy. “Alright, heard.”

Apollo winced. He shook his head. “Really?”

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong? You just heard from practically everyone who knew that you caused me harm. You just heard that you hurt me, and you say, you heard them. That’s all!”

Percy watched this conversation play out with interest. This was going to come up again when they got to Dionysus’ punishment. He was sure of it. However, the wine god was not paying any attention to this part of the conversation. Percy wasn’t sure what to make of it. Perhaps, he didn’t want to speed ahead to his own issues or perhaps he didn’t want to hear his father say that his punishment was more acceptable. Whatever the problem was, it appeared to be important enough that Dionysus wasn’t speaking.

Zeus nodded his head slowly. “Yes, I heard them. I understand that they are saying that your pain was to be expected, and thus not a fuck up on the ritual I performed. It was an unintended result of my decisions.”

Hera raised her hand to her head and palmed her forehead. “Could you be more obtuse?”

“Excuse me?”

“We say you are uncaring about your son’s death. You tell us we’re wrong, but offer us no apologies for your role in his death. You tell us that you didn’t intend to harm your other son, but you do not apologize for having done so. All you are doing is offering stupid concessions in the hopes that we let them be.”

Zeus flicked his eyes over towards Apollo. “You’re the one who was directly hurt.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t let my wife speak for you. She can speak for herself in a minute regarding what she wants out of this damn therapy session. You speak for yourself.”

“In what way, father?”

“You’re upset about my response.”

“Uhuh.”

“Why?”

Apollo blinked. “Father, do you understand that I’ve told you that your actions caused me harm?”

“I think we’ve reasonably established that I do.”

“Okay, and do you think that harm was justified?”

“I don’t understand the question.”

Apollo let out an unapologetic little scream into the air of the throne room. “For the love of all of us, fine, I will phrase this question as fucking dumbed down emotionally as I can manage. If you hurt someone even if you didn’t mean to, actually especially if you didn’t mean to, and you care about them in some minuscule way, you say fucking sorry. Because you hurt them. You hurt them. You hurt me.”

Zeus took a second to consider this. His eyes never left his son. “What would the apology do?”

“What do you mean what would it do?”

Apollo jumped out of his seat and started pacing the floor of the throne room. “An apology doesn’t really do anything. Other than convey the fact that you have some modicum of decency in acknowledging that you’ve done wrong and the other person has a right and reason to be upset at you. Sometimes, it’s the start of making things better, other times it isn’t. Depends on how the other person is feeling.”

Zeus pursed his lips. “I am not sorry for punishing you.”

Apollo’s lips peeled back in a half snarl, half sneer. Hatred bloomed in his eyes.

“I am sorry that punishment hurt you in ways that I did not intend. I prefer my punishments to fit the crime and be exact. If I don’t know what they do, then that goal is not accomplished.”

Apollo gaped for a second, then he recovered enough to sigh. “I’m sorry too. I should have come to talk with you before just assuming that you wouldn’t listen to my concerns for a second time. That didn’t do anyone any good.”

Zeus inclined his head. He cast his gaze over to his two sisters that had said what bothered them at some point during this conversation, or well his wife had and he could take a stab at what Hestia’s problem was. He swallowed. “Hera, I’m sorry for not mourning with you. I felt that being alone would better serve my grief, but I should have made sure that doing so wasn’t at the cost of yours.”

Hera frowned. Then, she deflated. “I shouldn’t have said you didn’t mourn or care for him. I know you did. You wouldn’t have cared about what I was doing otherwise.”

He nodded to her. He turned fully towards Hestia. “I’m sorry, sister. I should have considered what this harsh of a family punishment would have done to your domain especially given how fractured we’d been lately. Your harm was never something that I intended nor wanted to be party to.”

Hestia sighed. “Just promise me that you blindsight me with that pain again, please.”

“I promise it. I will ensure that you know long before I do any punishment again, that way you can help.”

Hestia narrowed her eyes. However, she nodded, accepting his word for fact.

Zeus grinned. “Alright, now several of my other children told me earlier that this impacted them. How about now we consider what the hell you went through and what we can do about it?”

Silence met his proclamation.

Percy glanced up. “That would be a wise course of action. If none of you want to go first, I’ll randomly decide who goes next.”

Ares glared at Percy like the only thing stopping him from leaping across the room with his sword drawn was the inevitable number of other gods who would be immediately intervening without shame. “I’ll go.”

Zeus turned to Ares. “Please do.”

“I’ve done worse,” Ares said.

“When?”

Ares batted the question away with a lazy hand. “You wouldn’t know it right now. As of the current moment, this secret has been safely locked away and tucked into a secret compartment that none of you have managed to access. However, the point is, this was worse. By a lot, like on a scale of one to ten, if mine was still going to be ranked at the worst of a ten, then Apollo’s goes down to a seven maybe even a six.”

“Ares…”

“My fuck up is so much worse that when I heard about Apollo’s punishment, I broke into laughter. Because I know eventually you’ll find out about what I did. Maybe, I’ll last a few centuries keeping this hidden, but there are others who know about the truth of what I did, and one day, they’ll decide they want to know what happens, if they tell someone about what I did, and it’ll all be over. Or hell, this is family therapy, maybe at a later session, I’ll have courage, or maybe Percy will have courage for me, I don’t fucking know. But I do know, one day everyone in this room will know what I did.”

“Okay,” Zeus said, clearly not following why this was important to Ares.

“And listen, when I first realized that my action was fucked, this is what the punishment that I thought you would give me. Make me mortal, make me prove that that I do want to be a god and have the strength to earn it again. Then, things got worse because of my actions in a way that I couldn’t have foreseen. And then, I thought you’d probably make me mortal and throw my ass into the pit to face my trials. And that was terrifying. Like truly, for a few days, I just stayed in hidden places and shook for fear of what was going to be done to me and guilt for what I had caused.”

Ares eyes gleaned over with a shine of tears. “Then, I heard after the war what Apollo’s punishment was, and I laughed. Because if this was his punishment for that, you’re gonna kill me. There’s no redeeming myself to you because you’re going to go into such a blind fit of rage that you kill me.”

“What?”

“I was impacted by Apollo’s punishment because I realized that I’m walking on borrowed time, because there will be a day that my father finds out what I did, and he kills me on the spot.”

Zeus’ expression was gutted open. There was trepidation in his movements and disbelief in his eyes. “Son, please tell me you don’t truly think that I’ll kill you.”

Ares’ nodded slowly. “I don’t think that you’ll kill me.”

There was a sigh of relief from Zeus, but Percy pinched his face together. This was not what his uncle thought it was.

“I know you’ll kill me,” Ares finished.

The noise that escaped Zeus was wounded and raw. It was desperate and hurt. He couldn’t imagine being so far lost to his own sons that they somehow had it in their heads that he would hurt them. Not only hurt them, but hurt them so badly that they couldn’t imagine managing to survive the action to the end of the day.

Ares shrugged his shoulders. “So, yeah, I guess the point is that I came to that realization because of Apollo, and it seems important that I you know have that out there in the family’s grasp because we’re being honest and trying to heal.”

“Is there… I don’t know… anything I can say to help you feel differently? Like an oath? I could swear an oath.”

Ares looked at him strangely for a moment. “Why do you want to?”

“What?”

“Why do you want to swear the oath? Do you not think yourself capable of that kind of anger? I promise you that you would be. Is it because you want us to be better reassured after this and confident in your affection for the family? Because there are better ways to tell the others that than by giving me a false promise that will exact consequences later. Just why bother, right?”

Zeus gaped at him.

Ares’ arms bulged as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’d rather you not suffer the consequences of yet another broken oath on the river. We both know swearing on her won’t stop you, it just makes you face consequences. So, don’t. Just don’t.”

Hades made a huffing noise in his throat. His bet with Percy not enough to stop him from offering something else. “Listen, Ares, while I don’t think that your father would ever be so in his own head that he’d decide to hurt you like that, I can tell that you have a lot of stress about it. So, how about we just settle this once and for all, okay?”

Ares’ eyes went wide. “We’re not talking about it.”

“No, today is Apollo’s day to have his actions talked about. However, I don’t think anyone here doubts my oaths power over me. I haven’t broken one yet, at least not entirely. So if by some forsaken reason it does come down to a fight and your father is threatening you, I will intervene. I swear it on…”

Ares shouted over him without any care. “Do not!”

Hades fell silent.

“Why?” Zeus questioned. “Me, I can kind of understand. Your trust in me has apparently been so damaged that you believe me capable of killing you, it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to think that you don’t believe my word. But what reason could you have for denying Hades?”

“He’ll regret it.” Ares’ eyes were watering. “Okay, I did a bad thing, and he has every right to be really really pissed when he finds it out. And I don’t want him swearing an oath to protect me. Because either he’s going to break his oath and regret that for the rest of eternity because he won’t be the one who never broke his word or he’ll protect me regardless and learn to hate me because I survived when he didn’t actually want me to.”

Hades stared at him. “Ares, I don’t know what you did, but I’m making the promise because I don’t believe that it can be so bad that I would rather you dead. Please allow me to hold that promise.”

Ares’ eyes were wild when they sought out Percy’s in the audience. “You know. Tell Hades not to do this.”

Percy raised his eyebrow. He turned to look at his uncle. “I don’t think you should make the oath.”

“What?”

“An oath means that when we get to that therapy session, a part of Ares will always wonder whether you and Zeus’ actions are because of the oath in the air or genuine. It’ll always be better genuine.”

Amphitrite’s sigh of annoyance was large. She stood up. “Alright, I’m done with this nonsense. We’re not going to change Ares not believing that Zeus will forgive him ever today. Nor are we going to get to the bottom of the issue for why he is more determined to stop Hades than his father.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “He stopped both, mother.”

Amphitrite paused. “I suppose that’s true. He made sure neither would regret. However, I am not your uncles. And you will not stop me. I have never sworn on the river nor am I about to start. I am the daughter of Oceanus, the titan of the ocean. His waters are my waters. I need no one other than myself to hold me to my word. The water never dared to break what it does. It takes and it gives as it was always meant to. I swear to you, Ares, that if the worst happens and all of the three brothers are against you, you will find safety in the water.”

Ares paused. “Poseidon has the least and most reason to be angry with me.”

“I’m not offering you protection,” Poseidon said dryly. “My queen is. She is always welcome to use the waters as I am. We rarely stop each other when offering protection.”

Amphitrite snorted up at her husband. “By which you mean to say the only time I’ve ever bickered at you is over Athena, and even that managed to stay my hand long enough for Zeus to pull her out of the water’s reach.”

Poseidon nodded to Ares. “If she offers you safety in the water, I would not be able to harm you.”

Ares glanced between the married couple. Then, he nodded sharply. “Fine, then let us be done with me. There’s nothing more father can do to help me.”

Zeus paused. “Son, you don’t want an oath, so I won’t make you one, but please, I won’t kill you.”

Ares slumped into his throne. “I know that you believe that with all of your heart, which is why I’m so willing to let this slide by. I don’t believe that will be true later, but you can’t change my opinions on the future.”

Zeus nodded unhappily.

Athena was scowling looking between Ares and Percy unhappily. Then, her eyes lit up, and Percy nearly lunged off the podium.

Ares was quicker, reaching out and slapping his hand over her mouth. “Shut the fuck up, Athena.”

Percy panted from his spot now in front of them. “Athena, I promise that I have a plan for this to come up in therapy. Please, for the love of all the gods, let that be enough to hold you by.”

Athena snarled and ripped herself out of the grasp that Ares held her in. She eyes were wild. “You….For the….Ugh!”

“Athena,” Zeus asked cautiously.

“She put together what I did,” Ares whispered softly.

“You…You’re fucking right. Holy shit, father is going to kill you.”

Zeus face palmed. “Just for five seconds of this meeting, could you children stop accusing me of being willing to murder you? I’m not going to fucking kill you.”

“Maybe don’t send me on a bunch of trials where I could easily die, and they might believe you,” Apollo snapped.

Zeus raised his eyes to the sky.

Athena looked at Percy. “You can’t do a session on this. It’ll kill Ares which very well could kill Hestia.”

“It would,” Hestia agreed.

Percy shrugged. “Ares is right. Eventually the plot would come out. Maybe not anytime soon, but it would. Perhaps with enough time and family healing, Hestia could survive without fading from what that was, but I wouldn’t count on it, given that without therapy the chances that Ares would be able to speak adequately about what went wrong is far lower.”

Athena stared at Percy. “He will die, Percy.”

Percy met her gaze dead on. He realized with a start that he was tired of defending Zeus here. Sure, he knew somewhere deep inside of him that the children were wrong, that Zeus did love them enough to hold back his power even when he was this angry so that they could live. He knew that. They did not. “And?”

“What?”

“If Zeus does decide to try to kill Ares when this comes out, so what? That is a series of choices this family has to fucking make. It’ll kill Hestia if he succeeds, so maybe that will temper him or maybe it won’t. That’s not for you or me or Ares to decide. What does need to be considered is, can Ares be a member of this family if they don’t know what he did? The answer is no. He will always be drowning in guilt. He will never again trust when they say that they love him because he doesn’t believe they will after what he did comes out.”

“And if he dies for that?”

“Then you have a choice to make, Athena.”

“What choice?”

Percy met her gaze head on once more. “Choose, Athena. If Ares is going to be attacked by your father like you believe, is he standing alone? Are you letting him die for this? You seem to believe you know what he did, so make your own choice.”

Athena puffed up for a second. Ready to tell Percy that of course she would be standing on the side lines, only to deflate a second later. “Fine. You’re right.”

Percy nodded and began making his way back to his podium. This session was getting much more worrisome than the one he had done with just emotions, and this was just the first of many. He didn’t doubt that this was going to get worse with time.

Athena twisted to stare at her father. “You say you won’t try to kill him, but just so you know, if you do, he won’t be fighting against you alone.”

Zeus blinked. “You’ve never fought against me before. Even when you disagreed with my decision, you’ve never taken an action to be against me.”

Athena sighed. “I suppose, I better admit to the real problem I had with Apollo’s punishment then, shouldn’t I?”

Zeus groaned. “If you think it’ll help.”

“Father, if you ever got angry with me, what do you think my fear is?”

“Umm, based on your siblings reactions anything from murder to me making you human and forcing you through trials.”

Athena laughed. The sound carried through the throne room in an empty vacuum. “You would think that wouldn’t you, Zeus. My fear is not of you. As much as you could hurt me the way you’ve hurt them, I do believe in my ability to survive those fates same as they have weathered that storm. No, my fear has always been that if you decide to punish me, I will lose your protection.”

“What protection?”

Athena closed her eyes. “The ones stopping Triton and Amphitrite from killing me when they see me every day in these cursed meeting. The ones that pulled me from the ocean.”

Poseidon winced from where he sat in the chair.

Percy watched with interest on what Zeus would do with the knowledge that his own daughter felt scared of him not coming for her again.

Zeus sucked in a breath. “Okay, we’re coming back to issues that I thought I was just going to let lie.”

Percy smirked. He had designed these sessions to not allow things to lie. They might get an extra night where they could avoid their issues, but they wouldn’t get through the entirety of these meetings without finally dealing with all of their feelings and emotions for each other.

Zeus held up a finger pointed at Apollo. “You also have to answer my questions regarding this, but I’m going to address Athena first.”

Apollo shrugged. “Whatever makes you happy.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. “Athena, my protection of you from them never wavers. Nor have these centuries just involved them waiting for a moment to attack you. Poseidon and I bickered over your safety about 50 years after Pallas’ death. The ocean will make no move to claim you unless you dive beneath the waters.”

Athena froze. “What?”

“Yeah, I bartered with my brother for your safety shortly after I had saved you. You living in fear was not going to do anyone any good, and it wouldn’t bring back the dead no matter how much sometimes revenge feels like it might. So, I figured that it might be for the best to actually consider a bargain.”

She turned to Poseidon.

Poseidon darted his eyes back to his brother. “I didn’t ask for much in return for your safety. I did not want you dead even then, niece. However, I was happy to have it agreed that my cyclops would not be thrown into Tartarus before they attacked a mortal.”

Athena spun to face Zeus. “And you let me live in fear anyway? You never thought to tell me that I was no longer being hunted.”

“I assumed you knew when you decided to fight him for the city of Athens. That didn’t strike me as an action done by someone that had much fear for the repercussions of their actions.”

“I fought him for Athens because my sister was buried there.”

“My granddaughter,” Poseidon corrected.

Athena’s eyes found him. “And yet, you are capable of stepping into Athens. If it had been your city, could you guarantee that neither your wife nor son would take that as the same as stepping into the sea?”

Poseidon fell quiet for a second. “You could have explained that reasoning to me back then. I would have been much less pissed at you for that.”

Athena laughed. “I didn’t think at the time that there was peace between us. I have never known us to be at peace with each other.”

Poseidon stood up. He paced up to Athena’s throne. Then, he dragged her into a hug. “Oh, my darling niece, you are a fool at times.”

“Uncle.”

“You simply had to ask for a meeting. I would not have denied that much even in the worst areas of my rage.”

Athena deflated in his arms. “Father still should have told me that he bartered for my freedom.”

Zeus rubbed at his temples. “Athena, I’m sorry. I truly thought that you were aware that I was doing that and that it had succeeded. If I had known that you were still under the impression that you were being hunted by the others for this, I would have done something.”

Athena sucked in a breath, still tucked into Poseidon’s arms. “I won’t say it’s alright, because it really isn’t. I suffered for so long because of that mistake. However, you are forgiven.”

Apollo cleared his throat. “I’m afraid father, that I am at a total loss on what part of this turns on me.”

Zeus whirled around. “Why the hell didn’t you reach out to me?”

“About the prophecy,” Apollo asked clearly confused. “We went over that.”

“No, you absolute buffoon. When you and Jason and the others were in so much danger that you thought you’d die, when Jason did die so you could live, why didn’t you reach out?”

“Huh.” Apollo scrunched up his brow. Memories were clearly being pulled from him. “No, I remember distinctly that Jason was praying the entire time. He usually did. He thought highly of you, father.”

“I am aware of Jason’s prayers, and your own child’s prayers. However, I was under the impression that they were exaggerating.”

“Why?” Apollo threw his hands into the air. “Your answers always seem to come back to a lack of awareness regarding what was happening. You are the king. You are supposed to know these things.”

“Because of you.”

Apollo’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You better not be about to imply that I am somehow at fault for a situation in which I had very little control, even less power, and am bitter as fuck about being put in, by you no less.”

Zeus’ eyebrows raised. “We’re here to discuss our emotions, not get into pissing contests about who the fuck has more blame.”

There was a flash of light across Apollo’s face, and Percy readied himself to jump in between the two of them. He had a gut feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

“You didn’t pray. You know well about the dangers of certain monsters. I thought that you believed that this group of heroes was more than capable of handling what was after you, because you didn’t pray. If you were in danger as much as you claim, surely you would have gotten over your pride and prayed to someone. As the king of gods, if I wanted to, I could hear most prayers. I usually don’t unless they hold my name or they come from my immortal made mortal son that I was paying close attention for.”

Apollo’s body slammed forward as he lunged for Zeus.

Percy whipped out Riptide and jumped between two gods. His blade stoped Apollo in his pursuit of Zeus.

Apollo snarled at all of them. “Get out of my way, Percy.”

“No. He has the right to speak, and you need to listen. Things won’t get better by attacking him. It won’t bring Jason back, and it won’t help the two of you heal in the slightest.”

Apollo’s form flickered in a show of his control slipping. “Move.”

Percy shook his head. He had a brief second to regret all of his life choices including saying yes to his aunt Hestia when she said lead the family therapy session. He should have told her to fuck off. Apollo’s divinity slipped out, and he was sure he was going up in smoke.

A bubble of water covered him at the last second, blocking the energy from being able to hit him. His ears were ringing and he was blinded, but he was still capable of sucking in breath, which was an important step.

There was muffled screaming from behind his bubble, and Percy hated not being able to know what was going on. If he was supposed to lead these sessions, he kind of needed to know what the hell was going on. That was a required component of being a good therapist.

The water splashed to the floor as the shield dispersed.

Apollo had his arms crossed over his chest. “Sorry.”

Percy raised an eyebrow.

Apollo mumbled something unintelligible, then repeated himself. “I’m sorry. I mean you’re mortal and you really shouldn’t stand in front of that angry of a god, because all that we need to do to get past you is release our little mortal shells that we use to keep you alive. But, we did promise not to hurt you, and I’m sorry I almost broke that.”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, whatever.”

“Percy,” Poseidon said. “You’re well within your rights to demand compensation from him. Especially when his apology is so tempered that I’m not sure that it counts as any kind of apology.”

“It won’t be the last time someone wants to kill me during this therapy,” Percy warned his father. “It won’t be the last time I have to get into someone’s face to stop them from damaging the work we’re doing. Now, without Apollo trying to kill anyone, preferably, Zeus can you continue.”

Zeus blinked at Percy. “Your father is right, you can demand a better apology.”

Percy’s eyes flickered over to where Apollo stood. He sighed. “Forgiven,” he said.

“What?” Several voices all shouted over each other. Even Apollo looked mostly confused as he let his arms fall down to his sides.

“I got in between Zeus and Apollo because that is a therapist’s duty. I was tasked with being a therapist, and it would hurt the repairs being attempted here for violence to actually be managed between any members of this council.”

Percy sighed. “I will be the shield between any of you and violence from another. And Apollo while pissed, remained mostly in control.”

“I quite literally almost vaporized you.”

“You asked me to move twice before losing it. It was my choice to remain, I knew the risks.”

Zeus rubbed at his eyes. “Perseus.”

“My choice,” Percy repeated.

Finally, Zeus inclined his head. “Fine. Then, I’ll try to explain further.” His eyes wavered for a second. “Jason and Will and even Nico. None of them have fought what you have, Apollo. In my mind, having you there with them, was a boon. Your knowledge far outweighs theirs. I figured that if there were issues, you’d be the one to listen for. You, my son, I trusted to know what was happening. I was surprised that Jason died when you still hadn’t reached out to me. I realized too late that I was wrong to wait for your prayer.”

Apollo’s mouth fell open. A sob escaped him. “You waited for my prayer after taking it away. You said…you said that no god would listen to me, yet you still expected me to reach with false hope to save him.”

Zeus reeled back as if struck. “No, no. I never told you that you couldn’t pray to us. I would never tell you that.”

Artemis’ eyes flashed in anger. “Bullshit. I was there for his sentencing. I remember what you said.”

Zeus turned to his daughter, confusion written across his face. “Artemis, I can assure you that wasn’t part of his punishment.”

“And hear this, Apollo, for the duration of your time as a human, be aware that no god will answer your calls,” Artemis spat out the quote at Zeus.

“Yes, I know,” Zeus roared. “I was the one who fucking ensured I knew what I was doing with this gods awful punishment. I quite literally spent the better part of three days agonizing over what I was going to do with his act of treason.”

“Dad,” Dionysus said, calling attention away from the twins for a second. “Dad, did you not mean that to be treated as being unable to pray?”

“What do you mean?”

Dionysus swallowed. He was facing away from the twins and putting attention on himself, which could be dangerous. “It sounds like you’re saying that Apollo can’t reach out to any of us, in any way. Is that not what you intended?”

“No.” Zeus’ eyes narrowed. He turned to face Apollo. “What did you think that meant?”

“That I was to go without being able to contact any of my family for the duration of the punishment. And even if I were desperate enough to try calling out for you, any of you, my pleas would fall on deaf ears.”

Zeus groaned. “You, idiotic child.”

Apollo’s glare returned.

“Of course, I didn’t send you into the mortal world without any contact with anyone. When have I ever done that, even to the children I’ve had that Hera fucking went after with every ounce of her power.”

Artemis froze. “That’s true.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. He stepped forward. He reached out and when Apollo didn’t dart away or flinch, rested a hand on his cheek. “You could have prayed. When mortal, do what mortals do, type of thing. I’m sorry that you didn’t realize that was always what I intended for you to do.”

Dionysus laughed. “Dad, you gotta tell us stuff like this.”

Zeus’ eyes cut over to Dionysus. “Noted.”

Apollo wavered for a second. Then, he nuzzled into the hand on his cheek. “You would have listened.”

“Of course, my son.”

“Then, I’m sorry I didn’t pray. I didn’t want him dead. I didn’t want to die either.”

Percy stepped away from the gods and made his way back to his podium. The violence at least was dying down on today’s session and not a moment too soon. He had four more children who said that this impacted them to go through, and he wanted this day to be over soon. Otherwise, Zeus was going to lose his mind.

Once, he was situated, he watched as the silence settled over the room. “Artemis, would you mind explaining to Zeus where your problems with Apollo’s punishment lay?”

Artemis glanced over towards where Zeus was cradling Apollo’s head still. She shook her head. “I was an after thought to you if you spared me any attention at all while doing this punishment.”

“Daughter, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Shut up,” she hissed. “I know you don’t know what I mean. You’re incapable of understanding where the actions you’ve taken would have hurt others. You have no regard for the pain that all of us feel each time you strike us, and you’re the kind of asshole that doesn’t apologize for all of it.”

She paced back and forth. “You hurt me. Your punishment of Apollo was almost as hard on me as it was on him. You separated me from my twin. The other half of my being. To the point that, I was barely able to keep up with my own domain because trading off with the sun only to see Helios instead of my twin was killing me. The only reason why I didn’t stumble so hard that nothing got done was my huntresses.”

“What would you have me do? Never punish your brother unless you were in on his crime because otherwise it would be a punishment to you both.”

“You talk to me,” she screamed. “I would have told you that I would join him. I would have told you, I’d gladly take the punishment rather than be separated. I would have done nothing wrong and still taken the brunt of your anger to avoid him having been alone in that situation without me.”

“Your siblings appear mostly terrified of my punishments, but you are willing to suffer one for nothing more than to be with your brother?”

“Don’t mistake my words. You’re terrifying when you’re angry, and I have no faith that you wouldn’t one day get us killed. I just, I can’t live without Apollo. So, if you’re going to punish him and make me live every day in fear that he will be gone from me forever, then send me with him. It’s a lesser punishment by far than wondering whether an eternity without him is going to happen when I’m not able to intervene.”

Zeus frowned. “I’m going to allow that to pass for now. I don’t think that I’m going to manage to convince all of you of my lack of a desire to see you harmed anytime soon.”

He stepped away from Apollo. “However, my daughter, I can promise that I will offer you a way to join him if he ever does something this stupid again, although I can’t stress enough that I’d prefer it if you just came to talk to me rather than committing crimes like that. It would be a hell of a lot easier. If you join him, you’ll have a way to contact me in case you change your mind.”

“I won’t.”

Zeus snorted. “You might. Living as a mortal is not a fun experience, and apparently, the method I was using caused pain even when I didn’t intend it to, so don’t make stupid promises that you can’t keep.”

Artemis inclined her head. “Very well. I accept that compromise.” She hesitated for a second. “Will you not say sorry to me? You’ve said it to others.”

Zeus raised an eyebrow. “Daughter of mine, I have no idea why you want an apology. I did not know that his punishment would hurt you in those ways, because again, half the harm you’re talking about comes from your mistrust of me, something that I do not have perfect control over, however, if you’d like an apology for the fact that you feel that way, so be it. I am sorry that I have somehow convinced all of my children to believe that I would let them die or actively cause their deaths. Other than that, I am not actually omniscient, so I did not know you wanted to join him. You were always welcome in the palace. You could have come to me to alleviate your worries at any point. You could have come to me and told me that this was too much for you to handle, and I would have tried to help you. I am not responsible for the fact that you did not do so.”

“I did not do so because I did not trust that you would do anything. In fact, I was half convinced that you would hurt me if you ever knew of my doubts.”

Zeus groaned out loud. “Got it, thanks.”

Artemis titled her head to the side. “It hurts to know how little all of us think of what you would do?”

“Yes, it fucking hurts.” He raised a hand to his head and rubbed at his forehead. “It hurts to know that none of my children come to me and they do so out of fear. It’s shitty, and I have no idea how to fix it. But I’m not going to sit here and apologize for everything that has happened because of that lack of trust, when I’m not the only one who has a responsibility towards those relationships.”

Artemis nodded. “Very well. I accept this.”

Aphrodite stood, rather abruptly. “You apologized to mom for the pain Jason’s death caused,” she started.

Zeus cut her off with a wave of his hand. “I am also sorry for the pain it caused Piper. I should have mentioned her earlier, but in the haste of trying to appease the anger coming from Hera, I forgot about that part of the issue.”

“You are?”

“Yes, I am sorry that she must also suffer the loss of my son. She is not nearly as likely as us to have the time to move on from that loss either, which makes hers all the more devastating.”

Aphrodite paused. “Her grief is worse because she does not know where the two of them began. Her memories, they are still fragmented.”

Zeus furrowed his brow. “I’m afraid I’m unsure what you mean.”

Percy wrote down on his little notepad to add in a section about Hera hurting random demigods when she wanted to win a fight. That was actually quite frankly going to be a rather quick turn around. “That’s another session, Aphrodite. You were not alone in having a child impacted, and honestly, it doesn’t have to do with Zeus all that much.”

Aphrodite turned her gaze to Percy, her form flickering into various forms before settling in his view to something somewhat akin to Annabeth. “Alright.” She took a second. “Then, I forgive both Apollo and Zeus for the pain they caused to my daughter. Their intentions weren’t to hurt her, and it would appear that both of them have either lingering guilt or acceptance of responsibility.”

Zeus grinned at her. “Thank you.”

She rolled her eyes fondly towards him. “I’m not doing it for you.”

“You’re still doing it.”

Aphrodite found that she did not have a response to that. She sat back down.

“Hermes, Dionysus, one of you needs to speak.”

Hermes crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to speak about this.”

“Too bad,” Percy cajoled him.

Hermes looked towards Zeus. “I don’t see how this is anything useful to say.”

“I want to hear from you,” Zeus said lightly. “Even if it is to rehash issues that were presented by your siblings, it will be good for me to know where you stand, so maybe I can help in the future not cause that.”

Hermes looked away first. “Apollo was nice enough afterwards. He’s the only one of my siblings who doesn’t get a pissed off expression when I bring up my love for Luke. Not having him there when I’m still grieving was hard.”

“Oh.”

“And since you said we couldn’t call on him, I couldn’t easily go around and just hang out with the one person who truly felt my grief. And like I probably wouldn’t go so far as Artemis in agreeing to be mortal with him. But I would have liked the option to agree to never lift a finger to help him but still be allowed to talk to my brother. Because he is in fact my brother.”

Zeus frowned for a moment. “I wanted the punishment to be a little harsher than that would entail.”

Hermes shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t see how this matters.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes. “I’m not saying that your emotions are invalid, just that idea wouldn’t have worked.”

“No ideas would have worked,” Hermes snapped. “You sure as shit didn’t care about my grief. The others may have if they had known about things, which is a separate fucking problem. Apollo allowed me to grieve and not be alone. I wanted and needed my brother, and you were going to take him one way or another because he didn’t want more children to die. Fuck you.”

Zeus blinked at the angry rant falling from his son’s mouth. He sat back on his hands. He considered Hermes for a moment. “Do you not think he deserved punishment for defying the orders of the king?”

“What orders of the king? You weren’t being a fucking king.” Hermes balled up his hands in rage. “A king would have known better than to try to distract a prophecy when the fates were already so fucking pissed off about the number of sidesteps that happened to make Percy the chosen one of the first great prophecy. A king would have bothered to check with his citizens to make sure that they were okay, not deny them the ability to go to any of their other children after they lost two. You weren’t acting as king. You were acting like a scared fool. You chose to keep us in pain and hurting so that you could hide away from your fear and for my part of it, I do not forgive.”

Zeus’ mouth dropped open.

“You say that it was to avoid the second war. Look how that ended, she was coming. She was always coming. Hiding away from the prophecy wasn’t going to stop her. Blood would have spilt regardless.”

Hermes panted and then threw his head back and laughed. “You were scared that a second war would kill some of us, well it didn’t kill anyone but more children. Only, it didn’t kill any of us because Apollo intervened.”

“Apollo didn’t intervene alone,” Athena whispered softly. “I, too, gave a quest that I thought might help with the situation.”

Hermes glanced towards his sister. “I thought that Annabeth did that alone to regain your favor.”

Athena shrugged. “She wouldn’t have found anything had I not lit the way, which was technically against the rules.”

Zeus closed his eyes. “I find myself agreeing with Hermes. That was mostly the girl, you just didn’t make it worthless, not something that I find offensive to my rulings.” He turned to Hermes. “You, however, you are wrong.”

“Am I?”

“Fear is something that a king feels often. Fear that the kingdom will crumble, fear that the subjects you swore to protect will fall, fear that this time nothing will be enough to stop what is coming.”

He shook his head. “You say that I did this on fear, I mostly acted upon what I thought would keep the most people safe. Yes, she was coming. Yes, things went bad, but when I noticed that, I would have changed strategies.” He side-eyed Apollo. “Faster, if certain things were bought to my attention earlier, but we cannot change the past.”

Apollo nodded along. He understood now where Zeus was coming from on that front. Or at least Percy was pretty sure that was what the nod meant.

Zeus scratched at his beard. “Hermes, if you were struggling why not come home?”

Hermes scoffed loudly. “Zeus, no offense, I spend most of my immortal life trying really hard to never be in your presence. When I’m in your presence, my changes of being in danger are incredibly much higher.”

“So, it boils down to you not trusting me.”

Hermes sucked in a breath. “I…dad, have you ever given me a reason to trust you? When I needed you most, were you there? Have you ever been merciful with us kids when we desperately needed you to be? Has there been a moment in the past millennia where we needed our dad and he was just there?”

“I…”

“I know you’re the king. Gods, knows we all know you’re the king. But you’re supposed to be our father too. You’re supposed to be family.” Hermes laughed a little too hard and cupped his knees as he bent over.

Zeus blinked. “I’m sorry.”

Hermes froze. His laugh died out.

“I did not realize that you saw me primarily as king not father. I don’t know how to go about fixing that, but I’ll try my best to do so in the future.”

Hermes blinked. “There’s no need to change, Zeus. We’ve all gotten used to it.”

“Used to it and terrified by it. Things I don’t really want my family to think about when it comes to the primary emotions to me.” Zeus paused. “Perseus, do you fear me?”

“When I’m being smart,” Percy quipped. Then he sobered his response. “Not as much as I should be. I trust that dad will be there to temper you most of the time and I trust that you, despite some of your actions, don’t want war with my father.”

Hermes stared baffled at Percy. “He has killed for less impudence.”

“Not to family, and whether or not he likes it, I am part of his family.”

Zeus nodded to Percy. “I know that I don’t have your trust, Hermes. But for the sake of reaching out, please know that you are always welcome to come home to vent and sob and whatever else you need to do.”

“Even if I want to talk about Luke.”

Zeus’ eyes flickered. There was a dangerous rage beneath his eyes, and then it died down. He sighed. “Luke was a troubled boy, and he certainly earned his fair share of my ire in that short life of his. However, I recognize that he was your son and that you loved him as all fathers do their children. If it brought you peace to talk about him when he was something other than a pawn of my own father, that would be welcome.”

“Funny,” Hestia commented.

“What?”

“You mention the love all fathers have and our father in the same breath.”

“You can’t claim he didn’t love us,” Poseidon said with a heavy breath. “He was insane, quite frankly abusive to the fullest extent of the word, but he did love us.”

Hestia shrugged. “Yes, but Zeus is trying to argue that his love is why they should trust him. By that logic, we should trust our father.”

Zeus raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure my worst actions have anything on what he did.”

“Not yet,” Dionysus commented.

“What?”

Dionysus shrugged. “I guess its my turn. I’m scared shitless of you, dad. You keep upping the ante of what misbehavior will get you and the increments make no sense.”

“Dionysus,” Zeus started.

“My turn to speak,” Dionysus cut him off. “You say you love us, okay, I believe you. You say that you care about our opinions, I agree that you do. The problem is we never know when you’re going to draw the line between being our dad and being the fucking king. I messed up and was punished for a century. Apollo deliberately attacks you and he gets made mortal and capable of ascension again with no time limit.”

Apollo raised his hand. “Are you angry at me?”

“A bit,” Dionysus admitted. “You were let off lightly compared to me and yours wasn’t a mistake.”

Zeus blinked. “You think your punishment is worse than his?”

“Has he had to watch child after child die while being the only true contact they had with their family? Has he been locked away from his domains for years stretching onwards and onwards?”

Dionysus waited in the silence. He waited for someone to say something, only no one spoke. He nodded slowly. “Yeah, my punishment is worse. Mine is continuing.”

Percy pointed at Dionysus. “Stay on topic and don’t veer into your own day’s problems.”

Dionysus pouted. “Fine. Staying on task because Perry Johnson will yell at me more.”

Percy’s lips twitched in amusement by the fake name.

“Dad, my issues stem from the fact that there is nothing consistent about your punishments and that makes you dangerous even when we do want to come to you as our father. We have no idea what person we’re going to get.”

Zeus crossed his arms then stopped and let them fall to the side. “Alright, my question to you then, is what would you like me to do?”

Dionysus made eye contact with him. “When I come home, when we’re not in this fucking council room and I’m not actively standing as a god in my own domain, you don’t react as my king, only as my father.”

Zeus’ brow furrowed. “Do I not already do that?”

“Not in a way that I can tell and use.”

Zeus’ expression hardened. “As you wish. But how does that work if you didn’t know I already did that?”

“Give me your word. I don’t mean an oath on the Styx. I just mean promise that it won’t happen.”

Zeus nodded. “You have my word. All of you, children do. When you come home, I am your father not your king. For as long as you’re seeking me out as a father, I will be here for you as one.”

“Thank you.”

Percy clapped. He waited until everyone’s attention was firmly on him and not on each other. He doesn’t think that all of the issues were completely resolved from this conversation, but at least he was pretty sure that this was a good start. Apologies had been made. Apollo was no longer raging at Zeus; Zeus had realized how many issues his children had with him; and Hera was no longer pissed at the death of Jason.

He smiled at the gods. “That was all for today’s session. I hope that this didn’t completely convince you to give up and rather told you that we’re all going to be working towards a common goal.”

“Thank you, nephew,” Hestia said. “I think this was a great start. I look forward to seeing what you’ll bring up for us tomorrow.”

So would he. He hadn’t anticipated adding another day’s topic on day fucking two for day three. That was beyond his comprehension at the start of this therapy meeting.

He felt so tired by the time he got down from his podium. Being almost smote twice, even if he had asked for one, was so much for the day.

Zeus waited for him at the space of the end of the throne room to walk towards the Olympus palace. He laid an arm around Percy’s shoulders as he guided him away.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be this affectionate in front of others,” Percy teased. He couldn’t just let something like this be, it wouldn’t be in his nature.

Zeus pinched his shoulder in retaliation. “You’re the only younger person who is apparently unafraid of me. Let me have this connection, brat.”

Percy leaned into Zeus’ embrace. “Yeah, well, normally, I’d fight you but I’m tired.”

Zeus snorted. “Which time that you almost got blasted to tiny particles finally got to you?”

“Neither, but the need to continue leading afterwards was a bit hellish.”

They walked in silence for a moment. “Does it bother you, uncle? That they have such fear.”

“Of course.”

“Then do something to start combatting that fear.”

“What?”

Percy glanced backwards at where Dionysus and Ariadne were standing together in the throne room as Dionysus lingered. “Go get your son. Tell him he can stay the night. If you want to do better than just the night, tell him that as long as he’s participating in this therapy session, he can stay with family afterwards, because it’s got to be rough going back to a banishment after baring his soul to all of us.”

Zeus stared at him with wide eyes for a second. “You’re good, if I leave you alone.”

“Of course.” Percy would drag himself to the bedroom he has here in the palace. It would not be a difficult task. He had dragged his body through Tartarus and that was actually difficult enough that he would have asked for Zeus’ presence. But here and now, he was just a bit tired.

Poseidon took Zeus’ place. “You played a dangerous game today.”

“All quests are dangerous games, dad. Aunt Hestia asked me to do this, and so I am.”

Poseidon chuckled. “I wanted to tell you that I’m proud.”

“Really?”

“You got Zeus to apologize today. It wasn’t enough to fix everything, but it was a hell of a start.”

Percy’s lips twitched up into a smile. “Thank you.” Luckily that wasn’t a long talk, and Percy was allowed to get to his bedroom quickly enough. He grabbed hold of the blankets and pulled them over himself. Comfy and safe, because this was Zeus’ realm and no one would dare to attack him here.

Chapter Text

Morning resulted in Percy still being tired as all hell. His legs were groggy as he started heading towards the kitchen area. He wondered whether he could bribe either Hermes or Apollo into allowing him a small amount of ambrosia for a pick me up with how little rest he is going to be getting during this.

He stared at Dionysus and Ariadne in the dining room with blurred vision. Apparently Zeus had taken his suggestion and ran with it even further given the presence of his wife. He blinked to clear his vision and went to get food.

He hesitated as he poured orange juice in his cup and then sighed. Zeus could be as pissy as he wanted. Dionysus was here and being rather lax in the sessions. He could have a demigod given glass of wine. He poured the wine.

He knew the second that Dionysus realized what bottle he had grabbed. The stares on his back were so intense that for a second, he almost stumbled on his way to the table. He passed the glass over to Dionysus the second he sat. “Wine granted by me in all my non-godly glory. Enjoy.”

“What the fuck, Poppy?”

“Really? It’s way to early in the morning for that level of creativity in misnaming me. Stick to Perry or Jerry or whatever.”

“I don’t think that he was prepared for you to risk Zeus’ wrath this morning,” Ariadne explained calmly.

“Went over this literally yesterday. Not scared of my uncle. He might be angry but he won’t hurt me.”

Dionysus took a drink of the wine, staring at Percy. “Are you in a truthful mood?”

“Me, always.” Percy gave him an exaggerated wink. “As long as you aren’t going to ask me something that will mess with my very tentative plans for therapy, I’m a beacon of truth compared to most of this family.”

“Did you tell my father to come ask me here?”

“Told him I thought he should. Didn’t tell him that he had to or whatever.”

“Perseus, take this seriously.” The tone shook the table in the room and forced Percy to drag his head up to meet Dionysus’ eyes. He remembered the last time that this happened and Dionysus had tried to drive him mad. There was no hint of madness in those eyes today, just desperate energy to know something.

“I am. Trust me, Dionysus,” Percy put stress on using the name. “I know how important this therapy is. I understand the weight of the quest. I am not being uncaring. I just cannot stress enough that I am a guide during this. Your actions are your own, I’m just a sounding board.”

Zeus breezed into the room. “Children, Perseus.” He piled up a plate of food. He paused glancing at Percy. “Did you need anything this morning?”

“Ambrosia,” he quipped. “I’m good, just a bit tired. Yesterday was a lot of energy.”

Zeus hummed in response. He broke off a square of ambrosia from his plate and set it on Percy’s. “Don’t get sick.”

Dionysus’ jaw dropped open as his father disappeared almost as quickly as he entered it. “What the fuck?”

Percy waved bye as Zeus left and nibbled on the ambrosia bar. “What?”

“He saw the wine.”

“Told you that it would be fine.” Actually, Percy hadn’t explicitly said that, he implied it by not being nervous in the slightest about doing so in the open in Olympus, but the words weren’t exactly spoken.

“You…he…”

Ariadne shook as she laughed at the table. “Well, you sure are planning on implementing some changes to this family aren’t you, Perseus?”

“I suppose so, my lady.” His words sounded stronger after even just a few bites of the ambrosia. He really needed to find a good offering to Zeus once he landed on his own two feet post this therapy thing being finished.

She shook with laughter.

Dionysus glared for a second before his expression neutralized. “Can you answer a question straight forward for me?”

“I can do my best.”

“What’s your goal at the end of this?”

“When I started, keeping Aunt Hestia alive. Now, to see whether or not, I can do anything about the awful state of relationships in this family to make them more positive.”

“All of them?”

Percy considered that for a moment. Was he really going to try to save Hera’s marriage even after all of the pain and suffering that she’s put him through? Yes, of course, he was. Was he actively going to try to mend Zeus’ relationships with his kids despite being the one that Zeus took the brunt of his previous frustration out on? Evidence pointed to yes given where Dionysus was sitting. He was going to mend Demeter and Hades relationship. “I think so. Or at least I’m going to give it a shot whether I push or not, I’m less confident on.”

Dionysus let out a long sigh. “Then, I suppose, I better get used to calling you Perseus or at least Percy. I can’t just misname you constantly during these sessions, eventually your father will stop being reasonable about that. If he hasn’t already gotten extremely pissed off.”

Percy considered Dionysus for a minute. He had figured out with Chiron’s help why the god never used their names. Names had power, and a god speaking a demigods name often enough typically resulted in more divine energy crackling around them. It was catnip for monsters, and something that had once upon a time meant that there was a higher chance that you would end up immortal. There was also a part of it that dealt with grief. Dionysus didn’t want to know all of their names so well that he could recite them in his sleep and then wake up to realize that a decent number of them were dead.

This offer was going to bite him in the ass. There was going to be a god or two or maybe even ten that were going to freak out. However, he was doing this on the basis of who came to talk to him. He didn’t turn away from Zeus’ embraces. He would not reject Dionysus now. “Or you could call me cousin, if my name is still something that bothers you.”

“You would allow me that?”

Percy can’t blame him for the question. Gods and demigods did not mix family titles easily. It was already surprising that Percy called so many of the gods aunts and uncles. It was sheer luck that had kept him from being smote several times over. And actually saying that he saw full gods who had children at camp as cousins could result in many of the younger campers losing their shit and assuming that he was a god. But they did that anyway. When they first saw him, many of them just assumed that he was a god. “Yes.”

“Alright, cousin,” Dionysus sounded the words out carefully. “What’s on the table today? Anything that you’ll need my help with.”

Percy’s scoff came loud and clear. “Today’s session wasn’t originally on either me or Auntie’s list.”

“So why does it need to be addressed?”

“Because it came up yesterday, and if I had let it play out yesterday, two other gods were going to get really pissed they didn’t get a chance to say anything. So today, we’re going to have to deal with it, and I don’t think that it’ll go well.”

“Why not?”

“Because Zeus isn’t going to be the one on blast.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah.”

Dionysus stared at Percy for a moment longer. “If you need me to like break dance in the center of the throne room to distract someone, let me know.”

Percy laughed. He stood from the table. He wrapped an arm around Dionysus in a half hug that he was sure would have gotten him killed even a day ago, but no longer would. “Thanks for the offer, cousin.”

“You’re a brat, cousin.”

Percy skipped out of the room. The ambrosia giving him more energy than he ought to have had on such a day. He found Hera loitering around the room. She had a curious expression as she listened into the kitchen.

Percy offered her a head tilt. Not quite a full bow, but still more respectful than he rightfully wanted to be to her after everything that she had done to him.

“Hello, Perseus.”

“Hello, Aunt Hera.”

Her eyes flashed. “I can still feel your anger simmering under the surface every time that you are confronted with me.”

“Doubt that’ll leave anytime soon.”

“Why then do you offer me the title of aunt?”

“Last I checked, being awful to me, does not make you less my aunt anymore than being horrid to my cousin in there makes you less his mother.”

“I did not carry him in my womb.”

“Neither did his birth mother, not for long. Your husband spent most of the time nurturing his boy. Surely, you had to know the demigod would ascend after such divine intervention at birth.”

Hera’s eyes glazed over. “I thought I was preventing another bastard from being born. My husband had other ideas.”

“He does love them,” Percy agreed.

Hera’s eyes flickered. “Does he not care, do you think?”

“He has always cared, my aunt. Perhaps, though, you should think upon your own actions and not his. His day will come up. We all know that there are more days that will be attacking him than what yesterday was.”

“He conceded. I did not see that coming.”

Percy did not respond to that. He knew that was lie, and he was pretty sure that Hera did too. They both knew that Zeus desperately wanted his family to be closer than what it currently was. He wanted his brothers to be people he could call upon and not be welcoming a fight. He wanted his sisters healthy and happy and whole. He wanted his children to be home some of the time where he could dote on them and council them.

Hera finally breathed out. “I wish to talk to you before our session today.”

“What about, my lady?”

“We both know that today, we are going to address the gods that I hurt and upset when I mind wiped four demigods on the basis of various goals.”

“Yes, we are.”

She nodded her head. “I wish to speak to you about your experience beforehand.”

“Why?”

“Why do I wish to hear from the one that I harmed?”

“Do not act as though you care now about the struggles I went through. We both know those words would be false and there’s no need for them.”

“Your father will likely be more violent than Aphrodite or Zeus in his anger over my actions. The hurt stemming from losing you more visceral than the others. I wish to know how much to expect him to rage and I suppose what amends I could make with you, as I do not believe that your father will be kind.”

“It won’t just be my father,” Percy advised her softly. “Amphitrite does not see the affairs the way you do. She has his immortal heart. She is the one he will come back to. What does she care if he falls for a woman with a lifespan of less than a century? She can have him for that brief time. The sea does not like to be restrained and Amphitrite knows that as well as my father does. She holds no ill will towards his bastards and after my deeds in the first titan war, she was happy to meet with me and have me be in her little family group. Triton to had plans to bond with me after realizing unlike many of father’s demigod children, I fully intended to be a hero for Atlantis as well as the land.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t know what anger they hold. Especially as my father got screwed over in both forms. I was not Neptune’s as you claimed, Aunt. And both of us were forced to know that while still not understanding the importance of the claim you placed on me.”

She winced. “That was not done well. Being unclaimed in the Roman camp just doesn’t happen, and that was the closest I could get to real.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“You soared there. You climbed the ranks, made new friends, did you hate the time there that much?”

Percy chuckled. He shook his head. “It was the people I lost that hurt, Aunt Hera, not the ones that I gained. To this day, if the Romans needed me to the be the praetor again, I would go. I am theirs as much as I am to camp halfblood, now, and I do not regret that.”

“That is unfortunate.”

“Why’s that?”

“I was hoping to be able to use the fact that you liked everyone that you met in the Roman camp to eliminate parts of your anger. I had hoped to point out that without my intervention, you never would have found them, related with them, or become friends with them.”

Percy chuckled lightly. “Aunt Hera, I am angry at you, yes, but mostly because you’ve never once apologized for the pain that you caused me. I’m not… I’m no longer just pissed off that you did it.”

Hera glanced at him. “You hurt my husband, I hurt you. To me there is very little to apologize for. I handled the situation entirely.”

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. “And yet you wanted to talk to me.”

She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “It dawns on me that there were perhaps better ways in which to ensure that this was accomplished that did not as completely hurt other heroes of Olympus and my family.”

“Likely.” Percy considered her for a second. “Did you disagree?”

“On?”

“On what I asked for instead. Do you think that if I had not demanded that any of them would have changed or that they would have done so quickly? Do you think that another Luke would be avoided by any other means?”

Hera pursed her lips tightly. For a brief moment, Percy was sure that he was going to walk away and be done with the entire situation without any care at all. Instead, she tightly shook her head. “You were correct. That was the best way to ensure that another war never happened like that again.”

Percy nodded. “Why then did I deserve to be punished?”

Hera considered this for a second. She bunched up her face then let out the tension she was holding. “You are correct again, Perseus. Very well, I apologize for punishing you. I shouldn’t have done so when all you were accomplishing was trying to save us again.”

Percy smiled at his aunt. “Thank you.”

“You won’t forgive me?”

“There’s no need to forgive you, Aunt Hera. While I might be rather upset at certain choices, I have never held a grudge against any of you for the actions you took. Anger, sure. Frustration, definitely. But time after time when given the option, I chose to come and help you instead of not.”

Hera bit her lip gently. Then, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You have more than earned the right to rest, no matter what the other gods say or do. If they make you do anything after this quest, you can pray to me and I will do my best to intercede.”

“Why?”

Hera’s gaze went dark for a second. “You do not need to offer me that blanket acceptance of the wrongs I have done. You do not have to assist Zeus in bonding with his children. And you certainly do not have to get in between us when we are about to fight each other. And yet, you do. Therefore, I do not have to intervene when someone gets it into their head that a Hero of Olympus is needed, but if you wish for someone to do something, I will try.”

Percy grinned. “Thank you, Aunt Hera.”

“Run along to the throne room. I’m certain that most everyone has gathered there, and today will happen one way or another.”

Percy entered the throne room to find perhaps one of the oddest sights that he has seen since finding out that he was a demigod and entering camp. Hestia had Hades pinned against the wall and was flat out screaming murder. He wisely chose to ignore that. He walked over to where his father, stepmother and half brother were.

Poseidon tossed him a lopsided grin. “Any requests from us today?”

“Don’t kill anyone,” Percy retorted automatically. He tossed a questioning gaze over to the dueling gods. “We aren’t in session, so I’m not going to force them apart, but what the hell is happening?”

“Hestia is yelling at him for you after yesterday.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Percy stormed over there. He glared at Hades. “It wasn’t some huge secret, you idiot. Don’t take her anger for something you didn’t even do.”

Hades held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “I did not want you to be in trouble for this either.”

Hestia backed off just a bit. “What do you mean, Percy?”

“Aunt Hestia, I asked Uncle Hades to avoid saying anything with this first session regarding Zeus’ parenting techniques. I knew that likely many of his children were going to mention their fear of him and that would be rough for him to hear, and that if his brothers immediately jumped on top of that vulnerability, nothing would end well.”

“I was not inclined to listen to that request,” Hades grumbled. “There have been times over the millennia that I might have been kind enough to allow him those leeways, but they are not here and now.”

“I pointed out that his brother was not all that changed from then. He asked for proof, and I gave it.”

“He tried to smite you.”

“He was acting for the benefit of showing who would reach me first. He assumed that it would be my father, but I knew better. Uncle Zeus was going to reach me in his realm long before anyone else would.”

Hestia gaped at him. “You bet what?”

Zeus slugged Percy on the arm as he approached. The hit wasn’t nearly as hard as the god was capable of giving, but still it left an imprint on him. “It was a bet.”

“Necessary,” Percy defended.

Zeus clapped Hades shoulder.

Hades stared at the gesture for a moment before rolling his eyes. “What do you need?”

“I could just be stopping by to say hello before we deal with the day’s session.”

Hades gave the most fed up expression in response to that possible. He looked so tired by that possibility that Zeus ended up chuckling.

Zeus stopped laughing after a second. “You could try not to look so put out by the possibility of me wanting to speak for a reason other than the upmost importance.” He flapped a hand in the air to dispel anyone from the idea of looking to speak. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

Hades’ eyebrows rose even higher at that. “What?”

“I know our nephew would have only come to ask something of you and bet on it for my benefit yesterday. You wouldn’t have sided against any of the children who spoke which meant the only person he would have been hedging for was me, and I just wanted to say thank you for listening to that.”

Hades paused for a second. The silence stretched into the empty air between them before he sighed heavily. “Yes, well, our nephew was correct. My comments only would have served to piss you off and done nothing of value.”

“I’m sure that you still wanted to.”

Hades snorted lightly. “Yes, well, there are many days when I think you need to be brought down a peg.”

“I was,” Zeus admitted freely. “I don’t want my children to live in fear of me and the fact they do hurts more than you can imagine. Trust me, that’ll sting for centuries.”

Hades looked his brother up and down. “Well, yeah, I imagine it would. The fact that Ares is scared of my reaction is baffling to me. I’ve never raised a hand against any of your children.”

Percy cleared his throat. “Uncle, that’s not true.”

“None of his immortal children,” Hades corrected.

Percy furrowed his brow. “That’s not true either.”

Zeus froze at that one. “What? No, he hasn’t. I wouldn’t have let it stood.”

“Umm, I mean, I have a session set up for it, so we can talk about it then. But, just to you know, explain Ares reaction a little. It’s because he has evidence to point to.”

Hades’ arms trembled. “Who? Who did I hurt so badly?”

Hestia titled her head to the side. “Apollo, brother.”

Hades stormed off in a rush of smoke.

Percy rubbed at his temples. Well, that was going to make that session a bit more chaotic. “Should I intervene?”

“He’s not approaching Apollo, he’s going to his wife,” Hestia answered.

Small mercies, at least. Percy didn’t want to know what would happen if Apollo had to face that right after yesterday. He glanced around. “Is everyone here?”

“Everyone but Hermes, but he was sending a few important messages before we started to let those who might need to know that our domains are going to be rather dormant for the time being. Obviously important stuff, we can get to, but the smaller things are unlikely to be monitored, so we can keep the majority of our essence here to devote time,” Zeus replied.

“I’m here,” Hermes said with an over the top bow. He nearly tipped over. He covered his eyes for a second.

Zeus hesitated, then he reached out and steadied his son. “Are you alright?”

“No.” Hermes honesty was clear for all of them to see. “I’m not okay, and I’m not doing alright. And I’m so fucking tired. But, this therapy is important and maybe at the end of it, I’ll be a bit better.”

Zeus frowned for a moment. “Is there anything I can do right now?”

Hermes hesitated. “I don’t love sitting alone for hours as we go around in the circle. It’s a bit isolating when I’m not directly involved.”

“You can sit with me,” Percy offered on instinct. He ignored the expressions he got from various gods. “I mean, I’ll force you to talk still, but you’re welcome to be next to me the whole time. Minus of course, if I have to get in between gods bent on attacking each other.”

“Maybe I should be next to you then too,” Hermes said with a smirk. He nodded though. “Yeah, alright, I’d appreciate that.”

Percy led the way with Hermes trailing behind him. He didn’t flinch when the god pressed right up next to him sitting, where their thighs had zero space between them. He hadn’t even considered the isolation for. Hermes as he couldn’t go to anyone during these meetings.

Ares snorted upon seeing the sight. “Is it Hermes’ day to air grievances about something?”

“No.”

Zeus waited for the last stragglers to find their seats. “Perseus, let's get the day going before anyone else decides to comment on random events.”

Percy nodded to Zeus. “Alright, so today is going to go a lot like yesterday except the people impacted are a bit more straightforward, so we shouldn’t have to do a round circle to find out. If it impacted you, just wait for your turn to speak in the progression of the conversation.”

“What topic are we going to be working with?”

Percy’s eyes turned to Hera. “The impact and effect of Hera deliberately mind wiping four demigods to change their fate paths.”

Hera winced as all of the gods turned to her.

Percy wasn’t quite finished with the monologue though, and he knew that Hera knew that as well and was decently concerned for how he rest of the conversation was going to go with the start being that. “The demigods in question are myself, Leo, Jason, and Piper. Aphrodite, I assume you’ll be speaking about the problems that arose because of Piper.”

Aphrodite’s head whipped away from Hera as she turned to Percy. “If no one else will talk for Jason, I can do a part of his as well. I met him a few times, and he was a sweet boy, one who did not deserve that, especially from the goddess who championed him, the one who mourned him.”

Percy inclined his head. “I have a feeling that Zeus will want to talk for his son.” He sent a questioning gaze at Zeus.

Zeus had a pondering expression on his face. “Aye, I’ll speak on behalf of what happened to Jason, but it’ll veer into a topic that will need to be addressed again on a different day.”

“I know. It’s impossible to talk about Hera’s actions towards your kids without talking about her absolute hatred of your affairs. Just keep the conversation centered on the direct matter, and the little slips towards that will be fine.”

Hephaestus raised his head silently. “I’ll speak for mine as well, Perseus.”

Percy nodded in understanding. Leo’s story was difficult with the memory wipe. So, this might become a problem as they were trying to discuss it, but no matter, that was what therapy was inevitably going to become.

“Who will speak for you, demigod?” Ares finally asked. “As the therapist, you are neutral, so I assume you won’t speak.”

“No. That being said, my father will be.”

Poseidon jerked his head in a nod. His glare at Hera already formed and ready to unleash a tidal wave of rage on her.

“I’d like if Triton and Amphitrite would speak as well as my absence from the sea was noted for a time as well.”

Amphitrite offered him a small smile. “Of course, Percy.”

Triton huffed. “Alright.”

“I’m speaking too,” Ares interjected as if daring anyone to comment on his right to speak.

“What?” Zeus asked baffled.

“I was impacted by Hera’s decision to wipe Percy’s memories. The fact that he knows my secret was something I intended to go speak to him about, but I couldn’t very well have a conversation with the brat when he couldn’t remember my secret because of her meddling. It was quite annoying and to be quite frank with you, hurtful to my overall ability to be me, so I have words.”

Dionysus cleared his throat. “I will also be speaking about my cousin.”

Poseidon’s head turned to stare at the camp director. Everyone knew that Dionysus and Percy rarely got along, and everyone knew that he hated names, but calling Percy cousin in front of everyone was a bit more forceful than he normally goes in terms of ensuring people knew that the winds had changed direction in their relationship.

Dionysus took everyone’s heated stares in stride. “Much as at the time, I was happy the brat was gone, it is impossible not to note what that did to camp, since he was the hero of the prophecy and the commander of the armies.”

Zeus furrowed his brow. “Surely directing all of the younger heroes into battle was done by one of Ares’ spawn or one of Athena’s.”

“Annabeth led the battle often,” Athena agreed.

Dionysus shook his head. “Not like Percy did.”

Percy said nothing in response to that. He remembered telling people where to go; he remembered the blood feeling like it would never stop soaking his hands. He didn’t want to be remembered as that general. Only when he had gotten to the Roman camp, he had gone back into that mindset anyway. It was the only way to save people, and they needed saving.

Hera blinked. “Fine, Perseus’ memories being gone will have all three sea gods speaking plus the god of war and the god of wine speaking. We aren’t starting with Perseus though. My motivations for his were entirely different than when I went after Jason and Piper, so we’re starting with them.”

Aphrodite’s spine straightened. “Yes, let’s.”

Hera held up a hand. “Daughter, much as I enjoy the passion, perhaps as the person who chose to start this, I should speak first.”

“Those harmed should have the first word.”

“Perhaps they should,” Hera agreed. “However, Piper is not among us in this council session and likely wouldn’t survive being brought in given how lax with our godly energy we have been. And Jason can never again join us in these chambers.”

Aphrodite frowned. “My pain occurred too.”

“Yes, but tangential to the action in general. The desired outcome was not pain to you.”

Percy watched carefully to see how Aphrodite would react. She might continue pressing, and at that point he’d have to make a ruling on who to allow to go first. He had an inkling of an idea for why Hera wished to go first, and it was probably a smart one, since after she spoke, there was going to be yelling. A shit ton of it. Aphrodite was going to rip her head off. He wasn’t really sure when Zeus was going to get involved in the conversation but once he did, it was all over.

Aphrodite crossed her arms over her chest. “What do I get?”

“Pardon?”

“If I let you go first, how does that help me ensure that my daughter’s pain isn’t ignored? That my punishment will not be ignored?”

Hera took a second to consider that response. “Because I will still be paying attention to you afterwards. And if I’m not, I’m sure that Perseus will intervene to ensure that you get your chance to speak.”

She paused to ensure that no one else had any objections before beginning. “At first, my response to Jason was anger at Zeus. I took his memories of Thalia and his childhood from him because I did not want him to remember his family. I thought perhaps that would harm my husband in some mild way. Knowing that his children were separated and even if he could design a way for them to get back into contact, only one of them would remember the other.”

“We got into a fight, Aphrodite. I don’t know if you remember, but we were bickering about the fact that you made almost all of the love matches for demigods. I pointed out as the goddess of marriage and family, I could make love matches as well. You were rather dismissive of my contributions.”

Hera tapped her fingers together. “I thought that I could prove my point. Piper and Jason would be good together. A fantastic love story, or so I thought. His death ended that in tragedy that was not intended in my love story for the two of them.”

“Their memories were necessary overwrites at that point. You had your hooks into them already in different directions, so the only way that I could possibly try out my love story, I would need them to have a different background to clear the influences. So, I accomplished that. I wiped their memories and implanted the false ones that they should have had.”

Aphrodite screamed. The rage in that wordless screech filled all of them. Then, she sucked in a breath. “You want to know how I knew they wouldn’t be good together, because to be good together, you’d have to fucking change their histories.”

“Only because you hadn’t considered them from the start.”

“Jason was never meant for Piper. He was bisexual. Annabeth and Percy are one of my favorite couples that I have ever meddled in the love life of, but him and Percy had enough chemistry to start something if they wished to. Leo, another solid choice. Before her death, Bianca was a consideration.”

“Why couldn’t he be in love with Piper?”

“Because Piper and him were better as friends.”

Hera stared for a second. “Why?”

Aphrodite threw her hands into the air in frustration. “I can’t believe that the goddess of family can’t fucking figure this out, but fine. They would have developed different goals. Jason, for all of his respect towards you, and his love of family, he never would have had one. He would have ensured that his lineage ended with him to avoid a curse from you when a line of Zeus was formed and unbroken for more than a generation because that’s usually what you do to those generational lineages at some point.”

“Meanwhile, Piper wanted nothing more than to create a huge family. She wants little bundles of joy and to create her own descendants to be spoken about at Camp Jupiter. She always has. She loved babying her dolls when she was younger. Eventually those two goals would have clashed. They would have ran against each other and destroyed one another.”

Hera tilted her head to the side. “That problem would be easily solved by me, and I wanted them together.”

Aphrodite ran her hands through her hair harshly. “Oh for the love of fucking Zeus, listen to me carefully, so maybe this can sink into your stupid brain, they were not good for each other without divine intervention which is what I try really hard to avoid making a habit of.”

Hera bristled automatically. “I’m not being stupid. I’m being very serious. You say that I don’t have the ability to make love matches, but I made this one. Part of the reason your daughter grieves so much is because the love was strong.”

Aphrodite groaned. She put her head in her hands. “Okay. Back up,” she requested.

Hera froze. “What?”

“Let’s go back to the start of this conversation because we’re talking about separate issues apparently. Let’s start with this, I never said you couldn’t make a love match.”

“What? Yes, you did. You said that I was not equipped to consider love only marriage potential.”

“I said that you never considered the love story itself. You considered the ending too heavily. You stand with whether the marriage would be honored and the oaths bound to each other strong and solid through time. You base your choices on the ability to avoid divorce and continue through. That’s not the love story. That’s the very end of the story. Love already has to be there. Love for you is a prologue when it is the whole to me.”

“What does that matter?”

“The ending being written first means inevitably, you’re going to try to change the past. That’s exactly what you did with Piper and Jason. You proved nothing. In fact you proved my point.”

Hera flinched. “The love story was there.”

“You created it. They didn’t genuinely have any love for each other. To this day, half of Piper’s prayers to me are asking whether or not her love for Jason was real. And I never know how to respond because most of the basis for her love was made up by another goddess.”

Zeus looked up. “Take a day after we finish therapy and go talk to her, Aphrodite.”

“What?”

“Have a pass to go talk to the child for the full day. Bring her somewhere that will make her feel comfortable and lift the memory charm that my wife put on her. Let her be free of this curse and help her through how this is going to change how she looks at the rest of the world and her time on it. If you cannot break through Hera’s memory charm yourself, call to me and I’ll spare a few minutes to break the charm.”

Aphrodite gaped at him. “Are you serious?”

“Of course. Part of your anger comes from the fact that even right now this has not been solved. Your daughter still suffers, so allow me to change that.”

Hera’s spine straightened. “You would so casually undo what I have done.”

“Not casually.”

Hera froze.

Everyone froze actually. Zeus rarely actually took a stance against Hera. For all that they fought about his affairs, he was a kind husband in the sense that he rarely stood up against her. He raised an eyebrow. “Consider it the punishment for constantly fucking with our two children this time.”

Hera nodded shortly. “Fine. I can remove it when Aphrodite chooses a day to be there. The lack of those memories will cause her to have a breakdown.”

Everyone seemed content with that, and it seemed as though Hera was about ready to shift to Percy. He stood up, keeping his hand on Hermes’ shoulder so the god wouldn’t be thinking that Percy was trying to get away from him. “Aphrodite, you spoke of your daughter’s harm, but surely, you were impacted as her mother as well.”

Aphrodite paused in her retreat back to her throne. “Perseus…”

“Nothing can be fixed if we don’t talk about everything.”

Aphrodite sighed. “I don’t want to risk losing the boon that Zeus has just offered me.”

Percy tracked his eyes towards Zeus. A clear indication that he should say something because Percy had no authority to tell her that wouldn’t happen. He might want to threaten people into behavior, but he alas does not have the ability to do so effectively against everyone.

Zeus raised his eyes to the sky. “Good gracious, you people really need to work on your communication strengths. I don’t care what you say next Aphrodite, I took care of the first part of this conversation the way that will help. I’m not going to throw all of that away for the sake of preserving my pride or acting in anger or whatever you’re concerned about.”

Aphrodite tapped her foot. “Fine! Fucking fine. Perseus, I hope you’re happy about what is about to happen.”

Percy knew immediately that she was not going to be reasonable regarding these emotions at first. This was going to be a tirade and rant against the other gods.

She whirled in her dress to jab a finger into Zeus’ chest. “You have denied us all access to our children. We cannot watch them grow. We do not get to assist them with puberty or powers or life. We have to watch from afar.”

Her feet spun as she paced forward to Hera. She shoved with her hand at Hera’s shoulder. “The only thing, the one thing, that I can still do for all of my children with what my domains are is ensure that they have love stories worthy of being my children. That’s all I have for them. All I can manage within the rules is ensuring that they are loved.”

Hera’s hands froze in their motion to push back at Aphrodite. Instead, she lowered her arms. “You can hardly raise immortal children either.”

“More so than the demigod ones at any rate,” Aphrodite spit out.

Hera nodded softly. “You’re right. Even if my goal was to prove a point to you, I should have ensured that it wouldn’t touch one of your children given this is one of the few things that you can actually still do for them. It wasn’t fair of me to do this to you, and I’m sorry that I did.”

“Well,” Aphrodite paused, her tirade cut off. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “Zeus will allow me to restore her memories and give me enough time to make sure that she doesn’t have a complete mental break at the realization of everything that has been changed. You are apologetic for the harm you did to me when you did this. I don’t have enough anger to hold onto in the face of actual guilt. You know what you did was shitty. Now we’re both aware of that. We can’t change it.”

“Would you ask for anything?”

“The ability to do more for my children than just manage their love lives.”

Zeus frowned. “Daughter…”

“Don’t go down that path today,” Percy called out.

Zeus turned to stare at him. “What?”

“That particular restriction is going to come up in its own segment, because Aphrodite is far from the only parent whose parenting has been impacted by that ruling of yours, so we’re going to have a meeting on what that’s done to everyone.”

Zeus froze. There was a second where Percy could tell that Zeus was close to exploding in a cascade of rage. Someone was questioning his decision as king and making it a point to ensure that he knew it wasn’t just one person who thought that but multiple. He wanted to ensure that no one questioned him.

Percy kept his expression open and his feet planted. He was not going flinch away in fear from his uncle. He refused to.

The anger dissipated after a moment. “I trust that you have that session fully thought out, nephew.”

Percy felt the weight of those words land a second after they were spoken. The rest of the gods did too. This wasn’t the same as saying he would wait for his turn to speak like he had a few times before. This was him saying, he was going to trust that Percy had a good reason to bring this up. That he trusted that Percy wasn’t just planning on shitting on the king’s laws.

Percy swallowed and nodded to Zeus. An understanding passed between them. There was no need for Percy to ever fear, even when Zeus was angry. His affection for Percy would win out, because Percy had proven that it would be better that way.

Hera turned to face Poseidon. “I suppose it is time to address my actions towards Percy.”

Percy cleared his throat. “Zeus hasn’t spoken on Jason yet.”

Zeus’ eyes flashed with sorrow for a second. Then, he inclined his head. “I have no grievances.”

Hera spun around to face him. “What?”

“Hera, I knew the second that I had children with Thalia and Jason’s mother that you would do something like this to them. You always do. I just…I no longer care about the actions you do. I’ve come to realize that no amount of trying to explain things to you will change the outcome.”

“You have no feelings regarding it.”

“I feel resigned to this life. That every time I have even a passing thought for a mortal or a desire for children, you will respond with fury. What is the use of being upset when the fury comes? I wanted to thank you actually. Jason was the first one of my bastard children you really looked upon with favor. Not your first champion but certainly the first one you saw as yours and not mine.”

Hera blinked. “I didn’t do that for you.”

“You did it all the same.”

Hera huffed.

Apollo glanced up. “That’s not all you feel, father.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes at Apollo. “Have I told you recently that there are days when I really regret the number of domains you have?”

“No, but happy to hear it every few decades.”

Zeus shook his head. “It hurts that even when all of this first began, you don’t come and talk to me. I stopped sleeping with immortal beings because that impacted you. For a time, I stopped with mortals as well, but I wasn’t built to be contained. We often like parroting Poseidon about how the sea cannot be restrained, but the storms can’t be either. And while there are many days when I am not the storm, there are days when I am.”

Hera shrugged her shoulders. “That feels like we’re entering the domain of talking about your infidelity issues, husband.”

“Hera, please.”

She didn’t wilt at all. “You chose to have children, they were punished. The fact that this coincided with my situation with Aphrodite was just a coincidence.”

“Could you not allow Thalia one day with her brother before he was gone?” Zeus asked.

“I could, but I did not know he would be dead. I fully intended to allow him to earn that boon one day.”

Zeus inclined his head. He glanced towards Apollo. “I don’t feel anger towards her, and I have no wish to continue the fight about my affairs at this session.”

“True,” Apollo said with a drawl.

Percy waved his hand in agreement that it was enough. The two of them were not going to finish being angry at each other today.

Hephaestus stood before she could fully turn to Poseidon. “And my son?”

“Hmm?”

“Leo, the boy that you took from me in order to give Jason a past that wasn’t entirely alone.”

“Oh, yes. It seemed like it would be too suspicious if the two of them were removed from everyone’s memories and only had each other. Leo became the one that I chose to stand as the solution.”

Hephaestus laughed. “Did you care one bit about him or me?”

Hera waved her hand. “It’s not as though it was a child from your own marriage.”

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. “You know as well as I do that my wife prefers the bed of my brother to mine. It would be difficult to have an official child given that fact.”

“So don’t have any.”

Hephaestus snorted. “Your responses to me are the same as my father then. My infidelity shall be punished even when I am not alone in my actions. Even when I was not the first to falter. I am to be condemned to chastity or you will punish me.”

Hera flinched at the wild expression in her child’s eyes. “No, of course not. I merely meant that he was unimportant. You have many other halfblood children to dote on.”

“Many of whom died in the last war. One of whom you are torturing, mother.”

Hera’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, I will remove his block the way I shall for Aphrodite’s girl.”

“No.”

“No?”

Hephaestus leaned heavily on his cane, but he kept his spine straight as he stood to his full height. “Just removing the current torture does not change the pain and suffering he has been through, it is not enough for me.”

“But?”

“No,” Hephaestus repeated cutting her more harshly off. “You do not get to ignore what you’ve done. You do not get to skate by on technicalities. Your blanket apologies to Aphrodite don’t work on me. Your weird marriage with father does not work on me. You took my child and put them through burden after burden and even still he is an after thought.”

Zeus stepped in between the two. “What would you like for your son, Hephaestus?”

“I would like for him to be given a place here to rest and heal. He will still age and die like a mortal but he will not be in any danger ever more. He shall be freed from the burden of the demigod children.”

Hera scoffed. “We didn’t even offer that to Perseus, who by all accounts has done more than your son will.”

“He died,” Hephaestus roared. “When he did, he should have been at peace, but he was not given that option. Calypso instead preys on his weakened state to convince him that she loves him even as we both know she is not capable. His return has done nothing but harmed him.”

“Would you like him to return to death?” Hades questioned. “Because I could bring him there rather easily, if that’s what you’d like.”

“I would not,” Hephaestus said. “I am just pointing out his trauma. And fuck Perseus, no offense intended, but if we are all judging our children by his standards, they will all be lacking. The closest one to managing it would be Athena’s girl, and even she would be dead without the intervention of gods and Perseus.”

Hermes stood carefully. “He would not be safe here. Gods would eventually forget to contain themselves in mortal form. He would die all the same.”

Hephaestus groaned. “Then, what the hell should I do? Because he cannot do more. He needs to be helped. He needs to be cherished. And he sure as shit won’t get that at either camp.”

Amphitrite sighed. “If he had any of the sea in him, I would take him to assist, but he would not be comfortable underneath the ocean even in our forges.”

Zeus blinked. “His mother?”

“Killed by the earth mother.”

Zeus’ lips pursed. There went his plan on blocking his scent from monsters and sending him home. He did need parenting, especially if somehow he had convinced himself that Calypso and him could be a couple and that she wasn’t hurting him still. “I can put Calypso back on her island.”

“I would prefer if you didn’t, as a quest to go save her right after this therapy session would be tedious,” Percy requested blandly. He was forcing his own emotions down regarding Calypso and her fucking stupid requests.

“We might as well bring her here,” Hera said. “It’s about time that she actually bowed before her king and if she still refuses, we can just throw her to the pit. Thus ensuring that neither Perseus or Leo are bound to follow her to free her.”

Zeus nodded. “All in favor?”

“Who?” Apollo asked. “Just the olympic council?”

Zeus’ eyes carried over everyone in the room. He heaved a sigh. “Just fucking vote, people. Hands up if you agree, keep them down if not, and I’ll listen to whatever the hell you’re thinking.”

Hands slowly went up across the room. The only two people with their hands still down were Percy and Ariadne.

Zeus gestured to Ariadne. “What concerns do you have?”

She shook her head wildly. “I..I don’t know enough about her, sir. I don’t want to suggest that we do this and have that come back and be a horrible decision because I didn’t know what she was. I know madness though and isolation surely caused some. Don’t expect her to be stable.”

Zeus nodded slowly. “That’s a fair point. Hera, keep me grounded when we bring her. Don’t let me be surprised by her lack of respect if she is bowing. She shouldn’t be condemned for not having any normalcy.”

Hera agreed with a slight curtesy.

Zeus turned to Percy. “Why didn’t you put your hand up?”

“She shouldn’t be given another change,” he muttered bitterly. “She’s a cruel being. She’s cruel and she doesn’t accept responsibility. Once upon a time, I thought that I cared for her, because she was using me. She saved me only to use me as a pawn and when Hera’s mind wiped me stopped me from fulfilling what she wanted from me, she cursed me. She cursed me because of things that weren’t my fault and got me hurt. And she refused to stop at me.”

Percy glanced at Hephaestus. “Leo is a teenager, she is thousands of years old, but she’s pursuing him.”

“We pursue younger mortals all the time,” Dionysus defended.

“Those younger than majority?”

“Well no.”

Percy nodded. “She’s trouble. I want her no where near more of my family.”

Poseidon glanced up. “I had no idea that you had such feelings about Calypso.”

“It wasn’t exactly like you had much time where I knew about her to ask given we were busy fighting your father, and I didn’t remember for quite a time after Aunt Hera’s actions.”

Hera tilted her head to the side. “New vote, who here thinks we should offer Calypso a chance to kneel before her king and join us on Olympus and who here agrees with Perseus that we should throw her into the pit and be done with her?”

Poseidon cast his vote with Percy, as did his step mother and half brother. In the end, so did Ares, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite. The rest all thought that she deserved at least a small chance to prove that she had changed. Not nearly a majority, but it did make Percy feel better that he hadn’t voted alone and that when he explained his thoughts, the rest of the gods listened. Although it does make him wonder about some of the decisions of others in the past.

Hephaestus sat back down. “Removing her won’t save my son,” he pointed out softly.

Zeus glanced at Hephaestus then sighed. “Then raise him.”

“What?” Several gods screamed all at once.

“He’s right that Leo no longer has an acceptable level of memories of his mortal mother to help guide him. Even removing the block is going to result in confusion and a lack of understanding in his mind, so he would need constant help for a while, because unlike Piper who was mostly just influenced to like a boy, his entire life was rewritten and the war was unkind. Then, when he needed help the most, he got Calypso. He needs a parent. His mortal one is dead, so that leaves Hephaestus, so he needs to go raise his son.”

Hephaestus stared at Zeus for a moment. “And there won’t be consequences for breaking your interference rule?”

“No, I’m telling you to do this, I won’t punish you for it.”

Hephaestus closed his eyes. “Thank you, father.”

Percy could tell that Hephaestus was trying hard not to cry and that Hermes was tensing up. That offer would have been enough to save Luke and they all knew it. But the past was sealed, only the future was up for debate.

Whispering low enough that only Hermes had a prayer of hearing him. “The interference rule is going to come up as we talk. These are good steps to possibly have him lift it entirely when we get there, don’t yell yet.”

Hermes glanced towards Percy, his lips twitching. “Anyone ever tell you that you’d make a great villain?”

“Yes.” Percy did not elaborate and didn’t catch the panic that was written across Hermes’ face at that response. Nor did he realize that it wasn’t just one person, and they were’t always evil when saying it. He was something that could kill, and some people were very nervous around him because of that fact.

Zeus turned to Hermes. “Before we move on this session, I’d like to fully deal with this so that Hephaestus knows that I was serious and taking him seriously.”

Hermes nodded. “I agree that would be wise.”

“Will you go and retrieve her?”

Hermes hesitated. Then, he agreed. He was gone in a flash. Another minute passes, and he tossed Calypso into the center of the room. He turns to Hephaestus. “Sorry, brother, I did have to knock out your kid, he was rather insistent that she wasn’t returning to father’s judgement.”

Hephaestus’ eyes bulged. “He tried to fight you.”

“He was unsuccessful at doing anything, and I didn’t really hold it against him. He is after all a child and one that is convinced that this harpy of a titan is actually in some way good for him.”

Calypso glared at Hermes. “Our love is real and true.”

Hephaestus gave her a short look over. “Can I kill her, father?”

Zeus groaned. “For the love of me, can all of you shut the fuck up, so I can deal with the titan?”

“I feel like my attack on his son needed to be addressed sooner rather than later,” Hermes defended.

Zeus massaged his temples. “Yes, but that’s not relevant to the interjections about why he did it and the rest. We all understand Hermes. The child won’t be punished for the actions taken today, nor will you.”

Hephaestus looked mollified while Poseidon looked like he was ready to throw down over the mixed signals being portrayed. He crossed his arms and nodded to Zeus.

Hermes moved back to sit next to Percy. He bumped Percy’s leg with his as he curled in. “Annabeth said to say hi and that she would be helping Leo when he came back to his senses,” he whispered.

Percy grinned. His girlfriend was a wonderful friend, and she would be able to help Leo understand that breaking her off the island was one thing, but trying to keep her away from the gods indefinitely wasn’t going to work well. Hopefully, she’d be smart and convince him not to start praying for anyone’s interference because this bitch down there doesn’t deserve a change at happiness.

“You were imprisoned on the island for the crimes you committed when fighting us in the titan war.”

Calypso stared at Zeus for a long moment. “Yes, I was. Crimes I committed millennia ago, surely by now I have been suitably punished for choosing my family over yours.”

“Your family is our family,” Hera pointed out. “As much as we don’t like the man, father time was our father.”

Her head tilted to the side. “You are not titans though. You are the family of gods, we were the family of titans, and before us were the family of primordials. We are not the same, nor should we pretend otherwise.”

Zeus raised an eyebrow at her.

“I still feel as though my actions at that time were understandable if not justifiable, and yet myself and all titans remain punished for crimes that occurred long ago.”

“None of you have bowed to the new monarchy.”

“Is that a requirement?”

“To me believing that you won’t try to overthrow me again, yes.”

Calypso met his eyes carefully. She bowed at her waist. “As you wish, my king.”

“Say the words,” Apollo demanded. “Say that you accept his authority.”

Percy leaned his head on Hermes’ shoulder. “If she gets off and released to the mortal world, the second she focuses on another demigod or back to Leo, I’m going to battle her myself.”

“You would not find it easy,” Hermes replied.

“Easy or not, I would find a way.”

Calypso looked confused at the demand but shrugged it off. “I, of course, accept your authority, Zeus.”

Apollo chuckled darkly. “That’s a lie.”

“Is it now?”

Calypso glared daggers at Apollo. “It most certainly is not. I do not want to continue to be punished if the solution is to believe in Zeus as a king, I most certainly believe.”

“Ah, but you don’t.” Apollo considered her for a moment. “You consider him king for now. You would support the next rebellion in whatever form it takes. You wouldn’t want to risk full wrath so you wouldn’t stand as a soldier but you would provide aid to the ailing soldiers of the war, you would provide wisdom from your time amongst us, perhaps even sway a few to the supposed right side of the battle. No, you would harm us if given the opportunity.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes,” Percy said quite loudly in the chamber.

Calypso whipped around to face Percy. “You aren’t a god.”

Zeus snapped his fingers to call attention back to himself. “Your presence here is how it relates to me and my rule, not about the presence of the council as it is currently formed.”

Calypso stared at him. “You want my loyalty. A fine goal to try to achieve but have you considered the fact that you have never given me any reason to have loyalty towards you or any of the rest of your band of gods. You have imprisoned us for millennia. Given us no chance to regain any favor.”

“Untrue,” Poseidon rumbled. “Oceanus and Tethys had most of their freedom before they struck up their war against me when father rose.”

“Not my father, nor myself,” Calypso argued.

Zeus held up a hand to forestall more of the fights. “What would earn your loyalty then?”

“My loyalty right now is to the halfblood who got me off that island. Where Leo goes, I shall follow, even if it towards your band of gods,” Calypso said.

Apollo shrugged his shoulders when eyes turned to him. “That is the truth. She would fight for us if it meant fighting alongside the boy.”

Hephaestus’ glare was leveled at the titan. If Zeus wasn’t going to do something, he was. Percy was having a hard time trying to decide whether that should be something that he intervened towards or whether he should just let that particular problem solve itself in whatever form it took.

Zeus sighed loudly. “Calypso, you cannot be allowed to continuously go after under age heroes. Nor can you be allowed to potentially go against my leadership.”

Calypso withered. “Send me back to the island, and I will escape again. It might take me several centuries, but I will do so.”

Hades stood from his throne. “I tire of this. Brother, are you sentencing her to the pit?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’m taking her down.”

Calypso tried to fight off his grip on her arm, but she had spent many years not fighting, and she was too far into Zeus’ domain for him to not be able to cut down on her own magics. Eventually, the titan and Hades disappeared from the throne room.

Zeus stared at the black smoke in the center of the room. “We’ll give him at least ten minutes before continuing. Perseus, Ariadne, thank you for pointing out the fact that this was mostly inevitable.”

Hera sighed. “I do wish she had been smarter. I was fond of her magics and her view of mortals and vows.”

Percy glanced up. “My oath to her was broken because of you,” he pointed out.

Hera waved him off gently. “Yes, well, I was unaware of that oath at the time. I’m not sure what I would have done, if I had realized that you still had oaths to accomplish when I was going the route that I chose.”

Percy allowed her that excuse. He had already offered her forgiveness. He was just curious about how her actions made sense in her head. To him, her actions seemed to contradict herself constant. However, based on her own logic, she rarely found herself in a contradiction.

Eight minutes passed before Hades reappeared in the throne room. He was patting down his arms still. He glanced towards Zeus. “It is done.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Poseidon stood, and for a second, everyone was prepared for his rage towards Hera to be released. Instead, he crossed the floor to Hades. He touched him on the shoulder. “Are you alright? Did you have to enter the pit?”

Hades blinked. “I was unaware that you still cared, brother.”

“Fuck off,” Poseidon said lightly. “None of us have gone near the pit in several centuries. I don’t care what other fights are going on, I would always come check on one of you after a trip there. I checked in on Athena’s girl and my son after there journey.”

“Not my son?”

Poseidon gave him a light slap to the shoulder. “Your son does not wish to speak to me. He made that clear when I arrived in his dreams to try to see whether he required any assistance after his trip.”

Hades’ lips twitched. “I’m fine. I did have to enter the pit but the monsters seemed to be reserved. Nervous, even. Tartarus was a shell of himself from what I recall. He seems to be biding his strength.”

Percy winced. He had a gut feeling that his actions down in the pit had a role to play in the odd nature that Hades had found. He couldn’t force the words from his throat though. Instead, his limbs shook just slightly under the weight of the memories.

Hermes’ hand squeezed against Percy’s. “Are you good?”

“The pit is not a place I like thinking about.”

“Uncle,” Hermes called down from the podium. “Your son.”

Poseidon was there in a flash of a second. His arms were tight around Percy. “What do you need?”

Percy threw himself into his father’s arms and clung to the fact that he was safe here in Olympus. Tartarus could not possibly reach him here. Eventually, the titan would come for him, but it was not quite this day.

Hera’s eyes flashed for a second. She approached them carefully, possibly in fear of what Poseidon would do. She brushed her hand across Percy’s forehead and the fear dissipates from him. “Breathe freely, child. You are safe.”

Zeus frowned. “Perseus, does the pit haunt you still?”

“Yes, uncle. The actions taken down there were awful.”

“We wouldn’t know,” Athena explained. “There are many places that the gods can see completely but we are unable to see within the pit.”

Percy nodded. “I scared Annabeth.”

“I don’t understand,” Athena replied.

“In the pit.” He was careful not to say the name, while he was confident in Zeus’ strength here, he wanted to give Tartarus no further connection to him to hold onto. It still haunted him to this very moment. “We faced a lot of monsters. I did horrible things. I pushed one of the titans, Iapetus into the river Lethe to wipe his memory. I gave him new ones. Said that we were friends, talked him into fighting his family members, and sacrificed him to others to escape.”

“Fuck,” Dionysus whispered.

“That wasn’t the worst part.” Percy took in a shaky breath. “That wasn’t the part where Annabeth begged me to lock away parts of myself and never let them out, because I would make an unstoppable enemy.”

“Tell us, Perseus.” Zeus was watching carefully. “We can’t help you, if we don’t know.”

“Therapy isn’t supposed to be about me.”

Hera snorted lightly. “Not to worry, Perseus. I will let your father and brother and mother scream their hearts out in a few minutes. We did not expect to have to deal with this today, but we have had to. Now, let us finish that up before we are forced to continue.”

Percy couldn’t find an argument against this. However, there was a part of him still concerned that he was going to be looked at differently when he admitted the truth about what happened in the pit. He was dangerous. He couldn’t live with the idea that his father would consider him one of his monsters.

Tears built up in his eyes and spilled over. “We had to fight Akhlys. She was going after me and Annabeth. We tried to fight her with the normal means, but she was a goddess and we were not. I was down on the ground and she was trying to kill Annabeth with the poison. So, I reached for the poison. It was made of water after all. I wrestled with her for the control of it, and I won. Then, I forced it on her. Over and over again, until she was crying and that was even more water. I was choking her in her own poison and tears. In my head, I thought about trying to figure out how much misery, misery could take.”

Before anyone else could speak, Percy was continuing. “And, while we were escaping, the master of the pit came to stop us. I had to control the rivers of the underworld to gain the upper hand in the fight and manage to get out of the doors without him. I can feel him even still biding time to claim me. I was never meant to escape.”

“You took control of the goddess of poisons, poisons?” Dionysus asked bewildered.

“It was water based.”

“You fucking fought Tartarus,” Ares breathed out.

“It was that or die.”

Zeus laughed loudly. “Well, if that isn’t your son, Poseidon, I don’t know what would be. Water doesn’t like to restrained, and he fucking took it back from poison when it came after him.”

Poseidon couldn’t help but join into the laughter. “Oh goodness, it reminds me of when we used to brawl Zeus. You would send down the lightning storms, and I’d grab hold of the rains in rage.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “Will the two of you address the fact that Perseus feels as though he’s done something wrong?”

Zeus glanced over at his nephew. “Perseus, you did good. You won a battle that wasn’t meant to be won, and you did so with all the powers available. You aren’t a monster for wanting the person who was torturing you to suffer. That is the way.”

Poseidon nodded along with Zeus’ speech. “And don’t worry about grabbing hold of the poison. Most of my children do not connect with my domains quite as strongly as you do, but you are still doing so with my gifts, you aren’t going further than I could if I felt threatened.”

Hades hummed along with Poseidon. “And you were grabbing hold of her domains. Both misery and sorrow would have been way closer to your psyche than what you’re used to. It’s not surprising that you leaned further towards those when the domains when you were exposed to them on such a level.”

“You are not a monster,” Hestia added.

Athena had her head titled to one side. “My daughter is many things, wise among them. However, she was also in the depths of the pit beside you. She was not thinking clearly when she told you that you needed to hide that part of yourself. You should not hide that part of you. You should fight with that when push comes to shove to protect yourself and those you love. Do not feel guilty for using those powers.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

Athena’s face scrunched up. “No, please don’t call me that.”

Dionysus snorted in amusement.

“What would you prefer?” Percy asked softly.

“Athena, or I suppose since you seem determined to remind us of our familiar bonds with each other, cousin.”

“Thank you, cousin.”

“You are welcome, Perseus.”

Poseidon turned to Hera. “After all of this, will you stand by your decision to wipe his memories? To have taken him from me, and the rest of us his family?”

Hera blinked in surprise at the sudden turn of the conversation. She looked around to see whether anyone else was going to say anything before she had to defend herself like this. Finally, she nodded softly. “Let’s step away from your son to have this conversation, brother.”

Poseidon jerked his head into a nod. They both left Percy alone on the podium, or he felt alone until Hermes’ presence was once again pressed into him, and he released a breath.

Hera walked to the center of the throne room and cast a glance around the room. “Do I have your permission to speak first?”

Poseidon tilted his head to the side. “You rarely ask for permission, sister.”

“I am not a fool, brother. I am fully aware that what I did pissed you off then and likely continues to piss you off to this day, I am asking rather than taking.”

“You might as well speak first. I have a feeling it won’t make much of a difference.”

Hera let out a sharp laugh. “Yes, well, I guess we’ll find out. To start with I have a question for everyone in this room, does anyone deny that Perseus is a member of this family?”

Poseidon gaped at his sister in disbelief. “What in the world are you doing starting with that introduction?”

“Attempting to explain. As of right now, would any of you deny him as a family member?”

No one spoke. No one raised a hand. No one even remotely considered doing so from what Percy could see. Honestly, he had just bared his soul to them and every single one of them was responding to that as if he were still the most loved person in the gallery. The remaining tension in him was gone.

Hera nodded. “I concur. At the time that he rejected godhood from the council, would any of you denied him family?”

“I would have,” Demeter spoke. Her voice was calm and tempered. “I mean, he would still be of our essence, but after turning down godhood to cling to mortality, he chose a side of himself and it wasn’t the one that would put him on par with us.”

A nod accompanied that from Hermes. He flinched a little looking down at Percy. “Sorry, but I had seen you as a cousin and then when you turned down godhood and I realized that eventually inevitably, I’d watch you die as I watched Luke die was hard. I wouldn’t have seen you as family anymore if only to protect myself from the grief that I felt was coming if I chose to love you.”

Poseidon stared at her. “Where is this going, Hera?”

“My point is that not everyone saw him as family after his stunt.”

“I won’t deny that,” Poseidon spoke carefully, as if he was weighing the cost of each word. “But how does that translate to what you did to him? You wiped his memory as if he were nothing. As if the bravery he had shown was worth as little to you as blood did, as if the loyalty he had shown us was worth so minuscule of an amount to you that it was worthless, as if his pain and suffering did not give him any protection in this cruel world. You treated him as if he had done nothing to earn your favor after saving all of us.”

Hera stared unwavering at Poseidon. “He had hurt all of us, Poseidon. I will not deny that I did not treat as a hero. I saw him as a pest. Someone who had spat on an offer that we so rarely give any of his status. I crushed him under the weight of my foot because he had dared to continue to put himself there when we offered to release him.”

“You don’t get to do that,” Poseidon roared. “You don’t get to hurt people when they hurt you in ways that are unintended.”

“Don’t I?” Hera questioned. “Have you not raised the sea tides so high to drown entire ships because they accidentally harmed one of your children? Have you not choked their family members with salt water for an offense?”

Poseidon’s eyes flashed with anger. “You dare to assume that I would have hurt someone like my son? Never have any of those heroes done anything for Olympus and family. If they had, they would be safe.” He waved an arm at Zeus. “His children are safe in my waters, the most recent ones. They had done actions for all of Olympus worthy of being spared my wrath at their father and some of their lesser actions.”

Hera bristled under the attack on her. “I…Poseidon, it wasn’t like I killed him.”

“Didn’t you? You killed the boy he was. He knew nothing and the boy who came back with his memories could not be the same having been Roman for a time.”

Percy watched with interest at how the conversation was going. Right now, they were both letting out healthy amounts of anger. However, the waters were bristling in the area, and Percy was prepared for his father to get more violent as the conversation went on.

She stepped back away from Poseidon. “I didn’t lose him forever. I just wanted him to suffer. He suffered and then he came back. That was a punishment reasonable to one of ours.”

“He wasn’t yours to punish,” Poseidon snapped back.

“As if you would,” she screamed.

Water raised in the room at Poseidon’s call. “Damn right I wouldn’t have. He hadn’t done anything to deserve punishing.”

“He hurt Zeus,” Hera screamed.

The water roared in response, towering over all of their heads.

“My brother deserved whatever he got from that response. He had my son almost killed time and time again. The reason why my son would have considered denying immortality was him making it seem like we weren’t anything to be proud of.”

Percy leaned back on his heels in the podium, prepping himself. The water was hot and bubbling. By all accounts, it was his father’s domain and it was reacting to his anger. When he released it on Hera, Percy was going to have a hell of a time convicting it to fall around her and not knock her out and under the waves.

Hermes looked between Poseidon and Percy with wide eyes. “Percy,” he whispered frantically, “please tell me that you aren’t planning on fighting your father for water right now?”

Percy shot a quick glance over to Hermes. “Not entirely.”

Hermes sat straight up. “Holy fuck.”

“Hush,” Percy commanded. He needed to pay attention to what was being said here.

Hera stared at the rushing water for a second before turning to her brother. He was the one that she needed to reason with. He was the one that was raging at the treatment of his favored son. “Poseidon, please, you know how we are when we are hurt. We do not take kindly to others making light of our customs. Please, you have to know it was not my intent to make war with you.”

“And yet you did.” The sudden calmness to his voice was the only warning Percy got that the water was going to attack.

Percy’s hands were held up immediately as he called to the water. Rush around, he commanded to the water. Move around my aunt, he demanded. His strength would need to be enough. It was important that managed to happen.

Hera stood dry in the center of the room as the water crashed and cascaded all around her. Her eyes flickered to the others gods, before she glanced towards Percy. She knew, and Percy knew she did, but she hadn’t said a word yet about it.

Triton glanced towards his mother. “I wasn’t aware you had any mercy for the woman.”

Amphitrite shook her head. “I have no compassion for her. My husband’s son was to be home. He was to be paraded around Atlantis as a hero. When she took him, the sea was not kind in its absence. Nor was Neptune particularly glad of the clear imposter parading as his child.”

Triton once again turned to the water’s which while surging upwards and crashing down had yet to knock Hera over in their attempts to drag her below the surface. “Well, it’s not me. She’s hurt way too many cousins and stopped the best attempt at fraternizing with my brother that I’ve ever had.”

Amphitrite’s sharp gaze pierced Triton. “Husband, are you controlling yourself?”

Poseidon snarled. “I’m pretty sure the waters wouldn’t kill her and nothing else.”

Hera blanched at that admission. The confusion on the three sea gods in the room was enough to get to her, especially as they continued to be angry and shout about her causes. Eventually her eyes tracked back to Percy. “Thank you for your protection, nephew.”

The word struck everyone all at once. Zeus called him that rarely, usually when he was making a point that he wasn’t to be killed. Hestia called him that often but in the same fond tone that she used with everyone. To her the title was as easy as breathing and not something that anyone had to be particularly worked up about. Hades did it on occasion when the mood struck him to be reminded of his brother. But Hera had never once considered a bastard as part of a family to the point of calling them such.

Until today, and until Percy was standing before her as a saving grace against his father. His eyes were bitter as he turned to his own father. “You will not hurt each other in my family therapy sessions. I’ve been over this.”

Poseidon recalled the waters when he realized that his son would not let them move any further forward, and he could not force them without hurting his favorite son. He stared at Percy for a long few moments. “Percy…”

Percy let his arms drop, and he went down to his knees. He let out a rough sigh. “I would like you to consider not using me as an excuse for your anger.”

“What?”

“Triton is upset that he didn’t have the best time to bond with me. That’s fair enough actually. She probably did take that from the two of us, although he’s had ample time that if he wanted to bond with me, he could have. It’s not like I am not standing here at the family therapy fully available in the evenings at Olympus to be talked to and bonded with. Dionysus can attest to that.”

“As can I,” Ariadne chimed in softly.

“Mother is upset because of your Roman’s form’s pain and the anger you felt. Again that’s a fine anger. She has every right to not enjoy the consequences she faced due to someone else’s actions.”

“But you,” Percy continued. “You talk about my pain. You talk about what she did to me, not to you.”

“Exactly. You are my son. I am your protector and she went around me and hurt you.”

Percy nodded. “But it is not your harm to be angry about. It is mine. Mine to hold onto. Mine to be angry over. And mine to forgive.”

Percy sat down roughly on his podium. “So, I’ll say this again, Aunt Hera, this time with witnesses. I am still angry at the fact you repaid my loyalty with punishment, but for what it's worth, I do forgive you. You are vengeful goddess and you felt I had wronged you however unreasonable that assumption was, you were only acting in your nature. And I forgive you, because you are trying here and now.”

His eyes followed over to Ares who was staring at him wide eyed. “For what it's worth, I forgive all of you for the pain you’ve dealt me over the years. Being here and working with each other so that you’re better for the next generation of poor mother fuckers who need you is enough.”

“All of us?” To his surprise, it wasn’t Ares that was breathily whispering that question towards him, it was his uncle Zeus, staring at him in wonder.

Percy turned towards his uncle. “Were you unaware? I’ve forgiven you, uncle. What you’ve done to me, it’s forgotten and in the past. I am far less angry at you even than I am at Aunt Hera.”

His eyes followed to where Ares were slightly shaking again. “And you, I’m not even angry at.”

“What?” Ares blurted out the question before he could stop himself.

“You regret, you’ve atoned, and you’ll never let it happen again. What more could I ask for from someone?”

“Revenge,” Hera said softly. “It’s what all of us would have wanted.”

Percy glared at her lightly. “That’s why we’re in therapy, because that’s not what you truly want. When you go after revenge, what you want is for them to experience a small fragment of your pain, but it never works. It will not make you feel better, it will not undo the harm that you went through, and it will only further break the bonds between you.”

Poseidon canceled the water all together, allowing it to flow back to the rivers. He let out a breath. “I will concede your point, Percy. Your pain is yours to deal with, although you only have to ask for me to help and I will.”

“Thank you, dad.” Percy smiled at him. “Now, tell Aunt Hera about why this hurt you without using me as a scapegoat, please.”

Poseidon snorted. “Only you would command a god that just finished being super upset with someone.”

Percy just raised his eyebrow in challenge. Yeah, maybe this was something only he would do, but it’s exactly what he’s done and what he’ll continue to do, and by the gods, they were going to fucking listen to him when he speaks.

Hera hesitates, then steps forward towards her brother. “If you don’t mind, can I address your wife and son first?”

Poseidon blinked in surprise, then he nodded. “Yeah, alright, sister.”

She smiled softly at him. “Triton, I had no reason to suspect that you were wishing to bond with your half brother, the last gossip I had heard on the subject suggested that you had no desire to ever relate to or speak to him in your life. I am sorry my actions caught you up in them. My intentions were not to mess with you.”

Triton shakes his head softly in amusement. “That’s alright, Aunt Hera. You’re right, it is rather unexpected that I wanted to bond with this brother. He’s usually rather annoying and not someone that I would want to be dealing with.”

“Then why do you?”

“Because he keeps fucking saving us. Even when I’m a fucking rude asshole to him, he comes to my aid if I call. Even when the world of gods has shown him nothing but disdain, he came to defend it. If that doesn’t deserve at least some of my effort to put bygones behind us, what would?”

Hera nodded. “Yes, I suppose, he did deserve some grace.”

She tilts her head to consider Amphitrite. “Had you informed me or invited me to celebrations, I would have postponed my plans for them.”

Amphitrite considered Hera for a moment. Two queens sizing each other up and down in a matter of seconds. “I did not intend for Olympus to be present. I thought that it would put Perseus on edge.”

Hera inclined her head. “You are likely correct, but I could not have known that I was interfering without that invitation.”

Amphitrite waved a hand. “It is mostly a passing transgression between us. I do recall when I allowed my son to wreck one of your parties on accident.”

Triton groaned. “One day, I will outlive that story. It’s only been several thousand years.”

Apollo chuckled alongside him. “Unfortunately, they delight in telling stories about when us gods were young.”

Triton perked up. “Wait, can I barter my forgiveness on no longer having that party held over my head?”

Hera covered her mouth to contain her laughter, only Amphitrite, Poseidon, and Zeus were not as kind to him. Laughter began booming in the throne room.

Poseidon clasped Triton’s shoulder. “Alas my son, you cannot barter with that. It’s pretty clear that both you and your mother aren’t truly angry at her. You are merely upset with what she has done, and she will not do so again, so all is fine between you or as fine as it will be.”

“And you, brother?”

Poseidon glanced at Hera. “If we are only talking about the harm that you did to me, which is cost me a precious few months with the son I love and result in pissing off my Roman form, it is not like these are not injuries that we have passed back and forth to one another before. In a different time, none of this would have raised any eyebrows.”

“But we are not in a different time. We are in this one, and in this time, I am concerned that you do not consider it the same.”

Poseidon nodded slowly. “I think that I was unfair to judge you for this as harshly as I did. I should be a protector for my children. I should be willing to stand between them and gods. However, my son does not wish for me to stand between you and him presently. He is trying to make peace with all of you. The pain you dealt me, I have done to you many times over. You have never lorded it over me. I will grant you the same mercy.”

“So am I forgiven?”

Poseidon stared at her. “There is nothing to forgive in this case.”

The tension left Hera’s body. She slumped forward. “Thank you, brother.”

Ares clapped. “Fantastic, can we move away from Perseus’ family to the harms you did others when you told literally no one of your plans?”

Hera spun around to Ares. “Actually, why in the everlasting fucks of the universe were you upset that I mind wiped him? That must have been a weight off your shoulders, knowing the person who had your secrets was no longer there.”

Ares laughed bitterly. “Mother, that assumes that I wanted them to be secrets.”

“You keep them even now,” Zeus pointed out.

Ares glanced over to him. “From those that don’t know, yes. Because I am a coward at the end of the day when it comes to the consequences of my actions, not because I want to be left alone to stew in my guilt. I want atonement, yet I am terrified of punishment. The literal only person that I knew of to go to was Perseus.”

“Why?”

“Because for whatever reason that he has, he did not turn me in. He could have. It would have bought him Zeus’ favor when he had none. It would have probably saved his ass when talking to you, mother. Or he could have turned to his father and been like, here a god that I probably should have protection from, please tell me how to deal with the enemies I made. Only he didn’t. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know what he thought I should do.”

Percy smiled towards Ares. “When we get to the day we share your secret, if you’d still like to know those answers, I’ll give them to you.”

Hera frowned. “If your secret could do all of that, and he didn’t turn you in, then, I’m confused as well.”

Ares nodded dramatically towards Hera. “We all would be. I mean maybe I could have seen it, if the person who did the crime was Apollo and the only one holding onto the secret was Artemis. The two of them are close enough that I could see that happening.”

Athena groaned. “Don’t forget that I’ve pieced together this secret, Ares. I would have held onto it as well.”

Ares whipped his head around. “What?”

“The consequence of using this against you is too high for me to ever be willing to use it even for my own gain. Even if my life were at risk, I would hesitate. Your death would be imminent as well, and I would have to live with that.” She paused. “About your guilt, I have no tips for that. It is what it is, the actions already done, the results already accomplished. No amount of realization that you fucked up will change what has happened here.”

Ares flushed.

Hera regarded them carefully. “You could have intervened, Ares.”

“What?”

“My memory blocks are powerful, yes. However, if you were to trigger him it would be easy, and we all know that you were still at Camp Jupiter. You could have brought him to the girl, unlocked his memories, and dealt with the issues, but you didn’t.”

Ares chewed at his lip lightly. “Mother, I didn’t want the attention. I was and still am terrified of all of you finding out this secret. I could not intervene without dragging attention to myself, and if I intervened far enough, father would have punished me like he did Apollo.”

Zeus’ eyes strayed from Ares over to Apollo.

Apollo heaved a sigh. He stepped close to his brother and dragged him into a one armed hug. “My punishment really did a number on you, didn’t it?”

“Understatement of the century.”

Apollo didn’t let up from his hold. “Well not to worry, brother, you’ve got Percy as your defender when you tell us. If he wouldn’t let his own father harm Hera, you can rest assured that he will do his best to keep you safe from harm.”

Ares nodded.

Hera patted Ares’ hand. “For what it is worth, I am sorry that you got caught up in this. I do believe that there is little I could have done with the information that I had that would have changed the outcome, but I understand that this was not an easy thing for you to undergo alone, and that Perseus would have helped you.”

“That’s the point, mom. You should have known. Percy meant more to many gods than just me. What about Hermes? Percy is the one that helped him grieve both sons.”

Hera fidgeted for a second. “Yes, I suppose I should have considered that Perseus is well loved among the gods. It’s just, that isn’t common for a demigod.”

“Uncommon, yes,” Dionysus said. “Never before seen, no.” He glanced towards Percy. “Perseus and I are uncomfortably similar in many ways. All of you continue to be blind to it, but not me. Listen to his stories about what he underwent in the pit. Could any but the brothers have managed that, no, but he did. Could any short of a god have called upon the rivers of the underworld and have them listen, definitely not, yet they answered his call.”

Dionysus stood before all of them. “He ate ambrosia this morning handed to him by Zeus because this is tiring to him. The divine energy crackling in this throne room would kill a mortal, it would severely impede regular demigods after much longer than an hour, but for him. All he needed was a bit more of a connection to divinity, and he was right as rain.”

He stepped forward a bit. “Hera, did you ever wonder what consequences would come from ripping Percy away from the camp?”

“He is a demigod, not all that important to running a camp.”

“He was their general in a war, their trainer for the upcoming war. He was what got them through death after death and forced them to charge forth. They had to know they could fight, and he taught them. You did not take away just a regular hero. You took away someone on the same scale as Achilles, and I met them both. Perseus is far more important.”

Every time Dionysus said his name, Percy wobbled just a bit. He wondered if that was why the god refrained from using names so often. Something in one of his domains got a little too giddy when they were mentioned, so he was making sure that it wouldn’t cause further problems.

“Son,” Zeus cautioned.

“No, we are in therapy, and she needs to hear this. All of you need to hear this,” Dionysus said bluntly. “Perseus was who the campers looked to. Without him there to lead, things splintered and fell apart. There is a reason why when he stepped up in Camp Jupiter, there were campers who believed him a god. And there is a reason when trouble brews in my camp, they don’t turn to me. They go to him first. They send him as a delegate. They know who will stand between them and the monsters that come for them.”

Hera swallowed. “What happened without him there?”

“The other older kids tried to teach, none as well as him, and I’m confident as least three injuries occurred that Perseus would have been able to stop occurred. Not to mention that when the prophecy was read, everyone looked around for the savior of Olympus. He was not there, because you took him.”

Dionysus stared at Zeus. “We all know that I am camp director at your whim not my own, and while I am there, the boundary tolerates my presence at least somewhat and allows me partial control, but it is not my domain. As much as family matters to her, Hestia stays in camp often, but still it is not her domain. The border bends for the boy. The border folds when Perseus tells it to and it stands when it should not at his command.”

Hera stepped back from Dionysus. “I was unaware of how important to the camp he was.”

“All of you were,” Dionysus snapped. “None of you have bothered to check in with the camp since I was sent there. Your children are there, your legacies and heroes, they’re at camp. You used to look in on them, at least occasionally. But now, and when Hera used this punishment, it is me alone and I am banished and unable to reach you. I knew what Percy’s disappearance would cause.”

Hera raised her hands in submission. “You are right. I should have checked in with the camp before I did anything.”

His eyes flashed dangerously, and Percy readied himself to jump into the fray, tired as his bones were. His thoughts did stray to Dionysus’ name in his head though. He did not particularly want to go over the edge of that podium to stop him.

Dionysus froze. He stepped back to stand at the edge of Percy’s podium. “Sorry, cousin, didn’t mean to make you think you’d have to intervene. I’m still in control of myself. Just a little upset.”

Hera glanced up, a gratitude in her eyes, that Percy was going to have to get used to being there when he did something like this. He inclined his head to her.

Dionysus turned back to Hera. “You alone are not at fault. However, you took their protector.”

“And gained Camp Jupiter theirs.” Ares looked up at Percy. “No one can deny now that Percy is both. He can walk freely among the camps the way we can. More so than the other of the seven. More so than any that don’t have a greek or roman form.”

Poseidon cleared his throat.

Amphitrite snorted in amusement.

Zeus turned to them. “Something to add.”

“My husband has never been the greatest of you at keeping his forms separate like the rest of you. The sea is just the sea. It doesn’t like being contained even into one form. He is old, sometimes he flashes.”

“Okay…”

“I loved Sally with all of the ocean, the way she loved the ocean with all of herself.” Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. “It was this form that went running on that beach after finding out about Thalia and Jason. I am less confident which form slept with her, just which one she prayed to.”

Percy scratched at the mark on his arm that said he was Roman. He knew that he wasn’t. However, he also remembered the greek camp feeling like home but not in the way that Annabeth described or Nico. Home was not like that for him. Odd, but nothing too worrying, he hoped.

Hera let out a desperate laugh. “Tell me you did not allow your ancient form out, brother.”

“Should I be making him call me, step mother too?” Demeter questioned.

Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. “I could not tell you and neither could he. If he walks where others don’t, that might explain it though.”

Hera shook her head. “Good gods, Poseidon, really?”

Dionysus heaved a sigh. “Well at least that explains why his power level is off the charts.”

Hera blinked. She glanced towards Dionysus. “Am I forgiven?”

“For forgetting the camp? Not a chance.” He paused. “But for what its worth, I don’t think it was deliberate, and while I spoke for them, I won’t hold the grudge for them. It’s Perseus’ to forgive and from my understanding, he has.”

Hera sucked in a breath. “Ares?”

Ares looked up at his name being called upon by his mother. He met her gaze head on. “For hurting me because you didn’t check with anyone before punishing a demigod with deep connections, sure.”

“Sure?”

Ares shrugged. “It’s not like we all haven’t done it. We should have checked in about Luke. We should have bothered to see about the unclaimed bunch. We should have done many things. You’re just a worse offender in some ways because where most of us acknowledged the importance of the brat once he saved us, you did this shit afterwards. But we all did it, and I’m not going to stay angry about something that was routine if changing when you did it.”

She swallowed. “Brother?”

“Water under the bridge, sister.”

Percy smiled. “Then, let’s call it a wrap.”

Hestia stood with grace. Her skin was a warmer color than Percy had ever seen from her before.

Demeter clasped her hands. “Hestia, you look…”

“I look healthy.” She grinned. “It would appear that despite some of my misgivings that Percy is succeeding rather well in his task.”

Percy saluted her. “Glad to be of assistance, auntie.”

Hermes frowned as he walked next to Percy towards the Olympus palace.

Percy picked up on it rather quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to head back out to take care of messages while we’re on break.”

“So send out your little shades,” Percy suggested.

Hermes blinked. “And what should I do with this body?”

“You said that being alone was hard, so I’ve got a bedroom with a large enough bed to share with a cousin. Or if you want your brother, he’s around here somewhere with that wife of his, I’m sure if you asked nicely, they’d allow you in. Your dad would welcome you too.”

Hermes stared at Percy for a second. “I don’t want to join my brother in an orgy, and dad would literally never agree to comfort me during a bit of his down time.”

“Uncle Zeus,” Percy said in barely above a breath of a whisper.

A shade formed in front of him almost immediately. A smile gracing Zeus’ face as he arrived. “I’m quite happy that you’ve gotten comfortable praying to me, Perseus.”

“Good. Your son seems to want your comfort and believes you wouldn’t give it.”

Hermes shot Percy a look that screamed betrayal and pain for having shared this secret at a later date, but Percy paid it no mind. Hermes wasn’t thinking clearly, so Percy was going to have to do the hard work for him.

Zeus furrowed his brow. He gently reached out and when Hermes didn’t shirk away from the touch gathered him into his arms. “Oh, sweet boy, how about we go to your room and lie down?”

“I need to send out shades.”

“Poseidon,” Zeus called out, yelling across the throne room and a good portion of the walk to the palace.

Poseidon turned to face Zeus, questioning in his eyes.

Zeus inclined his head. “Could you see if Triton would be able to take Hermes messages for the evening until we meet again?”

Poseidon turned to eye Hermes carefully. “If he can’t, I’ll help him. Make sure that Hermes is alright,” he offered softly. The sound carried to them the way that Percy imagined prayers do, but he was not yelling. It was a gentle pressure against them.

Hermes blinked. “You didn’t have to ask for me.”

“I didn’t have to, I chose to. You are my son and you are struggling and I have an easy way to assist you.”

Hermes latched onto Percy’s hand. “Can he stay too?”

Zeus raised an eyebrow. However, he ended up shrugging in the end. “Of course, he can, if you’d like him to.”

Which is how in what was turning into the craziest therapy session ending so far, Percy found himself dragged to a room that wasn’t full of sea water basins and the scent of salt in the air. He was pushed into a room that looked a little like a cozy eagle’s nest. The bed was cradled in the middle of the room. There were a lot of random perching spots. Fabrics and designs and packages were also strewn across the room.

Hermes fell face forward into the bed in the center. He mumbled something about being tired and then snores started coming from him.

Zeus was more poised as he entered the bed. He swung a leg over the large mound of pillows to be perching on a more seated, lounging position. He tugged his son to be somewhat pressed against him and then turned his gaze to Percy. “You haven’t really seen any rooms other than your own, have you?”

“No.”

“They’re designed after domains. I made yours with what I assumed at the time would be your domain, there’s a chance if you join us gods in immortality, I will eventually need to renovate based on what your domains turn out to be.”

Percy nodded. That made sense, and it was kind that Zeus had put in the effort to trying to figure out what his domains would be in order to make a room. “They won’t be the same anyway. The person I am now, is not the person you made the offer of godhood to.”

“What would you say now?”

Percy crawled into the bed on the other side of Hermes, unsurprised when an arm stuck out to drape over him. He pressed into the warmth of the god as he considered Zeus’ question. “I don’t know. Mortality is important to me. It’s what I’ve held onto through two wars. And it’s what gives me Annabeth, and she is my rock.”

“Why not say no?”

“If it were you asking, you wouldn’t be asking as the king of gods twice. You would be asking as my uncle Zeus who doesn’t want me to die or possibly as my uncle Zeus who needs me by his side. Important as Annabeth or mortality are to me, if you were calling to me for help, I would not deny you, no matter the cost to me.”

Percy yawned. The tired seeping into his bones. “Please don’t, not unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want to have to make the choice yet.”

Zeus reached over and gave his head a soft pat. It was comforting how easy it was to trust those hands weren’t going to hurt him ever again. “I won’t ask right now. I just wanted to know whether the answer had really changed all that much.”

“It has,” Percy whispered.

Chapter Text

By the time that Percy woke up, Hermes had already been awoken and was staring up at his father, eyes wide. “You stayed,” he whispered softly.

“You asked me to,” Zeus replied.

Hermes shook himself lightly. “If you had known that she wasn’t coming, would you have found a way?”

“I should have anyway.” Zeus reached out and ran his fingers through his son’s hair gently undoing some of the tangles. “I should have realized just how much this was impacting you, and as your father, I should have come regardless of the issues plaguing me as king.”

Hermes choked on a half sob as he tucked his legs further under him. “Pan was good and kind, and he didn’t deserve to fade like that because humans spread too far.”

Percy scooted himself up and then leaned in against Hermes’ legs. “I’m sorry.”

Hermes glanced down. “Why did it have to go that way?”

Percy considered that for a moment. He didn’t have a good answer.

Zeus sighed. “We never quite understand how gods fade, Hermes. The best one to talk to for coming to terms with that is probably Triton.”

Hermes blinked. “I might see if my uncle is willing to host me the next few breaks.”

“He will,” Percy said firmly. “Dad would never turn you away.”

“Now,” Zeus said pushing both younger men up and to their feet. “Let’s go get food, because we’re going to want all of our wits and thoughts about us when we go to deal with today’s topic.”

Dionysus and Ariadne were already in the dining area. She passed over plates of food to everyone and when eyes turned to her, she shrugged. “I heard that the three of you were crashing together for the evening, so I thought you might appreciate not needing to cook once you were all up and here.”

“Thank you, Ariadne,” Percy mumbled. He walked over to the juices to grab a drink along with the food and then he turned back to notice the lack of wine near Dionysus for the second day in a row. Well, if anything was going to get him smote, it would be his insistence on helping his cousin at least. He grabbed a bottle to tuck under his arm. He sat back down and passed the wine over to Dionysus.

Hermes’ gasp filled the room as he quickly darted out of the way of Zeus if he wanted to reach Percy.

Dionysus’ mouth dropped open.

Percy stared at them bewildered by the response. “What? I know that the wine will help you be better regulated today, and I know you can’t fetch it yourself.”

Dionysus’ eyes darted over to Percy. “You are subverting my father, in front of him.”

“I’m not subverting.”

Zeus shrugged. “He’s not. If he were doing it for reasons that weren’t related to the therapy, I’d have a few more questions for him, and if you had pestered him for it, I would have probably slapped you upside the head. Neither of those things happened though.”

“The punishment…”

Zeus stared at him. “Like I said before, if you’d like to waive them for the duration of therapy, be my guest.”

“Lord Zeus,” Ariadne interjected.

Zeus narrowed his eyes at her. “Just Zeus, please. Or father, if you can’t handle saying only my name.”

She swallowed. “Zeus, you offered him a place to stay instead of camp, nothing more. We thought we were already risking your wrath by having me stay with him in the palace. The wine would have been even more risky.”

Zeus stared at the two of them for a moment longer. “For what it's worth and what I meant the other day, while we’re in therapy trying to fix everything, ignore the punishment restrictions. I’m sure that it’s on Perseus’ list to talk about and until we do, I’d rather it not be looming over the meetings still in effect.”

Percy gave a thumbs up to confirm that Zeus was not wrong to make that assumption. However, he noted that Dionysus had frozen and looked like he was seconds away from falling into his madness.

Dionysus laughed. He dropped his head to the table and the laughter continued. “The war didn’t get you to lift my punishment. But family therapy and the threat of having a nicer bond with the rest of the family, that’ll get you to lift my punishment more.”

Zeus frowned. “What?”

Ariadne exchanged a look with her crazed husband. “You’ve never lifted the punishment.”

“I most certainly did. He was welcomed in Olympus during the times of war.”

“I was tolerated,” Dionysus said. “You never spoke to me. I was under the opinion that as long as I didn’t draw your attention or doing anything to flagrantly against the rules that you would let it be that I was there to help my family, but I was always worried about whether that mood would stay or not.”

Zeus swallowed harshly. “Damn it all to hell. I shouldn’t have left that message to Hermes. I should have come to see you myself. You were welcome the second we were attacked. I wondered whether to summon you myself to reimpose the boundaries on you afterwards, but since you were being good enough to monitor them yourself, I didn’t see the need.”

“Dad!” Dionysus said in a sharp tone. “They aren’t removed. You never lifted them.”

“Yes, I’m sure I did. I didn’t….I wouldn’t have allowed you to fight with them still on.”

Dionysus snapped his fingers like he always did to summon wine and in its place came the stupid soda that he had gotten used to. The glare firmly in place. “No, you didn’t.”

Zeus bit his tongue. “I…I….” He turned to look at Percy with a pleading expression.

“We’re not in session, and I’m not going to get involved.” Percy took another bite of his eggs with a hum. “That being said, while we still have to talk about it with the rest of the family because this most certainly isn’t just between the two of you, you should at least try to fix it now if he’ll let you.”

Dionysus shook his head. “I’d rather have the knowledge that we’re in session honestly.”

“Will you at least let me lift it while we’re here?”

Dionysus paused. He sucked in a breath. “Do you promise that you won’t use that against me at a later time?”

“Yes.”

He gave a short nod. A glimmer went over him and he collapsed in relief as his domain settled back into his body. He paused. Then, he went over and leaned his head gently on his father’s shoulder. “I know you care, dad. And I’m sure that you will fix this too. I just, I can’t do this without the support of others. Because if I’m wrong, I…”

Zeus snagged an arm around his son in a hug. “I’m not upset with you that you won’t have the conversation with me now. I’m upset that I’ve somehow managed to hurt you so much that you won’t. But that anger is on me and not you, my son.”

Hermes watched as the wife and husband duo walked out of the kitchen. “We were so scared.”

“What?”

“During the wars, with him not having access to his domains, we were so fucking scared. We wouldn’t let him go to battle alone because if one of us wasn’t there to call Apollo, what if he had faded, without the wine domain to balance him. We were so scared, dad. We were equally scared that if you found out, that we’d be punished alongside him.”

“I wish I had found out, because I had intended to lift his restrictions. Gods, I was doing a lot of stuff then. I think at one point I had thirty some odd versions of myself to hold up all the actions I was supposed to be doing. That one, it slipped by me.” Zeus closed his eyes. “I won’t use it as a punishment again.”

“What?”

“Locking up your domains, I won’t do it ever again. The pain wasn’t intended, but I’m guessing whatever it was that Apollo felt, Dionysus is currently feeling. The pain was already enough that I was going to be a lot stricter about when I could use it. This…I could have killed him and I wouldn’t have known because I was too busy to realize what this did to him.”

Hermes shook his head lightly. “You are a changed god, aren't you, dad?” He snorted. “That’ll earn you back some points with your kids. I don’t know what Ares did, but it’ll probably all come down to how you handle that.”

Percy nodded. “That’s my assumption as well.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy. “What is today’s topic? Should I be prepared for more soul searching and aching as I realize that I might literally never earn forgiveness until the day I die? And do you think that you’re going to have to intervene today and regardless of the answer, do you want ambrosia?”

“You’re offering that to him freely?” Hermes was shocked. Most gods were sparing with it even if it were their own kid dying and this could save them. To offer it mostly unprompted, that was not something that many of the gods would be prepared for.

“Yes to the ambrosia. And you aren’t going to like today’s topic.”

“Are you?”

Percy scoffed. “Aunt Hestia was right that I was perhaps the best person to do this on the basis of being rather adept at navigating the family and I’m forgiving as hell. She was wrong to say that none of these topics would make me particular sensitive, but fuck it we’re already here now, aren't we?”

Zeus looked at him. “Say the word, and I’ll send you back to Camp halfblood and between me, Hestia, and Dionysus we’ll manage the rest of the therapy.”

“No, you wouldn’t. With the issues already resolved, you’d probably last two or three more sessions without it blowing up. But it would. I’m the only crazy fucker willing to stand between two gods ready to go to physical blows, and that’ll be important again.”

Percy took the ambrosia square and nibbled on it quietly. “Today’s topic is when you accused me of being the lightning thief, how everyone was willing to listen to that, including Uncle Hades who also took that to fucking mean I stole his helm too.”

“His helm? That’s how they avoided sight. I had always been curious about that.”

“Yeah.”

Zeus glanced over at Hermes.

Hermes put his hands up. He jerked his thumb towards the door in a clear motion of ‘I’m leave you two be for a second or so before ya’ll show up to the throne room’, then took off a jog.

Percy huffed as they were alone in a kitchen. “Listen, you don’t have to…”

“I’m sorry.”

Percy froze then sighed. “You don’t owe me one, Uncle.”

“My actions, they could have killed you.”

Percy shrugged. “They didn’t. And I know you were acting out of fear, and as I’ll repeat as many times as needed, you’ve more than made up for it during these therapy sessions. I’m not going to yell. I’m not going to get angry at you. You know it was shit, and so do I. It’s alright, and I forgive you.”

Zeus stared at him. “We don’t deserve you.”

At that Percy laughed. He stood up and clapped Zeus on the shoulder, then paused. If he was going to be bold, he might as well be completely unhinged. He hugged his uncle. “Plus, even if I’m good, you still have to deal with my father today.”

The groan that unleashed from Zeus was far from kind. It sounded like he had only just realized what this day was going to entail. “Do you think that if I started off the conversation by just kneeling down in front of him and apologizing, I could spare myself any of his shouts?”

“You should see.”

Zeus frowned. “It causes me discomfort. I’ll probably just take his yelling.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Do you deserve the discomfort?”

“Probably.”

Percy stared at his uncle. “Do what you want, but I think it’d be better for everyone to see you truly show that you are sorry. It’ll take forever to move onto Uncle Hades if you don’t. Dad’ll drag the discomfort from you one way or another, might as well give it to him at the start and let him know that you’re being sincere.”

Zeus stared back at Percy.

Percy didn’t blink at the strength of a god peering into his soul. “The family could also use dealing with your insecurities a bit with that. I don’t know the full reason you didn’t trust my father. But I am getting to know you, and you wouldn’t have distrusted him for nothing.”

Zeus swallowed harshly. “For fuck’s sake, Jackson, pull your punches a little for me.”

Percy stepped forward and hugged his uncle again. “Sorry, uncle, but you need me to aim for the jugular right now.”

He stepped away. He paused at the entrance to the throne room and then walked in. He walked past many of the gods to get to his podium.

Hestia stepped with him. “I was cruel to offer this quest to you.”

“You were desperate, and I was capable.”

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness while you’re still suffering from my decisions.”

“I’m not,” Percy said softly. “These things were always going to come up and I’ve made my peace with what all of you have done to me, now it is time for you to deal with your own issues regarding it, auntie.”

“If you need me, call upon me. There is nothing, nephew, that I would deny you.”

Percy took in a deep breath. “Don’t call me Perseus.”

“What?”

“Call me nephew, or brat or some other nickname. But be affectionate with me. You are my aunt, my family. I want to be just that, not some name of a hero.”

She inclined her head. “As you wish, nephew.”

Zeus took his seat on his throne.

Hera shot a sharp look at him. “You start these meetings, are you calling it to order?”

Zeus waved a hand. “Find your seats as you wish, and then we’ll begin.”

Ariadne exchanged a look with her husband, and then rather than sitting on her own seat, climbed up into his lap of his throne. She raised an eyebrow, but Zeus said nothing.

Hermes sighed and then climbed into Apollo’s throne next to him. He nudged the other god until they were sitting side by side in the polished marble.

Zeus snorted. “Anyone else?” When no one said anything, his eyes cut over to Percy, begging him to take the lead.”

Percy breathed out. “Okay, today’s topic is going to get messed up. I know this, and I’m prepared to intervene as many times is as necessary to keep everyone from harm, but I do request that you all try as much as you are able to, don’t hurt each other.”

“What’s our topic today?” Ares asked bored.

“The accusation that I was the lightning thief, including the fact that it meant that Poseidon was intending to overtake the council of gods.” Percy’s eyes flashed. “And the fact that I was equally accused of stealing your helm, uncle. Don’t forget that it was not just Zeus trying to kill me.”

Hades swallowed at the reminder and dipped his head into a nod. “I did not threaten a war.”

“But you did make assumptions, ones that made father trying to avoid war much more difficult, when you could have checked, or you could have talked to him.”

Once more Hades bowed his head in recognition of the point.

“In previous days, we’ve heard from all sides and then talked about it. However, today, Uncle Zeus has offered to get us started with a conversation from him. He’s planning on talking to exactly one person, if anyone interrupts, I’ll gag you with fucking water.” Percy waited a second to ensure that everyone was paying attention.

Zeus narrows his eyes. Percy had backed him into a corner. Now, he was either going to sound like a pompous asshole who monologued about bullshit or he was going to have to do his full apology.

Percy would feel bad about the trap, but it was the only way he saw this therapy session not ending in bloodshed, his efforts be damned. He had barely held off his father’s waves yesterday and try as he might, this one was not only about him. He offered a tight smile to Zeus hoping it conveyed the fact that he understood how much he sucked as a person at that second.

“The person he is talking to gets to respond first, however the fuck they want, and then and only then can everyone talk. As a curtesy, Uncle Hades will have the same opportunity, when it is his turn, whether he takes it is up to him.”

Poseidon glanced up towards his brother. “I assume because otherwise this is a shit decision, that you’re planning on talking to me.”

Zeus nodded his head slowly.

“Did Percy give you a heads up?”

“Not really. I just asked. I think he’d tell any of us what was coming if we asked.”

.Poseidon turned to his son.

Percy shrugged. “Is it important?”

“I’m asking you ahead of time this session, what levels of anger am I allowed to hold on your behalf?”

Percy’s eyes cut across to both his uncles. He sighed. “Dad, I love you. But you can’t protect me from your siblings. They are capable of hurting me if they choose to, and whether you avenge me or not is your business. However, I’ve said it repeatedly. I don’t hold any grudges, not even for this.”

“Really?”

“Uncle Zeus had many obligations to you that need to be addressed. What he did to me, I’ve forgiven. Uncle Hades had a shit ton more reasons to reach out and figure things out, and the fact he didn’t should be something that you are angry about. However, what he took from me, he returned when he realized the truth. Closest thing to an apology, I’m likely to get.”

Hades turned and frowned. “What?”

“Oh, right. I’ve also forgiven you,” Percy concluded. He flashed his uncle a wider smile than before. “I don’t really understand how we got here, but I know you don’t hate me.”

“Of course I don’t hate you,” Hades said immediately.

Percy stared at him for a second. “When I first met you, I didn’t think that. By the second time, I dipped into the underworld and had to fight you, I was sure of the fact you did. When I was in the pit and you didn’t come for me, I felt resigned.”

Hades swallowed. “If I thought that I could have dragged you out of the pit, I would have come, but my powers in that realm are not as complete.” He frowned. “And if I had hated you, I would have just smote you in that fight, the fact that you are alive is proof of my care.”

Percy blinked, then he nodded. He would accept that kind of affection from his uncle. He supposed it was pretty similar to the ways that Dionysus showed he cared. After all, once upon a time, he had been been allowed to see the levels to which Dionysus could drive people insane, yet he still had all of his mental facilities.

Hades bit his lip. “I’ll get into the argument with your father later, perhaps. From my knowledge the two of us are on rather steady ground for our relationship. However, for what it’s worth, Perseus.”

Hestia cleared her throat interrupting him. “Nephew or Percy, or something else, not that one.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t feel loved when we call him that. It’s a homage from his mother to a mythos that he no longer embodies.”

Hades inclined his head. “For what it’s worth, nephew, I am sorry that I accused you without proof. I should have gone digging further into the story.”

Percy shrugged his shoulders. “Like I said, uncle, I’ve already forgiven all that there is to forgive.”

He glanced towards the other gods. “Is there anything else pressing before we begin here?”

Poseidon shook his head as did most of the others.

Percy nodded sharply and looked at Zeus. He gave Zeus what he hoped was a comforting sight. He knew that this wouldn’t be easy for the other man, and he had kind of taken away what protections the man usually had to access, so he wouldn’t be able to backtrack. The point of therapy was to move forward, and unfortunately that involved being uncomfortable at least some of the time.

Zeus pushed himself off from his throne to be standing. He walked forward.

“Oh, joy,” Poseidon muttered. “This is a standing conversation.”

Zeus winced. “Give me a second, would you?”

Percy glared daggers at his father. He knew better than to try to choke or gag him with water, but he was tempted to do so anyway. Just because everyone else had an actual threat, didn’t mean his father could just do whatever he wanted.

Poseidon lifted his hands in mock surrender, keeping his eyes trained on Zeus. There was clear animosity in the gaze.

Zeus got before Poseidon’s throne and before anyone could say a word, went down to his knees, one at a time.

“What?” Poseidon gasped.

“Get up,” Hera yelled.

Percy had a burst of water in her throat before the rest of her words could begin to tumble out. The way her hand leapt to her throat, told him he wasn’t quite as gentle as he wanted to be, but he didn’t care. The expression on his face told everyone that they weren’t going to fucking speak or so help them, he would do the same to them.

Zeus’ body held tremors for a few seconds before he regained a bit of his self control. “I’m sorry, brother. I shouldn’t have declared war on you without evidence. I shouldn’t have targeted your kid and made ridiculous demands to avoid war. I shouldn’t have just panicked.”

He breathed out. “I was scared. The bolt, in my mind, was the only thing that had stopped you from doing what we did to father to me the last time you decided that I was a bad king, and I lost whatever remained of my normal response when I didn’t have it. I didn’t see Father being behind all of this coming. In my head, it had to be one of my siblings. And Hades hadn’t left his realm in forever, Hera was still gracing me with her opinions day in and day out unlike the last time, Demeter was calm and helpful when I approached her, and Hestia literally would never, and so that left you.”

He shook his head. “But fear isn’t a justifiable reason to do what I did. Nothing is really a justifiable reason to do what I did. So, instead of trying to explain to you that fear, I’m just going to say sorry. I am sorry. I’ll do better in the future.”

Poseidon’s mouth was hanging open. He blinked. “I need like a minute to process this before I try to say anything,” he managed to get out.

Percy nodded his head in understanding.

“Do you want me to stay here?” Zeus asked softly. If Percy hadn’t known better, he would say that he didn’t care what the answer was. Only Percy did know better, Zeus cared a lot about his image and this was nerve-wracking to him. No, this was a genuine offer of care. If Poseidon wanted him humbled for longer, than he would stay on his knees.

Several of the kids stood to shout, but Percy gagged them all with a wave of his hand. This was between his uncle and his father, and no one else was going to get in the middle of that.

Poseidon choked out a small bitter laugh. “Get up, you foolish brother of mine.”

Zeus stood carefully. He nodded to Poseidon and turned to head for his own throne once more.

He didn’t get more than a step or two away with a hand grabbed onto his shoulder. “Fucking insane,” Poseidon mumbled. Then, he had tugged his brother into a massive hug.

Zeus held himself back for a fraction of a second, before his arms encircled his brother back and he buried his head into the crook of his brother’s shoulder. The rest of the room stared in awe, with Percy being prepared to shut anyone up that needed to be forced to take a moment to realize how huge of a deal this was, and the fact that saying shit about it would not help.

Poseidon held his brother close. “I want to be mad at you.”

“Deserve that,” Zeus muttered.

Poseidon snorted. “Yes, you do.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling and then glanced back at his son.

Percy gave him one of those teeth baring grins that he loves so much. They both know that the reason why Percy had forgiven his uncle was the same reason that Poseidon was too. He was just being an idiot. The malice intent wasn’t there like it was for Kronos. Anything could be forgiven if they tried, and this was something easy enough to get over because in the end, Percy had averted the war. Barely, but he had done it.

Poseidon suffered through a long sigh. “However, when my baby brother is leaning on me and telling me that he was scared, it is extraordinarily hard to stay even remotely upset.”

“Oh, shit,” Zeus pulled back for a second. “Sorry, I’ll go.”

“Don’t you dare,” Poseidon threatened as he pulled him back in. “It’s fine, Zeus. All of it is fine. We’ll put this behind as bygones, and we’ll be fine.”

“But…”

“Shut up,” Poseidon said. “Yeah, I have every right to be angry at you. But you had every right to try to see whether there was anything that could be done to tamper down my anger, turns out there was. Pretty damn sure my brat of a child knew that it would or he would have prevented you from antagonizing me by going first.”

“Yeah, he kind of trapped me into doing this after I told him I was thinking about it. It’s kind of terrifying to put yourself on display like that.”

“No kidding,” Poseidon agreed. “But I’m glad you did. But for the love of all of us, next time tell me that you’re scared instead of starting a war.”

“Yeah, alright,” Zeus said easily. He took a second then, he leaned back in to Poseidon’s embrace. “I’m sorry I didn’t the first time.”

Poseidon’s lips twitched. “You’re forgiven,” he said gruffly. “I would have lent you my trident or something while I helped you figure out who fucking dared, idiot.”

Zeus sniffled lightly before he laughed lightly. “I didn’t believe it at the time. I do now.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Well thank the gods for something then.” He glanced towards Percy. “It might be best to address some of his fears now rather than waiting, if you’ve not got any objections.”

“Be my guest,” Percy said quietly. He glanced across the room. “Although I will have to unmute the others for that conversation so brace yourselves.”

Zeus pulled out of the embrace as the two gods fell back to their own thrones, this time neither stopping the other from the retreat. It was only once they were both sat and comfortable that Percy lifted the water from their throats.

Hestia spoke before anyone else could beat her to the punch. “I’m proud of you.”

Zeus blinked then smiled at his sister. “Thank you.”

Hermes swallowed down his remarks about how this would have been much better before the war broke out, before all of them had to choose sides, about the ways in which he didn’t love being separated from his uncles. “Uncle Poseidon.”

Poseidon’s head turned to the shared throne Hermes was on. “Yeah?”

“What about us?”

Zeus blinked. “What?”

“I mean, yeah, the war wasn’t exactly our fault, but we did all eventually take dad’s side even when we knew he was unreasonable, so what about us. I mean, I’m glad dad apologized, and I’m glad that hopefully this never happens again. But I’m nervous about the rest of us.”

Poseidon stood from his throne once more. He stepped up to Hermes and Apollo and then he ruffled their hair gently. “I don’t recall ever punishing you because of your father’s stupidity before, is there a reason why you think that it’s going to change this time?”

“We went farther than before,” Apollo muttered. “We took up arms. We were prepared to go to war.”

Poseidon shrugged. “You still helped my side when you could. Specifically in the form of Percy over there. I know that Hermes ended up giving them a ride to the underworld’s entrance. I know that Ares ended up helping them to Vegas. You guys weren’t on my side if the war came to be, but you tried to help me prevent it. I am hardly upset that you chose to stand behind your father.”

“But he was wrong,” Athena said softly. “We all just heard him admit it.”

“You can be loyal to someone who is wrong,” Poseidon said with a sigh. “He is your king. He is your father. And yes, I love all of you, and I would have been overjoyed if any of you had said fuck you dad and came to the sea to fight beside me. However, I am not angry that you didn’t. That would have been asking for a lot of sacrifice from you, even more courage, and quite frankly if you had, my kid probably wouldn’t have been able to prevent a war because that would have fed his paranoia, a 100 times more than the false their taking the bolt.”

Hermes swallowed. “So, we’re not in trouble?”

“No.”

Zeus shook his head. “Even if you were, I would have told him to add it to my tab of being a dick on this one.”

“Oh there’s a tab,” Poseidon teased. “One fish sandwich, please.”

“Asshole,” Zeus retorted. However, he did lob a sandwich at the currently empty throne. A smile on his face. “You don’t have to be nervous that either of your uncles will take out siding with me on you. That’s on me and never on you.”

Hera frowned. “That doesn’t alleviate my concerns.”

“Which are?”

“You weakened your power when you knelt before him. He could have demanded all sorts of recompense for what you did.”

“I trusted my brother not to ask for more than I would be willing to give.”

“Why?”

Percy held up a hand to forestall the answers that wanted to bubble up from both his father and his uncle. “Why did you trust yesterday that you weren’t in any danger?”

“You.”

Poseidon blinked. “You didn’t trust me?”

“Fuck no. You’re an angry, prickly bitch when you want to be,” Hera said. “I endangered your child. You have blinded people for less. You have waged wars for less. You aren’t exactly reasonable.”

“Never you, though. Despite the fact that your meddling often brings my children into harm’s way, I have never once gone after you,” Poseidon whispered. “Even then when you were wiping my child’s memories, I didn’t demand your head, Hera.”

Hera crossed her arms. “I…”

“Name who you trust in this family,” Percy instructed her.

She glared at him. “You. Hestia. Ares. Hephaestus.”

“Four?” Zeus whispered. “And I am not there.”

“No. You hurt me on a nearly daily basis. The only thing I trust that you’ll do is send me into another spiral. And Hephaestus shouldn’t really be on the list because he has every fucking reason to hate me, but he’s genuinely usually kind to me and he doesn’t seem to want anything from me other than my presence, so he has earned his place on the list.”

Percy rubbed his brow. “Okay. Now, for the sake of making my point, Zeus list off who you trust in the family.”

“Uh, alright. I mean I generally trust all of my siblings. There are days when my fear gets the best of me, but apparently as noted by today, those are unreasonable fears and I’ll be safe regardless. So that’s Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades. I trust Amphitrite and Persephone to an extent because neither of their husbands would truly let them harm me. I trust most of the kids not to do anything too outlandish, just bullshit occasionally because they’re kids compared to the rest of us. I trust most if not all of Poseidon’s kids. Granted some of them are vicious little things and should probably not be granted like control of anything pertaining to mortal safety. I trust a good amount of Hades’ kids for the same reason. And well you, Percy, obviously. Given that you are leading this therapy session, have an open invitation to Olympus despite still being mortal, and quite literally have seen me break down more than anyone else that has ever lived.”

Percy nodded. He turned to Hera. “Your trust issues are their own therapy session, a much later one because we’re all going to need to build context and understand the differences between what you feel and what is happening between the others, however, right now, Zeus trusts more people than you. He was in no danger.”

“What if he was wrong?”

“I wouldn’t have let him do it.”

Hera froze. She slowly nodded. “Alright.”

Poseidon rubbed his eyes slowly. He walked to his sister gently. Then he wrapped an arm around her. She was tight and unyielding in his embrace however she didn’t yell at him to get off. He placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “My waters would have knocked you off your feet, but they wouldn’t have caused harm. I would not have allowed them to.”

“I don’t..”

“You don’t trust that,” he said cutting her off. “But I need to tell you that, so that eventually, you will trust that. Even if Percy had not been there, you would have been fine. If I had lost control, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and Zeus would have stepped in.”

She jittered slightly in his hold. She said nothing, but her demeanor lifted, ever so slightly. Her body and its tension stopped being so prevalent. She breathed.

Poseidon took a second. “Now, back to other topics of interest, why the fuck are you so scared of being overthrown?”

Zeus head whipped back to Poseidon from the abrupt change of topic. “What the fuck do you mean why? Probably because its literally all I’ve ever seen. I was a fucking kid, barely 18 which for an immortal is not a lot of years, when I fought off father and took his damn crown.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why we were all there for you for so long instead of going off to do damage control in our own realms.”

“Only you did nothing. I had no idea how to be a king, and I had to take that domain from him or he was going to be risen and coming after us so much earlier than what he did. I was a king and young, and I married my sister in the hopes of having someone there to help me. Only, she never liked me. She definitely didn’t like my attempts at being king. And I’m just constantly panicked that I’m going to fuck up and you’re all going to storm me because I’m not good enough.”

Hades laughed. He threw his head back and laughed. “Brother, we thought it was your hubris keeping you from asking for help. Not fear that none of us would respond.”

Poseidon nodded. “Of course we would have helped you.”

“Did you?” He asked pointedly.

Hades sighed. “Obviously we didn’t if you’re still fucking nervous after all this time. So, brother you in the mood for the four rules of being a king presentation.”

Poseidon snorted. “We’re doing this now.”

Zeus glanced between them both. “I don’t understand.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Rule number one of being a king, baby brother. You gotta actually talk to the people you’re in charge of. It’s like really important to know what issues they’re dealing with and what aid they’d actually like from a king. If you don’t do that, people start wondering about whether or not they can do a whole off with your head framework. It isn’t that easy to manage, but if people never start wondering, well that saves a lot of time actually.”

Hades nodded. “Doesn’t really matter how you choose to communicate. I hold an open court, whereas Poseidon and Amphitrite typically do a whole visit the public constantly method, both work rather well for the purposes that you need them to. Hell, you could possibly come up with a third option, but the lesson here is to make sure you talk to your people.”

Zeus’ eyes darted between them. “Okay…I can work on that.”

“Rule two,” Hades announced lightly. “Know who is going to back you up regardless. In your case, it’s pretty much always been and always will be, this council. We’re your family.”

Zeus glared daggers at Hades. “You have not been on my side.”

“In the end, I came. When it was our father coming for your throne, I did end up on your side. For a minute, I thought about not coming, because we had frankly terrible relations for a number of reasons that we’re going to get to. However, even with all of those issues when push came to shove, I was here for you.”

Zeus opened his mouth to retort then closed it. “Why is it important to know?”

Poseidon chuckled. “So you know who to punish as people who might actually be against you, and who might stand up to you in minor ways but in the end will always be on your side.”

Apollo glanced towards Poseidon. “Neither of you would have punished me for the prophecy.”

Hades shrugged. “That was flagrant enough that I would have had to do something symbolic to keep the non-loyal ones from like panicking and claiming favoritism, but I certainly wouldn’t have treated it as treason.”

Poseidon cleared his throat. “Especially not when Hera got off much lighter in comparison despite doing quite frankly, a ridiculous amount more to harm his orders.”

Hera scoffed, but Hades nodded along.

Zeus took in the advice but finally gave his assent that he heard the situation.

Poseidon took a second. “Rule three is to be just. As the god of justice, you probably have an easier time of that one than either me or Hades do.”

Zeus snorted. “Justice isn’t that easy to really balance as a domain. There are things that are just but not feasible, there are actions that need to be taken that are inherently unjust as king too. For instance, you eventually have to choose one person to be your heir and that is a horrible thing for justice when by all technicalities there are at least four of your children who are equally righteously chosen for the throne.”

“Really?” Hades asked curiously.

Zeus nodded. He pointed to Hephaestus. “That one should be my heir regardless of any disabilities, however, if I name him heir, at least four primordials that aren’t bound up in the pit are going to attempt to overthrow him.”

He gestured towards Athena. “She’s the only child of my first marriage and so despite being younger than some of the others because of the birth rates, she’s technically supposed to be the first in line. However, if I name her, Hera is going to absolutely try to undermine her at every given opportunity.”

He jerks his chin over towards Ares. “He’s my best bet being both able bodied and of Hera’s lineage. However, naming him is unjust as all hell given that he’s a second son and the youngest of the options.”

Finally, he nods to Hermes. “And Hermes by way of being from a naiad that was directly descended from Gaia, actually has closer magic to any of us big six than any of the other children have managed. Thus making him a better suited choice for the throne in terms of power, if I were to fade.”

Poseidon whistled under his breath.

Aphrodite glared at him. “He comes from a titan’s descent. I come from a primordial’s lineage, and yet I am not on the list.”

Zeus groaned. “There’s a reason why you’re married to one of the other possible heirs. It had originally been my intention to have you and Hephaestus have a stronger claim than any others and a more just one by combining lines of thought that would strengthen the two of you, however given that your marriage appears to be going down the same path as mine, that doesn’t actually help any powers.”

“Maybe,” Aphrodite snarled. “Because even as you say that, you don’t count my line as standing alone, no matter my power.”

“Enough,” Percy whispered softly to Aphrodite, having approached her. “That’s going to come up soon in our conversations. How soon will depend on whether we can actually make progress through the other days.”

Aphrodite turned to him. “I am more than love, boy, yet no one seems to remember that. No one acknowledges that I come from the sea.”

Poseidon furrowed his brow. “You’re not from my sea, I assumed you were still meeting with Pontus or potentially Oceanus. Have you not been?”

Aphrodite leveled a glare at her uncle. “No.”

“You’re of course welcome to come to court, Aphrodite. Your room is exactly as you left it.”

She deflated. “Uncle, that’s not…”

“Yes, you want people to recall your powers. So come to the ocean and actually use them, niece. You want to wreck a few ships to remind people, everyone knows my daughter does that all the time and I celebrate her achievements. You want to explode the ground in a new earthquake because you can just as easily as I can or Percy can, fantastic. You want to double team a new climate catastrophe to prove that I would help you, let me know when.”

She stared at him for a second and then nodded.

Percy clapped wonderful. “Please return to the previous conversation now.” He walked away from the gods. He didn’t move his eyes from them, just in case something else came up just as quickly.

Hades chuckled. “The final and fourth rule, is don’t get stuck.”

“Huh?”

Poseidon nodded his head. “You can’t let policies become stagnant. It’s easy to do because we’re all quite literally undying. However, a stagnant ruler is always going to be deposed eventually. It’s the universal truth of being a king.”

Hades flashed Poseidon a quick smile. “Seriously, brother, we’re trying to help save you here.”

Zeus shook his head. “No, I got that when the two of you started listing off rules. But also, why did you never come help before?”

“Honestly, I thought it would be unwelcome and further antagonize you with us both. We’re all three kings, but you are our king as well. Sometimes that gets complicated, and we had no wish to cause more tension between us,” Hades answered.

“I wish I would have asked a bit more delicately whether you wanted help,” Poseidon offered. “I did not realize that was part of your unease this whole time. If I had, I would have done something.”

He took a breath. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you when you needed me to be.”

The gods all held in their breaths. Sure, they had just seen the king of gods willingly give an apology, but for another brother of the big three to offer one. And to not offer justifications alongside it was heavy.

Zeus snorted. “I could hardly refuse you forgiveness after you offered it to me. My crime was much worse.”

Poseidon shrugged. “And built upon mine. My forgiveness has nothing to do with whether you wish to forgive me or not.”

Zeus waved his hand. “Yeah, well, like it or not, you’re my brother, and I love you. I wouldn’t wish to spend even more time at war with you, when we don’t need to be at odds.”

Hades let out a long suffering sigh. “I was not prepared for the two of you to be all mushy today.”

Zeus raised an eyebrow towards the eldest of the brothers.

Hades seemingly ignored him. He huffed a little. “For my part in not acknowledging that you might need assistance, I also apologize, Zeus. For all that there were a multitude of reasons to not chance your anger, there were just as many reasons to do so, and the fact that I never did is not something I wish to be proud of.”

"Shit apology, brother,” Poseidon pointed out.

Hades glared at Poseidon, then deflated into his throne. “I don’t know what to say. My guilt is reasonably low for this act because like I mentioned we had reasons, good ones at that.”

“Do you regret that it hurt me?” Zeus asked into the void of silence that followed that declaration.

“For fuck’s sake, of course I do.”

Zeus shrugged. “Then, it seems to me like you might have some amount of guilt.”

Hades almost hoisted himself out of his seat to bicker and then stopped. “Fine.” A building silence followed his pronouncement. He sat there for a minute. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come talk to you when we had just gotten out of dad’s stomach. I’m sorry that I made judgements about your damn monarchy without ever checking that you knew what the hell you were doing after taking father’s domains. I’m certainly sorry that we were at a place where you didn’t know that you could just reach out to fucking ask if I didn’t. I didn’t think our relationship was broken that early.”

Zeus stood on instinct and moved over to his brother. He grabbed Hades shoulder. “Our relationship might be shit, brother, but it’s not broken. We’re both here and alive.”

Hades didn’t move for a second, then he laid a hand over Zeus’. “You’re right.”

“And for what it's worth, I accepted the first apology. The second was unnecessary.”

Poseidon’s head whipped around to stare at Zeus. “What?”

He had the decency to lift in shoulders in sheepishness after that statement. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have forgiven you for that much as well. I’m abundantly aware that our past is fraught with problems. We’ve made some of them just because we were scared or unsure and wanted to rely on what was known.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “Yeah, father broke us a little.”

Zeus nodded. “I wish I had thought to invite you over all the time to ensure that father didn’t manage to splinter us into believing that family wasn’t going to stick together.”

Demeter ran a hand through her hair. She stood up slowly. She approached Hades’ throne, every step hesitant as if she expected to be blasted away. But she got right next to it and she hoisted herself up onto the arm of his chair and leaned into his free side. “I wish that we had never been locked away in his stomach. I wish that we had seen you grow and been able to provide more aid when you were first growing rather than seeing you as an almost fully grown boy and forgotten that you did not have our years.”

Zeus stared in shock at the easy way the two siblings were embracing. His eyes filled with affection. “We could try it now.”

“We will,” Demeter swore easily.

Hades’ eyes roamed across the room and fell upon Poseidon. “Your brat might have had a point.”

“My child often does.”

Hera snorted. She stood from her own throne and crossed the floor to stand next to Poseidon. She had a second where she thought about crossing the other direction. But, in the end, she ended up pulled into his embrace by a rough hand once she was close enough.

“What are you doing, sister?”

Hera leaned into his chest. “We all owe each other benefits of the doubt. I can’t remember the last time that I entered an embrace with any of you other than Zeus. And I can’t recall the last time, I initiated contact with Zeus.”

Hestia walked over to Poseidon and laid her head upon his. Her breath mingled with his, and she let out a shiver. “I think this helps.”

Poseidon unwound one hand from Hera to wrap it around Hestia’s waist. “You are welcome to search me out anytime, sister.” He took a second. “You all can find me whenever you’d like, and I’d make a part of me be free for you, always.”

Hades cleared his throat. “I was attempting to do something, sisters.”

Hera laughed. “We were just giving you a second to collect your thoughts.”

“Sure,” he drawled.

Poseidon couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face. He turned his attention to his oldest brother. “What exactly was my kid correct about?”

“I did you several wrongs, when I assumed that your kid had taken my helm.”

Poseidon’s face flickered. Upset roaring with discontent and dissatisfaction. “As I said earlier, you did not hold the brunt of my distaste for that situation.”

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything, nor does it absolve me of responsibility.” At this, Hades glanced towards Percy for the first time in the conversation for a while. He swallowed. “I should not have assumed the worst of you. Even if you had decided to declare war on Zeus, you wouldn’t have used me as a tool to do so. You have never once treated me as a second rate sibling, and I should not have thought you’d do so now.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes. “Are you claiming that if he had turned against me, you would have helped him?”

“Then? Probably. We were much closer than I was with you, and he wouldn’t have done so without a reason that I could understand at least somewhat.” Hades reached out before Zeus could pull away. “Not now,” he explained.

Zeus hesitated for a second, then he sighed. “I suppose I better just be grateful that Poseidon wasn’t actually gunning for my throne.”

“And I never will,” Poseidon agreed.

All eyes turned to him. While the gods labored under no assumptions that Poseidon had ever wanted Zeus’ throne to say that he never would was quite something.

Poseidon snorted at the looks. “I have my kingdom in the sea. I have always been of the sea. My older form took this domain for no reason other than that someone needed to be king among the gods. I have no issues with ruling smaller territory. And I have no desire to usurp my kin.”

Zeus’ body deflated of much tension. “Thank you, brother.”

“If you’re a shit king, I’ll just smack you upside the head.”

Zeus couldn’t help it. He threw his head back and laughed.

“We’re off track again,” Hades noted.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “You should have known better than to think that I would treat you like nothing more than a pawn, yes. Why did you?”

“I couldn’t think of anyone else that could do it. I mean it had to be one of our kids. The power of both the helm and the bolt would have driven lesser demigods fucking insane. One of Zeus’ kids was a tree, and the other was loyal to a fault of his father. That left your brat as the only candidate.”

Ares’ grip tightened on his throne.

Percy was watching carefully. He would have to do damage control if the secret got out by anything other than Ares’ confession, and this had the danger of doing so. He was prepared to separate everyone with waves of water and just jump straight into the next meeting. It wasn’t ideal and he’d probably have to beg for ambrosia. Regardless of the fact no one was likely going to be happy with him at the moment to get through it, but he would manage.

Poseidon frowned. “No, that’s a fair assessment.”

Athena sighed. “You’re all thinking too small.”

“What?”

“Yes, only one of your demigods could have done it alone. But this was hardly just Hermes’ child acting alone. He had grandfather’s voice echoing in his head, telling him how to do this, and an army of angry demigods behind him being manipulated as well. It’s not like this was one child striking out, despite the fact that Hermes’ child is a good focal point for our issues.”

“Oh,” Hades whispered. “That’s a really good point, Athena.”

She waved a hand. “It is my domain. Don’t worry about the fact that it was hard to piece together. At the time, I didn’t either. Grandfather was not an element that I had factored into any of my thinking, but now that we know he was there, the formulas shift away from Percy rather completely.”

Percy inclined his head to her. He knew she knew the truth. She had just deflected to save her brother from another day, which also bought him peace of mind. He wasn’t sure whether she knew that was what she had done.

Hades breathed out. “Yeah, at the time, I had reasons to believe that it was Percy. Some pretty damning reasons, but if I had bothered to believe in you brother, we would have realized it was father way earlier and that would have been better for the war effort.”

“No shit,” Demeter huffed. “We could have tried to keep bargains from being struck.”

“I could have seen whether the pit could be reasoned with.”

Percy’s breath caught in his throat. He remembered the anger that the pit held regarding all of them. He hated the lack of fresh blood. He wanted torture. He wanted blood and revenge. The bargains made with him would have been worse than the war. He could feel it in his bones.

Zeus’ head snapped up. “Percy, breathe!”

Percy sucked in a breath. “Fuck. Sorry everyone. Not quite over having to go through the pit.”

Athena’s eyes flashed. “Don’t apologize. None but the brothers have gotten through it.”

“Untrue,” Hermes said softly. “Both myself and Dionysus have managed to go and get back out again.”

Dionysus drilled his fingers against his throne. “Yeah, but Percy still has the right to be scarred. I wasn’t okay for decades afterwards, and to this day, I don’t go into the underworld lightly, and I stick to places that Uncle Hades has complete control over.”

Percy nodded softly. “I forgot about that myth, Dionysus.”

“It’s one that hasn’t quite been destroyed, but I don’t much like mortals talking about my trauma lightly.”

Hades frowned. “Why is there such a connection though? The reminder of what the pit is like, I can understand sending you back. His name invoking too much power, again makes sense. But this?”

“I remember what he was like. I remember how much anger he held at us. The price he would have asked for in order to keep my grandfather trapped would have been higher than the price of war.”

“Would it?”

“He would have asked for a victim.” Percy’s eyes met Ares’, and they both made the connection. Ares had spoken to one in the pit, Tartarus would have asked for his imprisonment. A god in his realm to satisfy his urge to be worse.

“You’re sure?”

Percy held up a shaky hand. “Mostly. For a second when we were locked eyes, I knew everything about him. He was sharing everything as I forced us out of his domain. I shouldn’t have fought him, but I had no other choice. He was more than any of you, something that I shouldn’t have been able to take on. Even in the mortal form, I was standing in him along with being against the mortal making of him. But I fought regardless, he is still looking forward to the day I return.”

“You won’t,” Poseidon said simply.

Percy shook his head. “I won’t willingly, but he’ll get me one day. I’ll slip and say the name and be dragged down. I’ll make it through mortal life, and Uncle Hades will guide me to the underworld and my spirit will be returned to its maker down there in the pit. My soul is connected there. I wasn’t willingly let go. Eventually, that price will be paid.”

Zeus and Hades exchanged a look. “We’ll find a way to break that, Percy.”

Percy forced his lips into a smile. That wouldn’t work. That would never be something that the pit would bargain with. He was waiting even now. The residents down there knew it too. He had to get out in a different way the second time, and until he did the debt would sit on him. King of gods couldn’t change that one.

Hades shook himself. “Goodness, one of these days, I will stop being side tracked in this damn apology.”

Eyes shot up to him. So far, he hadn’t actually acknowledged that his overall plan was to say sorry to his brother. He had just been vaguely acknowledging what he should have done instead.

He licked his lips. “I’m sorry, brother. Much could have been avoided had I bothered to remember that you would not treat me as some issue to be solved but as your brother.”

Poseidon lit up at the apology. He jumped from his throne practically pulling his two sisters with them as he dragged them over to the others. He ended up pressing Hera back into Zeus’ arms who caught his wife with ease. Hestia and Demeter ended up perched on opposite sides of Hades’ throne. Poseidon leaned forward and wrapped arms around Hades. “You didn’t have to be so formal, brother. There is very little I would not forgive any of you.”

“Nothing unforgivable?”

“Hmm, don’t kill my family,” Poseidon warned softly.

Athena whimpered.

“Purposefully,” he amended.

Both Triton and Amphitrite rolled their eyes at his correction, but neither were all that surprised. Poseidon was pretty consistent in his revenge. Had he been as equally angry at Athena, Zeus’ protection wouldn’t have been enough to keep her safe for all these years.

Hestia glanced over towards Percy. Then, at the siblings who were all crowded around a singular throne. “If we’re done for the day, perhaps we might have a family dinner?”

“We could manage that,” Zeus said. “Easy enough to plan in the dining room.”

Hermes glanced up. “The siblings or all of us, auntie?”

Hestia grinned. “I’d be happy to have all of you that are at this therapy session.”

Poseidon glanced towards Amphitrite, a question in his eyes.

“The waters are fine, father,” Triton answered the unspoken question instead. “Rhodes is a perfectly fine ruler in our absence, and she won’t question if we are gone for longer. The therapy sessions have been random times before.”

Persephone nodded. “From what I can feel, the underworld would be fine for longer as well.”

Hades closed his eyes and focused on their realm. “True enough. There’s a backlog of our speciality punishment cases that need us to deal with their foolish behavior, but that shouldn’t impact our ability to have an evening with family.”

Zeus twisted his head to stare at Percy.

Percy nodded. “I think we can safely say that this session is complete and that everyone has allowed the issue of accusations during the lightning bolt’s theft to rest. That being said, Uncle Zeus, I might need to talk to you before we go to the dinner about tomorrow, if that’s alright.”

Hera rested a hand on Zeus’ arm. “I can take everyone over to the palace while you talk with your nephew. We won’t start eating until you two can join us. Percy, what would you like to eat for the evening?”

“Uhhhh,” Percy stumbled. He’d never been good at choices like that.

Amphitrite laughed lightly. “Your father and I will ensure that it’s something you’ll enjoy eating, Percy. No need to worry about this for the time being.”

“Thank you.”

Percy waited as the other gods linked arms and headed out. They were more joyful than he’d seen in quite some time, and Ares was sticking close to Athena for the moment.

Zeus watched Percy carefully. “Is this about your time in the pit?”

Percy shook his head lightly. “No. I’m surprised that it comes up as often as it has, but I suppose it is to be somewhat expected. The trauma is still fresh from the war.”

“So the next session is something that I need to be prepared for, then.”

Percy again shook his head. “Less that, and more that I need you to help me keep everyone from getting frustrated.”

“With what?”

“If we’re doing a family dinner, I’m going to collapse shortly afterwards because I’ll need sleep. However, I need to talk to some gods personally before the next few sessions to figure out the order between them because it could go multiple directions from here, and I’m not equipped to handle that level of therapy alone.”

Zeus nodded. “Nephew, no one will begrudge you needing a moment to figure things out. I’m pretty sure no one would even question if you said you needed like a week break or something now. You’ve stabilized Hestia more than any of us have managed to do in the last century when she paled considerably.”

Percy grinned at him. “I don’t really want to need you to call it off like that. I’d prefer to just push through if I’m honest. Otherwise there’s time for something new to happen before everything has been settled and it might undo all the work I’ve done.”

Zeus frowned. “I would be most displeased if that happened, but I suppose I agree with you that it is possible.”

“So, you’ll help if anyone says anything.”

“Of course. I’ll just make a point that everyone should wait until I call for them to come in, that way you’ll be the first other than me to get there and not everyone knows the gods that you separated for these talks.”

“That’s genius.”

“It’s just.” Zeus paused. “I…I have a question for you.”

“Yes, uncle?”

“What affection are we allowed to give you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Percy, that you are beyond my wildest thoughts proving to be my favorite family member. You convinced me to be vulnerable and got me help that I have spent millennia without. Your father held me when I broke down today, something I was convinced would cost me my head before. If you allowed it, I would build statues in your glory everywhere. But you wouldn’t like that, so what would you like?”

“Affection,” the answer came so easily to him that it fell from his mouth without any further thought. “Hug me, throw me into the air and catch me to place me on your shoulders. Support me when I’m doing dumb shit and smart shit and whatever else.”

Zeus wrapped an arm around Percy tightly. “Whatever you do in this lifetime, we will do our best to support. You will not be called upon to do another quest without explicit consent for you or the meddling of the fates. You are, for lack of a better word, entirely free.”

Percy leaned into the embrace. “Uncle, do me a favor and don’t promise me these things until after we finish therapy. I don’t think I will survive having all of this taken.”

“It won’t be. Percy look at me.”

Percy hesitated. Much as he wanted to believe his uncle, there was so much that could go wrong. Everything could be dark and gone by the end of therapy. Right now, he’s made things better but just the next session might undo all of that work. Once they get to some of the older issues, these conversations might just be attempts at a better family that turn out to fall apart under any strain. Finally, he raised his eyes.

Zeus met his gaze head on. “I will be your uncle from that first session until your dying day. No matter what else happens, I will remember you as the boy that got my brothers to hug me for the first time in hundreds of years. Even if we disintegrate later on, you still accomplished that, and you did it with no clear assurance that it would be worth it. That is more than worth my loyalty towards you.”

Percy ducked his head down. “Is it stupid I want the promise?”

“I swear it on the river styx,” Zeus answered without addressing the question itself. The thunder boomed over them, and a weight that had rested on Percy’s shoulders was gone. “Now, let’s go to dinner.”

Percy thought they were going to walk. They had always traveled from the throne room to the palace via their feet before. But Zeus didn’t let him go, and there was the scent of the ozone, petrichor, and oak in the air, and suddenly bright lights as the gods were all joined around the table.

There was a seat at the head of the table left open for clearly Zeus. He walked over, clapping Hades on the shoulder as he passed around him. He also picked up Hera’s hand and brushed his lips over it in a gesture of romance as he found his seat. “My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

A seat was open next to Triton with Hermes sitting on the other side. That was clearly probably supposed to be for Percy. He wondered as he walked over to that seat how much of this was divine energy in the room and how much of it a mortal could stand.

His father had told him once the reason why Rachel never joined them as the oracle of Delphi in the throne room was the full power of the Olympian council even in human form would have blasted away her frail grip on life. Demigods could withstand it. He knew that much, but the gods couldn’t unleash much of their true nature all at once without damaging a demigod. Demigods had varying levels of tolerance. His tolerance had often been a question of his, especially ever since coming into contact with the pit.

He didn’t think that the pit had been holding back much of anything by the time that they were truly fighting. Thus, he had stood in a primordial’s energy and came out alive. That was insane to think about. Plus, the brightness in the room told him that the energies of gods were a little less packed in than normal.

Of course this had to be confirmed almost the second, he sat down. “Our family is being a little rambunctious at this dinner,” Triton whispered to him. “If your head starts hurting, let me know. Dizzy, alert me. Vision blurs, grab my attention somehow. I’ll get you out quickly. If for whatever reason you can’t get me to respond, do the same to Hermes.”

Hermes nodded very serious, suddenly. “I do not want you fried, nor at the doorstep of Uncle’s realm where only my brother can save you.”

Percy blinked. “Yeah, I understand.” Only while he understood in theory why they wanted him to be that careful, he was also a bit lost in some parts of it. Primarily, whether he should already feel anything.

Amphitrite reached over to place a large steak dinner in front of him post the conversation. The innocent look on her face told Percy that she had forbidden Poseidon from putting fish on the plate this morning. There were times that his step-mother was truly a pacifist.

Poseidon grinned when he noticed Percy’s presence at the table. “Ah, the prodigal son has arrived.”

“I was missing?”

Hera burst out laughing. “We were talking about the confusion between our counterparts when you were at Camp Jupiter.”

Zeus flickered for a second. He remained at the helm of the table. “Ah, yes. Neptune thought about denying the boy outright. He came to yell at me about your meddling. Something about how this child would not have the correct respect for rivers and agriculture.”

Demeter pressed a hand against her stomach. “As if he isn’t the reason why the fields at both camps no longer struggle for a storm during the right seasons.”

Poseidon threw his hands into the air. “My other form was judging him based off of what he recalled of my other children. It’s not like he had been watching Percy when he was in the driver’s seat.”

That got laughter from the rest of the table. Ares blinked. “My other form was so fucking confused by the anger in him. His memories were wiped, and yet he remembered that he hated my ass so much that it transferred to the other side of me.”

Hera choked delicately and then set her fork down. “What on Earth?”

“I know. Zero memories, solid concern for a name of Annabeth without the memories to go with the care and knowledge of a mother waiting for him. But one thing that did seem to overcome that little issue was me.”

Percy shrugged. “It might have to do with the powers of beating your mortal form at 12.”

Heads shot up and whipped around to him. It took Percy a second to realize that not everyone knew that. More than likely the eyes that would normally have turned to see this momentous occasion would have been busy within hours of a war between the sea and sky. He chuckled. “Yeah, he was fighting on Uncle Z’s behalf when I left the underworld to keep me from doing whatever it was I was planning.”

Zeus stared at his son. “You were on my side. You hadn’t come home, I thought you were planning on being neutral.”

“I wanted to know Uncle Poseidon’s plans before I committed to a side in that war. The best chance I had was getting to know Percy. I helped him to the underworld to get information and when he came back out, it seemed to me that was proof that something was going to happen otherwise Uncle Hades would have kept him.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in response. He could tell his brother was lying but outside of therapy he was letting him get away with it. He leaned back. “Alright, Percy, how about you tell us your wildest moment before you found out about all of us?”

“I snuck onto the roof of my school because a pegasus was there and told that to the mandatory therapist I had afterwards who was convinced I was either a liar, possessed, or trying to kill myself,” Percy said immediately.

Dionysus spewed his wine out across the table and then waved a hand to disappear it without a trace. “I hadn’t even thought how bad it would be in modern times for those who weren’t aware the other parent was a god.”

“It’s why I demanded you claim your kids, because not knowing is somehow so bad here.”

“Should have just demanded family dinners to share stories,” Demeter commented. “Somehow I think we all would have started to claim them after hearing your tales.”

Hermes nodded. “Or at least we would if dad didn’t get upset.”

Zeus tossed a glance over to him. “I never said you couldn’t or shouldn’t claim your kids. I said don’t unnecessarily interact with mortals. Please, by all means, claim your fucking kids. And I suppose, I should probably make some kind of announcement or something that having a singular conversation with your kid at like 5-10 about the fact they are a demigod and your kid is not interference, because seriously, I accused Percy at 12 and he didn’t even know he was a demigod. That has to be some fucked up shit right there.”

“How many unclaimed and not at camp are there currently out there in the world?” Hermes asked. “Maybe while you’re doing the announcement after therapy, I can do a small speed run message system of meeting with the currently lost little ones to just let them know, I don’t know there parent per se, but I do know what they are?”

“Our pantheon?” Hera checked.

“Ours and the Romans, obviously, because we aren’t all that different.”

Hera closed her eyes and the scent of lotus flowers and a soft light of the night stars wafted over them as she concentrated. “117,” she answered.

Zeus frowned. “How many are children of people on the council?”

“Like two, maybe,” Hera said. “I think one of them is Mercury’s and not Hermes’ and with his divine energy mostly not switching out right now with the grief, I don’t think he’s realized yet that he has a kid, but he’d realize upon seeing him. And then, I believe if I’m not mistaken, the youngest out of the bunch of unclaimed and not yet told is one of Athena’s but the child is like less than 5 currently.”

Athena inclined her head. “My children usually learn around 7 or so. I believe her father named her Paloma.”

Zeus smiled. “I hope all is well for those two. The others are from minor gods and goddesses then, so let us hope they all make it to camp.”

“Not all go,” Dionysus said finally. “The camp doesn’t actually have a large place for the minor gods and goddesses even with the work being done. And those kids don’t have monsters attack nearly as often. So sometimes, they never come.”

Zeus frowned at that. “Truly?”

Percy nodded. “It’s how your father got a lot of the demigods. They were frustrated alongside their parents at having no respect in the modern world.”

Zeus glanced around. “Well, council, advise me on how to fix this.”

Poseidon snorted. “Not tonight, brother. We can fix that after we fix ourselves.”

Percy interjected before anyone else could jump in. “After therapy, I would recommend speaking to my sister, Kymopoleia. She has many thoughts on this.”

Zeus turned, then he grinned and nodded. “Thank you, nephew.”

Apollo hummed. “I had a question, dad.”

“Shoot.”

“What exactly is the plan for once we complete therapy?”

“Return to monitoring our domains, hopefully with a few more family dinners and connections to lean on as we do.”

Apollo nodded. “I would like to sleep here during the time the moon is up again, if that would be acceptable.”

“Tonight or in general?” Hera asked softly.

“In general, stretching forward until or unless I have reason to change it again.”

Zeus waved his hand. “Your room is yours, my son. Use it when and as you please.” He hesitated. “That goes for all of you, including you, Triton.”

Triton’s head shot up from where he had been sitting next to Percy. “Since when do I have a room in Olympus?”

“Since you were born,” Hera answered. She laughed lightly. “I remember how excited he was to get to build the first room for his nephew’s in the sea. He spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to balance the levels of salt to make the water in their closer to the sea.”

Demeter chuckled. “He even called me and when I reminded him that it wasn’t this form that was ever connected to the ocean. He just pouted at me until I agreed to try to help.”

“It was important,” Zeus defended.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Why not call me?”

“You had just had a baby.”

“And I can split my spirit into multiple hosts to do most things at the same time. I could have spared you a fraction of myself to make things more comfortable for said son at a later time.”

Zeus sniffed. “Asking you for help would have been so rude after your wife had given birth. She would have killed us both.”

Amphitrite leaned over and pressed a kiss against her brother in law’s cheek. “Next time, do please just call upon us. I wanted to get away from his protective streak.”

Zeus eyed her carefully then nodded. “Of course, always happy to help.”

Persephone tilted her head to the side. “What’s in our children’s rooms then?”

“Which one?” Zeus asked. “Your children have way more complicated domains than Poseidon’s because Poseidon is the only one of us who like gives his children a little part of his domain all of the time.”

“They’re custom?” Hades asked before he could catch the question.

“Well, yeah.”

Hades blinked. “My children have custom bedrooms in your palace.”

“I’m confused where you’re losing your mind.”

“I’m not even welcome here often, Zeus, and you’re blowing my mind by telling me that you just had carefully made up plans for my children to come visit.”

“I’m not sure where or how you got it in your head that you’re not welcome here,” Zeus responded softly. “You have a bedroom too. It’s in the wing where your children’s are. Poseidon has his wing with his children. I will admit that Percy’s bedroom is slightly closer to crossroads than most just because he did impress me, but most are in a wing of their own.”

“I was never part of this council.”

“No, but that doesn’t prohibit you from being here if you would like to be on other occasions.”

Hades gaped at Zeus. “I wasn’t welcome in your council, but I was welcome in your home.”

“Yes,” Zeus said. “I mean, I offered Poseidon a place when he mentioned that the mortals kind of still dealt with us both at the same time. I figured the dead and the living didn’t mingle as much so you wouldn’t want to add the burden of the living to your plate.”

Percy watched Hades’ face contort and was prepared for screaming, when Hades abruptly just shut down. “Uncle,” he called quietly.

Hades waved off Percy’s concern. He stared at Zeus. “Therapy, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you had wanted to convince me to back off at any point over the last 2 centuries, you could have said that, and I would have.”

It was Zeus’ turn to blink. “You didn’t know?”

Hera laughed softly. “I tried to tell you, dear. I didn’t think either of them were avoiding Olympus out of desire to never see you but out of ignorance that they were welcome.”

Hestia tilted her head to the side. “Perhaps, the siblings could have an evening together.”

Hermes lit up. “We could do the rest of the kids too. Triton, Percy, that includes the two of you.”

Percy barely caught his breath under the weight of the expected glances of the other siblings. “Yeah, alright. But if I’m staying around that many gods for that long, one of you better be making sure that I don’t melt away in my sleep.”

Apollo’s eyes shot up and locked on Percy’s. “Dad’s protection will keep you from pretty much anything short of us trying to smite you purposefully.”

Percy’s body slumped. “So, that’s why I’m not getting a headache.”

Poseidon leaned over the table to thump him on the back. “That, my boy, and to be honest, I’m not sure you would anyway. You’ve been doing surprisingly well at handling these therapy sessions even without Zeus being willing to step in had you faltered under the pressure of our godhood.”

Percy fought not to tense up again. That sounded like something he should be at least slightly concerned with. He should probably note that was happening to someone who might know better.

Apollo’s hand curled around the flesh of his arm as Hermes was gathering the rest of everyone. “Yes, uncle. He’s quite well adapted to us. Now, we’ll get out of your hair.”

In a flash of light, they were gone. They were all piled into what looked like Aphrodite’s room. There were spots of the sea, large cushions, so many pillows, plushies, and blankets that Percy could probably drown in them. The colors were all bright and homey.

Aphrodite lounged across once of the couches in the room. “Apollo, dear, we hadn’t finished voting on my room.”

“It was the best option if we were inviting both Triton and Percy to join us, and you know it.”

Aphrodite held her hands up. “I mean, yes, and I believe everyone is going to agree to that, but still…perhaps dragging the mortal here without me having confirmed that would be alright might have been a bit premature.”

“He needed out.”

“Did he?”

Percy kind of collapsed on the nearest beanbag like it was nothing, grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it until his energy was gone. “Apollo, tell me the truth, please.”

“I don’t know what color your blood would bleed right now, but it wouldn’t be pure red.”

Aphrodite’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. That’s why…”

“Yeah.”

She stood and crossed the room. She picked out an ornate dagger. “Yes, or no?”

Percy held out his arm. He needed to know what doing this therapy was doing to him. “I should lay off the ambrosia.”

Apollo turned around to him. “What the fuck?”

“Zeus offered it, and it’s about the only thing that can keep my energy levels up going day after day with all of you in a room with each other,” Percy defended.

Aphrodite dragged the blade down the inside of his arm, just as the other gods stepped into the room. Everyone froze as his blood rose to the surface. Dripping down from the slash was a bright bronze color. It was tainted with red, but it ran closer to a metallic brown than anything else.

Percy whimpered.

Triton moved to wrap him in his arms. “It’s fine. Percy, it’ll be okay. You’re still somewhat mortal. Nothing will happen in therapy that will change that.”

Apollo winced.

Ares stepped forward and took the blade from Aphrodite’s hand. He quickly swept the blood off of the sharp edge and handed it back. He laid a hand over Percy’s cut and it slowly healed. “Breathe.”

Percy sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to be a god,” he whispered.

“Would being with us for eternity be that bad?” Persephone asked as she walked into the room. At everyone’s eyes, she shrugged. “I wasn’t going to join my husband with his siblings, and unlike Amphitrite, I had no desire to sleep alone. I am still your cousin with Triton and Percy.”

Percy shook his head. “I would love an eternity with you as family. But it wouldn’t just be an eternity with you as my family. I would watch my mother die, all traces of her wiped from the histories.”

“You could prevent that,” Aphrodite pointed out. “With how favored you are at the moment, Zeus would probably help you create those legends.”

Percy swallowed. “I don’t want to forget my mortality and forget what it means to have the consequence of death. I don’t want to end up on the sidelines while mortals lay strewn on the ground dead.”

Ares grabbed hold of Percy’s chin and dragged his head up to meet his eyes. He blew out a stream of air. “I swear on the River Styx, that if you ever start slipping and forgetting the lessons you learned in these wars, I will personally kick your ass down to the mortals to remind you.”

The ground and room around them trembled and shook with the force of his oath. Ares looked remarkably smug as the creation of that oath sat with them all. “And I’m not my father, Percy. You don’t have to worry about me failing that oath.”

Percy sucked in a steadying breath. “I’m afraid of losing my morals. I don’t want to become indifferent to suffering.”

Apollo chuckled lightly. “I swear on the river styx, that if you forget what it means to be a good god or a good person in case this is all in vain and you continue to defy the odds, I will spend every day reminding you what morals are.”

Percy glanced at him shocked as the ground shook again. The attention of the goddess was firmly on them in this crowded room. He could hardly believe it. “I don’t want to be like you were at the beginning. I don’t want to have families that I don’t interact with. I don’t want to end up in a scenario apart from the world.”

Athena’s lips twitch into a smile. “I swear on the river styx, that should there come a time when we are once more banned from interacting with our families, that I will puzzle with you until we find every loophole there is and use them one after another to be there for the mortal members of the family.”

Percy’s eyes shot to Athena’s. There was much distrust between them but oath took hold based on the way that he swayed on the ground under the weight of yet another oath made in his name. Three was a powerful number, but there was another important one.

“I won’t be a part of the family if it fractures again. I can’t stand the idea of not knowing who loves whom and who hates who.”

“If we falter again after all this work,” Dionysus said from where he was leaning against the doorway, “then we’ll team up. The cousins underneath the godly six from grandfather’s lineage. We’ll team up and we’ll change leadership.”

“You aren’t going to swear it,” Hephaestus teased.

“That’s not exactly something I want to carry across the realms of the gods,” Dionysus retorted.

Hephaestus snorted. “The not-quite mortal is going to need sleep shortly, and we’re all here, so we’ll need to let him sleep as we bond.”

“I can do hair,” Aphrodite offered.

“Relaxation sounds nice,” Persephone agreed.

Percy nodded. Dionysus’ promise would be enough for him. He believed that they would genuinely try to help if he did accidentally end up making himself a god. He wasn’t planning on anything, but he was determined to stick this out, and his blood was already changing more than it should.

Hephaestus placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Should there come a day when our family splinters, I swear on the river styx that I will follow your lead wherever you wish to go.”

“Seconded, on the river styx,” Aphrodite announced.

Slowly, the other gods in the room swore the same. The only one silent in the end was Persephone who was looking at all of them in a half accepting manner and in a half exasperated way. “Very well, cousins.”

“Sibling,” Dionysus coughed.

Persephone’s eyes tracked over to him. “He has not acted as my father in quite some time, Dionysus. Less so even than the rest of you whom he has hurt. Notice my absence on his council. Notice that I am referred to as a wife and not a child.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that he was the one whose power was siphoned to create you. You are of his line as much as I am, dear.”

She inclined her head. “Very well, family,” she corrected. Her eyes bore into Percy’s skull as she met his gaze. “I swear on the river styx, if the family falls apart, I will not side with my husband, nor my parents. I will follow you, Perseus Jackson, for better or for worse.”

Percy’s mouth fell open. The weight of these last few oaths was enough to drive the remainder of his consciousness from him. These were words given o a king of gods, and he was too mortal to hold them for long. Luckily, the river could hold most of the weight for the moment.

Chapter Text

Percy woke up floating on the back of a shell with a fluffy pillow under his head, a thick blanket on top of his, and a stuffed otter under his arm. He was going around the stream in Aphrodite’s room, and he was certain if he let his fingers trail in the water, he would come to find the sea water there. The night before was a blur in his mind. There had been divinity, much of it. Too much likely for him to comprehend mortally.

“How much do you remember?”

“Not all of it. The dinner was a success. I was brought back with the cousins for the sleepover portion,” he answered the goddess. Aphrodite’s eyes were on him now that he was awake enough to notice the only remaining energy.

“Father sent out notice this morning that we were not to meet until summoned. So either you knew that you would be out of it past the godly energy or there was another matter in question.”

Percy held up two fingers.

Aphrodite nodded. “Which of my brothers are you going to need to bother today?”

Percy raised his eyebrows. “Your lover,” he answered.

She pursed her lips and nodded. “That is unfortunate. His anger and guilt will not make him easy to talk to.”

“He will be easy enough with me. I am after all fully aware of everything.”

“I believe some of us know more than we’ve let on. His counter goddess figured it out that day in the throne room and has been speaking on his behalf ever since. My husband knew whatever happened shortly after it went down, or at least I suspect he does based on his reactions to his brother after that moment. And he could hardly manage it at a party without my notice.”

Percy arched a brow. He considered for a moment whether he believed her. He believed Hephaestus might know. His comments had been digging at the idea that nothing at all was unforgivable, which might point towards him understanding. Aphrodite on the other hand, knew that he did something with Luke. Nothing more and nothing less. “You don’t know everything.”

Aphrodite’s face fell into disarray. “No, please, no.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Aphrodite, but I have met you on many occasions and you would not forgive nearly as easily as some of the others have. You do not know.”

Her face still crumbled into sorrow. “Alright, well, I stayed to let you know that you could use my clothes in here as choices so you didn’t have to pull on that camp t-shirt for the fourth day in a row.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “Thank you for the warning. It wouldn’t have gone over as well if I had found out he was hiding secrets at the same time as everyone else.” She hesitated at the doorway as she stood to leave. “Do you forgive him as well as the others?”

Percy was already walking to one of the piles of clothes when her question hit his ears. He snorted lightly. “Cousin, I’ve told everyone here and I’ll tell everyone a hundred more times, there is nothing that you have done that I would not forgive for being brave enough to be here knowing that these crimes will come out.”

“I have messed around with your love life.”

“Anything recent?” He had known about her pushes towards Annabeth in the past, but he had quite obviously not heard anything in a while. He thought that she was reasonably happy the two of them had gotten together.

She smiled sheepishly at him. “The therapy changed things.”

“My speaking about the pit, you mean.” Percy had thought it might influence some of the gods to do something, but he hadn’t quite been prepared for the uproar of support following some of his confessions. He was sure that there would be more eventually. He had told them what he’d done, but he wasn’t sure they all understood what he meant. The words still rang in his head that not even his father and uncles had faced off against the domain itself.

Aphrodite nodded to his words. “One more question, if you would be so kind.”

“Ask away, cousin. It’s not like I can’t take as long as this will need.”

“Do you think if I don’t know everything neither does my husband? Or was he telling the truth when he knew that I wasn’t correct in everything and that he knows it all?”

Before Percy could tell her the truth which is that he doubted anyone had the full ability to know everything that was going down with Ares, Hephaestus was in the room. He had his arms crossed over his chest. “If you’re going to refer to me all the time, you might as well use my name, wife.”

“Titles don’t summon us like names do.”

He snorted. “Maybe not for you. But all of your thoughts say my name when you say the title and I have always been able to hear and respond to them.” He spared a glance towards Percy. “I know.”

Percy shook his head lightly. “No one knows.”

“I know,” Hephaestus retorted. He pushed Aphrodite more firmly into the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the closed frame. “Swear that you won’t say shit until Ares does, wife.”

Aphrodite frowned. “You don’t think I will from my own accord. I wouldn’t want him injured.”

“This might change your mind, and I’d rather not be the one who got him hurt when I’m one of two that have kept him from it all this time.”

She huffed. “I swear on the river Styx that I will not reveal Ares’ secret to the family.”

Hephaestus gave a jerky nod. His eyes still glued on Percy. “My brother is the lightning thief. That and the thief of the helm of Uncle. He is the one who started the war. He is the one who aligned with the one that shall not be named. He is the one ultimately responsible for all the deaths.”

Aphrodite lunged at Hephaestus. “Just because you don’t like him doesn't mean that you can blemish his name like this.” Her nails dug into his arm. “You couldn’t know these things.”

“On the contrary, he thinks often of me. He thinks of me when he’s fucking you, which is a head trip wife. He thinks of me when he’s betraying our father for reasons that I will not share. His reasons are his own and the fact I know them is only due to the unfortunate consistency by which I happen to hear thoughts involving my name.”

“Percy!” Aphrodite called to him instead. “Tell my traitorous husband to stuff his lies up his ass and never speak them again.”

“I can’t do that,” Percy said softly.

“Why not?” Aphrodite pulled back. “He couldn’t hurt you. Neither father nor I would allow it.”

“Many people would be on him if he hurt me, but I can’t tell him to take his lies and fuck off with them, because he hasn’t lied.”

Hephaestus snorted in a half laugh. “Go, talk to my brother. I’ll reason with my wife and the oath will keep her mouth shut, since she is somewhat smarter than our father.”

Percy walked by them. Only he brushed past Hephaestus only to be met with another question that had been preying on his mind. “When you said nothing had been done that couldn’t be forgiven.”

“I meant all of it. Him screwing my wife, him betraying the family, him antagonizing random gods and goddesses to start a fight to get his itch satisfied. All of it is fine by me, or well not fine, but tolerated.”

Percy grinned. “I’m glad, he will need someone to stand for him like that.”

“Why?”

Percy glanced back towards Aphrodite who looked like she was ready to kill someone, and he wasn’t sure who the choice of murder victims would be. He did however also see compassion and concern underlying that anger somewhat. He sighed. “Because he does feel incredibly guilty about having done this, and I don’t think he intended for the consequences that came from this to be what they were.”

“He didn’t,” Hephaestus confirmed.

Percy glanced at Hephaestus. “We’re talking about your issues at some point to.”

Hephaestus waved a dismissive hand. “I always knew we would. It’s not like one could do family therapy without talking about my wife fucking my brother, my mother trying to murder me, and the general disdain this family has for caring about each other in a healthy committed way.”

Percy nodded. “I’m going to loop back to that.”

Hephaestus grinned at him like a lunatic. “I’ll hold you to that, but later. Go now, find my brother, and try to ensure that he is going to be okay.”

Percy left the room. He noticed the dome covered food with a sticky note with Apollo’s handwriting all over it. He picked it up. Underneath the dome was a piping hot cup of cocoa, a nice egg scramble and a small square of ambrosia. The note read, Percy, I know you’re probably still concerned about everything. However, you do need the energy the ambrosia gives you to continue doing therapy, and I checked quite a few things out. The ambrosia amounts you’re eating are a result of the other thing, but not a cause. So, you’re good to continue without additional harm.

Percy frowned at the note, but he did start to eat and consume the food and drink as he walked off towards the sparring area. He figured that’s where Ares would feel most at home after getting up from the cousin’s night.

He watched from a distance as Ares obliterated a few punching bags, and they reformed seconds later. He was practicing with his large broad sword. Percy’s eyes followed his movements. One of these days, he was going to challenge Ares to a spar in the colosseum of Camp Jupiter just to see what would happen without the ocean behind him.

Ares stopped swinging after another arc and turned to Percy. “I was afraid that I was the one you were going to need to talk to.”

Percy inclined his head. “I’m sorry that I have to do this.”

Ares shook his head. “Don’t apologize to me, kid. I made my choices. They weren’t smart ones, and I’ve got to face the music.”

“Yeah.”

Ares sat down next to Percy. “I…there was more I wanted to say and do before I faded.”

“You might not,” Percy pointed out. It would be difficult for Zeus to expunge him so well that he wouldn’t reform this life cycle. Plus, if Percy was being entirely honest, he didn’t think that Zeus was going to kill him. He’d want to at the start, but he typically listened to Percy’s commands, and killing someone would most certainly be going against that.

Ares’ smile turned grim. “Listen, you’ve done great work with the family. And if there’s anything that I can ask of you now, it would be this, don’t let dad throw it away after I’m gone. Force the family to keep talking about their shit.”

“I’m not going to let you die,” Percy admitted. “If you’re dying, it’s because I’m already dead and likely so is Athena.”

Ares put his head in his hands and screamed. “I don’t want the two of you to die for me. I don’t deserve that kindness and I don’t want some of my last actions on this Earth to be getting others killed.”

Percy looked at Ares closely. “You truly believe that there is nothing we can do to stop this.”

“You know what I did. If my father doesn’t kill me, my uncles will finish me off. I hurt them, their children, their domains. I did that.”

Percy tapped his leg. “Grandfather eventually would have gotten all of this to happen regardless. The whole point of the great prophecy was that eventually the prophecy had to be met.”

Ares nodded. “That’s what Apollo will say.”

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. “You can’t get in between us when it comes time for my confession.”

“Of course, I can.”

Ares shook his head. “My siblings are one thing. They are immortal and as angry as he is that they are defending me, dad wouldn’t stop them from reforming if he does more than just get them out of his way. You, however, are still somewhat mortal. You can still die and enter Uncle’s realm. You can’t intervene.”

“You can’t stop me.”

Ares stared at Percy for a long moment. “I can’t make you, no. I can’t make anyone do anything, anymore than grandfather did.”

“Are you planning on manipulating me?”

“One day you might see it that way,” Ares grumbled. “Percy, I’m asking you not to get involved. I am asking you not to make one of my last acts on this plane of being if I’m right be watching the cousin that I’ve grown to love die for my mistakes. Mistakes that could have already cost me your life, my children’s lives, and possibly all of my family’s. I’m asking you not to make me wonder whether even as I confess, I might still be leading to a problem.”

Percy dropped his mouth open. “You’re playing dirty.”

“Little bit.”

Percy paused. He reached out and brushed Ares’ arm. “I swear on the River Styx that I will not intervene when you confess. I will stay on the sidelines.”

The ground trembled under his oath, and he could feel the river’s eyes on him. The two of them hadn’t been as connected lately, ever since Hera had wiped him of her blessing, but the remembrance ran deep in him. He was almost as peace with the rivers of the underworld. They were flaming, but the heat wouldn’t touch him, not like they would others.

He laid his head on Ares’ shoulder. “Do you want to put this off?”

“We don’t have that choice.”

“I could make the argument as therapist that we need to deal with the rest of Zeus’ children before we touch yours. That would involve telling Dionysus what was up and getting his therapy sessions underway. And well your full brother knows what you did, and if I asked him to go first, he would.”

Ares shook his head. “Dio makes sense, but Hephaestus doesn’t fear father. He has issues with mom, but not with dad.”

“Do you want me to call him and see whether he’ll agree to help you?”

“He won’t. His son died because of me.”

“His son died in a war. A war that could be laid partially at your feet, a lot at your grandfather’s and a good bit on your dad’s. Yet, I haven’t seen Dionysus accuse anyone of leading to his son’s death. The only person I’d be concerned about is Hermes.”

“You say their names even now in this heavy conversation.”

“Names have power,” Percy parroted from the many times other demigods and Chiron and even Mr. D had told him that. He smiled. “You’re my family though, and I’ll call you by name, and if you want to come see what I’m up to, then you are always welcome.”

“You’ll have secrets one day.”

Percy shrugged. “What did my secrets ever do for me? I had a secret identity in which I was apparently a halfblood, but that didn’t keep Zeus from assuming that I was the one at war with him. I tried to secretly sneak out of camp, but that lasted exactly zero time. My whole life was hidden from me and I still couldn’t forget the woman I love. I’m not exactly made for secrets.”

Ares laughed. The sound was shocking. “Alright, alright. You win. Call whomever you want. I could use the practice run of telling someone anyway.”

“Dionysus, I need you,” Percy whispered in a breath.

Dionysus shimmered into being in front of them, wine glass firmly in hand. He glanced between the two of them huddled together. He huffed. “I have a feeling that I’m going to hate this conversation.”

Ares swallowed.

Dionysus watched the motion cautiously. “Is it your day?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.” Dionysus took a sip of his wine. “It doesn’t have to be though. Percy and Athena are the only ones who know for sure.”

“Hephaestus does as well,” Percy piped up.

Dionysus inclined his head towards Percy in an understanding sort of way. “Which means that I could help you somehow. How can I help and furthermore, exactly why should I, brother?” The last word was spat out between them in the open air.

“Percy says that he could make it seem plausible that your day needed to come before mine.”

“Thalia has to come before me,” Dionysus warned Percy.

Percy nodded. “I’ll make the case that we dealt with only half the issue yesterday and before we move on, we need to address this. And then, I’ll point out that while Ares’ actions came after your punishment, if we don’t fix what Zeus did to you when he’s so bloody terrified of dying, he has me swearing oaths on the River that I won’t get myself killed protecting him, he’ll literally never be able to speak and do it adequately.”

“Good reasoning.” Dionysus took a sip from his goblet. “I guess my question is who is asking me.”

“Me,” Ares answered quickly and without hesitation.

“I’m a lot less inclined to help you, Ares, than I am to help Percy.”

Ares tilted his head to the side and nodded. “Yeah, I kind of figured, but it is my mess and Percy won’t always be around to help me.”

Dionysus nodded.

Ares swallowed. “I need to tell you what I did.”

“Yep.”

“I need to tell you a lot of things actually.” He rubbed at his forehead. “Did you know I fought mom after you were conceived?”

“What?”

Ares nodded slowly. “Yeah, didn’t figure. We don’t much talk about you, no offense. We assume you know things that you wouldn’t because we kept them from father and no one else was around when you ascended at least not for good.”

Dionysus paused. “Elaborate.”

Ares snorted in rough amusement. “You were the baby brother and like most of dad’s fucking demigods we tried our best to not isolate you completely. We understood that it wasn’t your fault. We often tried to reason with Hera regarding the bastards of dad’s line. I took on your case because you were so tiny strapped to dad’s thigh.”

“Not my fault,” Dionysus muttered indignantly.

“Of course not, little brother.” There was a light smirk on Ares face that died away. “I love you,” he said softly. “Maybe not in a healthy way and maybe not in a way that is useful or helpful, but I love you. I fought for you.”

Dionysus regarded him for a moment then nodded. “I recall that you did attempt to speak on my behalf at the trial too, even if you didn’t get more than three words in before being silenced.”

Ares swallowed roughly. “Your punishment fucked with me.”

“In what way?”

“Dionysus, I…I didn’t enjoy the fact that dad had punished you so harshly. I didn’t like that none of us had a way to contact you despite the relationship we all had. And I certainly didn’t like how depressed you became when I looked in on you at the camp.”

“I didn’t either,” Dionysus said dryly.

“Yeah, well, that resulted in me looking for a way to free you from the punishment.”

“How on Earth did you figure you could do that?”

Ares blanched. “Now, we’re entering the territory of that secret thing I did.”

Dionysus crossed his arms as his wine goblet disappeared. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Before I say that, just, know that I am really extremely sorry.”

Dionysus raised his eyes to the sky. He took in a long suffering breath. “Okay, okay, fine. You’re sorry for whatever the fuck it is that you did. I understand, and I hear you, now what the fuck did you do?”

“I helped Luke steal dad’s bolt and Uncle’s helm in order to assist grandfather in being able to escape the pit in return for my siblings being freed from father’s oppression including the return of your domain.”

Dionysus’ mouth fell open.

“I realized he was lying to me when he pinned everything on the brat despite everything. He knew that the brat wasn’t at fault but he was an expendable pawn, and I realized that all of us were expendable to him. He’d kill my children. He’d kill you. And I fell for it because I was desperate at the time for someone to tell me that I could fix something, and I’m sorry.”

Ares’ eyes welled up with tears. “I’m so sorry, brother. I know I got so many of our kids killed. And I didn’t manage to do anything properly in terms of fixing it.”

Dionysus held up a hand to stop him from still speaking. He looked seconds away from committing a murder and then the purple flames that had been in his eyes were just gone. He wilted. “You’re the reason my kid died. You’re the reason that Luke died. You’re the reason that almost all of our brother’s cabin died. The reason why I had to hold so many funeral pyres that year that I became numb. Every single time that I held one of them as they cried for the losses they suffered. Every broken response from a demigod. Every single one of them is on you.”

Ares whimpered. He nodded slowly to Dionysus. “And I’m so sorry.”

“Fuck you,” Dionysus snarled.

Percy tightened his lips but said nothing. This was a rational and reasonable anger. And for all that Dionysus still looked so bloody tired, he didn’t look like he was going to do something unreasonable.

Dionysus licked across his lips and then shook his head. “Start with Thalia, Percy.”

“What?” Ares asked.

“Fuck you,” Dionysus repeated for good measure. “Fuck you, and I don’t forgive you. At least not right the fuck now after finding all of this shit out, because and I can’t stress this enough fuck you. However, as much as I am angry and as much as I believe you deserve to carry the guilt of this for a lifetime or longer, you are my brother. You are my brother and you are scared and you came to me. You came to me, and I have the power to help you, so I will.”

He raised his eyes to Percy. “Thalia, then me, and then you have to make Ares do his because the rest of the family has to know. We all have to make peace with this or decide that this will be what finally seals the coffin of our family.”

“I know.”

Dionysus squeezed his eyes shut. “You always knew.”

“Yeah, I did. This one wasn’t on Hestia’s list, but I knew anyway.”

Dionysus snorted. “Part of the family now too late to run away from us. You’re deeper into this shit than Ares is at this point.”

Percy didn’t argue against that. He just nodded. “But I have your permission?”

“You do. And he has my protection.” Dionysus rolled his eyes. “And my love.”

Ares’ head snapped back to Dionysus. “What?”

“You are my brother. Right now I really really really want to punch you in your stupid face until you’re spewing ichor on the ground. However, I still love you. And eventually through some feat of apology or guilt or punishment or something, you will earn my forgiveness. You were manipulated after all, and if I found it in me to hold funeral pyres for several of the others that grandfather convinced to side with him for a time, I will find it in me to get over what you’ve done.”

Ares lunged forward and wrapped his brother in a hug.

Dionysus remained stiff in the hold for a second, then he returned the embrace with a heavy sigh. “You don’t have to worry about most of us, Ares. We’ll come around.”

“I don’t want to die,” Ares admitted softly.

“Yeah, well, Athena’s going to help you. And I suppose, I’ll offer up some amount of protest if he seems to be going too far.”

Dionysus looked at Percy then. “Thalia, then me,” he reminded.

Percy nodded. The god before them flashed out of the embrace that Ares had him in and was gone with only the scent of wine left in his place.

Ares gulped. “So, I got my stay of execution.”

“Indeed, now excuse while I go find your father and get this show on the road for today’s session.”

“Wait.”

Percy froze, his feet already heading towards the throne room. He could keep walking. He owed nothing more than he’d already done, but he had to admit, he was curious about Ares’ mental state and what was going on. “What?”

“Just…” Ares moved forward slowly, and then wrapped Percy up in his arms the same way that he had done Dionysus. “Let me show you that I am glad to have a family member on my side.”

Percy raised his arms and returned the embrace. “You always had me, Ares. You didn’t have to trick me to take the bag. You could have been kind, and I would have done it for you without asking questions. You could have just flat out told me you believed that this was the only way, and honestly grandfather might have won me had you.”

“Then, I’m glad I wasn’t aware that you were going to become family. I think we would have lost, if you were on his side.”

Percy didn’t say it out loud, but he was pretty sure of that too. Or at least, he was pretty sure many of the gods believed that, several titans, and possibly one or two primordials. They all spoke of him as a great power. He didn’t enjoy that. He was just Percy. He wanted to remain just Percy.

When Ares had his fill of hugging him, he left for the throne room. His steps were laden with exhaustion until he found his uncle up on his throne. “We can be ready to begin.”

Zeus stared at him. “What the fuck happened to you that has you looking like you’re exhausted before we even begin the therapy session?”

“The conversation that I needed to have was emotionally draining and rather than that being the only emotionally draining part of the day, I’m now about to handle leading this therapy session of more draining emotional problems.”

Zeus frowned. “We could put it off, Percy.”

Percy shook his head. “All of you are splitting your time differently than normal to do this. The less time we spend on it, the less likely one of our not-quite enemies, and certainly not friends will have time to do something stupid.”

Zeus regarded him for a long moment. “What would help?”

Percy opened his mouth to say nothing will fix this, but then he snapped it shut. If his uncle was willing to be this concerned about his mental health, than he could at least do him the curtesy of trying to come up with a solution for a second rather than just assuming that there’s nothing to be done to fix it.

Instead, he took a deep breath. “I don’t know, uncle. I just don’t really want to be separated from everyone while everyone fights again.” He knew logically that he could probably ask Hermes to sit with him again or better yet just climb into his throne afterwards. He could possibly guilt Ares into allowing it, or ask his father to hold him. But all of those would involve actively asking for comfort again, and some of them he couldn’t explain why to.

Zeus held out a hand to Percy. When Percy grabbed hold of it, he found himself yanked on to the throne of the king of gods. He settled Percy into his lap where he could be easily seen by the other gods for when he was talking and yet also never have to leave family’s embrace. “Better?” He questioned.

“Yes.”

“Good.” Zeus tossed a large lightning bolt into the center of the room. Sometimes, he’d just send Hermes out to fetch everyone. But since they were all waiting for his signal, he figured just the large flash of light would be enough.

Hestia entered the room, first. She cast a glance towards Percy, before shaking her head in amusement. “You know, brother, when I said we needed therapy, I didn't imagine you somehow switching to favoring Poseidon’s kid.”

Zeus raised an eyebrow. “You know literally any other family member that would do therapy this well for us or consider all of us equally.”

Hestia inclined her head at that.

Slowly other gods filtered into the room. Poseidon gave a general look over when he realized that Percy was sitting with Zeus. He finally just shook his head. He walked by ruffling Percy’s hair and squeezing Zeus’ shoulder.

When Hera entered the throne room, she settled a blanket over Zeus’ lap and covered Percy up to his shoulders.

Percy glanced at her questioningly. “Thank you, auntie.”

She ran a delicate touch over his head. “Of course, dear nephew. Husband,” she offered softly before heading to her own throne.

Zeus looked almost as befuddled as Percy did, which is the only thing that kept Percy from demanding further answers. If she wanted to show kindness, and this was the only way she knew how, this would be alright.

Percy cleared his throat once Dionysus and Ariadne arrived. “We’re breaking from the chronological order today, in order to address something that directly ties to what we talked about yesterday.”

Hades frowned. “I was unaware there were any more issues regarding the family and the lightning bolt issue.”

“There aren’t, but there is another child of a big three who was targeted only because of the oath,” Percy replied. He watched as understanding hit most of the other gods. “Today, we’re going to talk about Thalia.”

Several gods winced, and Zeus snorted from behind Percy. “I assume you don’t mean her joining the hunters.”

“No, I mean her life being hunted, the almost death, the tree solution, and everything that goes along with that.”

Hades laid a hand against his brow and sighed. “Fine, but I want the same deal that Zeus got.”

Zeus arched a brow at Hades. “What deal would that be, brother?”

“I want to be allowed to speak with no one being allowed to interrupt me, and then for you to respond again without anyone interrupting and then we can deal with the rest.”

Poseidon glanced in between them. “Brother, that almost didn’t work at all for Zeus the first time, and no offense, my relationship with both of you has always been better than your relationships with each other.”

Zeus held up a hand for Poseidon to get cut off. “Alright.”

“What?” Poseidon said shocked.

“I got my chance to do this right, and I’d like to think I did an alright job of it. If he wants his chance to do this right, then he gets it. Whether it works or not is up to what he does and how he chooses to use this opportunity.”

Percy nodded. He gave Hades a thumbs up. “I’ll make sure no one interrupts.”

Hestia stared for a second. “Brother, you should rethink this.”

“He’s fine,” Zeus said. “This will be fine.”

Poseidon grimaced. “Zeus, I think we’re all worried that you’re going to react poorly when Hades does what we all suspect he will and not truly apologize.”

Hades glared at Poseidon. “I apologized to you.”

“Only vaguely and it was only accepted because I didn’t find your attacks to be all that directed, in all honesty.”

He frowned. “Wait…”

Poseidon waved a hand. “We’re fine, brother. We’re just fine. I’m merely worried about Zeus.”

Zeus waved his hand. “I’ll deal with my issues. Hades, you’re welcome to speak at the start of this.”

Percy stayed quiet through this exchange. He tentatively agreed with the other gods that he didn’t see Hades actually apologizing, but he differed from them. He was sat on Zeus’ lap, and there was very little chance that his uncle would hurt him to reach Hades. The night wouldn’t end in violence. He wasn’t quite sure that it would end in anything useful either, but they would take what they had.

Hades nodded. “Is everyone good for me to begin?”

“Try not to start a war,” Hera observed.

Hades sighed. “Anything pertinent to our discussion?” That time the room remained silent.

Hades gave a brief bow to Zeus before he began pacing the throne room. “I deliberated a lot about how to address this during our break. I wasn’t sure when this was going to come up but given that Percy’s did, I had a feeling that Thalia’s was too. I want you to know that I considered this for quite some time before I decided on these words.”

“Thalia wasn’t the object of my ire. You were. You, who beat me down into submission to an oath I wanted no part of. You, who killed the mother of my children and would have my children to avoid a prophecy that was always going to arrive. You, who hurt me when you refused my council and trapped me into a stupid oath that was always going to end broken. You were my enemy.”

His eyes cut over to Percy. “And while I know most of this will come up later and be hashed out in more details, it is abundantly clear to me that no one ever acknowledges my reasons alongside my actions. They see me as a villain and so be it.”

“I am the villain, and your child proved that you were not going to hold your own oath to the same standards that you held me to mine. You were willing to slaughter my children born before such an oath was taken to avoid responsibility, but there your daughter was, steadily approaching the age of the prophecy, and you would do nothing.”

“A part of me thought that it was helpful, you know. You weren’t able to do to your own daughter what you would do to mine, so I was just stepping in. I was being a good older brother by attacking your child with the full intent to murder them.”

He cleared his throat. “Obviously, that was wrong. Still, it was a part of my thoughts, and I can’t very well apologize for anything if we aren’t all on the same page about what it is I’m apologizing for. To be clearer now, than I have been thus far, I am apologetic for what happened that day. I should not have targeted your daughter. I should not have been the one to order her head on a platter.”

The room was silent. “However, it is also important to me that I stress that I did her more of a kindness than you did mine. I did not come for her myself. I did not make her face off a god’s weapon. She had a chance, more than my children ever did.”

Percy’s wave of water was the only thing that cut off several members of the audience from speaking. Both the twins seemed outraged, Persephone had a rant written cross her face, and even Hera looked ready to fight him.

Zeus didn’t take his eyes off Hades. “Are you done?”

“I don’t think so, one moment.” Hades fished out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and began reading over it.

Zeus couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him. “You wrote it down.”

“Just the major bits,” Hades explained. “Didn’t want to leave something out during the actual time I got to explain shit. The whole situation was fucked from the beginning and it goes back to several other fights, and I’d hate to have the whole thing misinterpreted for the tenth time and for none of this to be worthwhile.”

“Of course.”

Percy was surprised that there was no tension in his uncle. Nothing to suggest that he was surprised by the actions here in the slightest. That was either going to be good or bad, and he wasn’t going to be able to intervene just yet because he had in fact allowed Zeus freedom to do this.

“Ah, fuck.” Hades cursed as he slipped the note back into his pocket. “Forgot like all of my conclusion, you mind?”

Zeus rested his head in his hand as he stared at his brother. “No, go right on ahead.”

Hades stared for a second as if trying to assess the genuineness in his brother’s statement. When nothing else was forthcoming, he inclined his head. “Thank you.”

Zeus said nothing and just kept watching his brother. The energy in the throne room was tight and controlled. Everyone was anticipating a blow up at some point. The only relaxation in the room came from Zeus, himself, and to a lesser extent Percy. He was sitting with his uncle, so as long as the tension didn’t enter him, he was going to be fine.

Hades cleared his throat. He knelt down on the stone in front of Zeus. “I want you to know that I am not sorry for wanting a war with you. I am not sorry that she was going to be the casualty I chose to start the war.”

He bent forward to where his head was bowed. “I am sorry I did not attempt to communicate beforehand. When you reached for me and mine, you gave the curtesy of a warning. You gave me your reasonings and as much as I disagreed, I was aware of your positions. You were unaware of mine. I did not give you any time to humor me to save her. I did not give you an option with which she could have been spared and that was wrong of me. I am sorry for this.”

There was a tremor of anxiety in the crowd of gods. Some of them were nervous with another king god on his knees in front of a different god. Some of them were panicked that Zeus’ reaction was going to be unkind.

Zeus snorted in light amusement. “Done now?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” The whole room shifted. Everyone was reaching for their own power in case they needed it, and Zeus spared a small glance towards Poseidon. “That was a shit apology.”

Hades laughed where he knelt on the floor. “Yeah, well, it was hard as shit to come up with one that wouldn’t be a lie. I had to go do some soul searching. Because I could recognize that I felt guilt for what happened but not a lot, so I had to dig to find what I was actually upset about having not done.”

Zeus nodded along with him. “I get that. But really, you stared the apology off by yelling at me.”

Hades inclined his head. “Felt more genuine that way.”

Most of the gods were holding their breath as they waited to see what was going to be said next. Was this going to result in a huge fight? Would the war between the dead and the living start today?

“You’re forgiven, brother.”

Collective sighs went across the rest of the gods, to which Zeus frowned as he glanced up at them. “Why the fuck are all of you so shocked? I literally told you earlier that it would be fine. He could have just screamed at me and tacked on a shitty apology at the end without the whole prostrating himself and been forgiven.”

“Really?” Hades questioned.

Zeus sighed. He offered a hand to pull Hades back up to his feet. He blew out some air. “Listen, I knew why you targeted her, and as desperate as I was for you to listen and not hurt her when your anger was at me, I don’t disagree. Her existence was a slight to you. Her existence was a large insult to you. Maybe I’d have needed a bit more prodding to see that had she died, but she didn’t.”

“No, I suppose, she didn’t.”

Zeus turned. “Speaking of which, despite the fact that you’ve never taken credit nor asked for anything, I must thank you, Dionysus. What you did for your half sister was nothing short of remarkable given my inability to intervene.”

Dionysus spewed spit onto the throne room floor. “What?”

“I mean, your tree. The symbol of your divinity, it is a pine tree. She was turned into a pine. If it had been me, it would have been an oak, and I would have shattered one of my own laws, so it wasn’t me.”

Dionysus shook his head. “Not me.” He turned wide eyed towards his siblings. “I didn’t have the juice. I couldn’t have performed a miracle. I couldn’t even save my own kid right in front of me at the camp with my powers. No way in hell, I could have somehow levied the forces to spare Thalia, and I’m not even sure my powers would have been enough. Turn her to a tree, sure. Keep her alive as a tree, fuck no.”

Zeus furrowed his brow. “You’re the only god that makes any sense though. No one else has a pine tree as a symbol, and you would have had the most reason to interfere.”

Athena’s eyes sharpened. Her gaze snapped across the throne room to where the sea gods sat. “That’s not true, father. Poseidon’s tree is a pine as well.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Poseidon. He lifted his hands in the air in surrender almost immediately.

“You saved Thalia,” Zeus mumbled.

“Well, as Athena pointed out it is my tree, and Dionysus made a compelling point about it not being him, so I suppose that just leaves me.”

“You saved Thalia,” Hades repeated. As if him saying the words too would make the answer change in some dramatic way.

Poseidon nodded. “I mean I turned her into a tree. I couldn’t entirely strip the poison from her.”

“Were you or were you not constantly replenishing her blood to keep the poison from spreading?”

“Oh, that, yes.”

Zeus’ mouth dropped open.

Amphitrite just sighed. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Hades asked bewildered.

Poseidon stared at him. “What do you mean why?”

“I mean Percy was already born at that time,” Athena hypothesized. “Percy would be hated for being a forbidden child as well. Perhaps, Poseidon thought that if Thalia was alive even in tree form that would give him some leverage over father. That would be smart to see whether peace could be had with at least one brother.”

“Except he didn’t use it,” Dionysus countered.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Uncle Poseidon was on the brink of war. Dad was going after him with everything on the basis that Uncle Poseidon and our cousin stole his lightning bolt. He was raising armies. Yet not once did that tree falter, and not once did he proclaim himself her savior.”

Zeus’ eyes raised up to stare at Poseidon. “You should have told me. I would have…”

“You would have, what?” Poseidon snorted. “You didn’t trust me then. You were all too willing to believe that I was the one who stole your precious bolt, and we’ve talked about that. I wasn’t about to tell you that I was the one sparing your daughter. You would have assumed that I wanted something or worse you would have walked on eggshells terrified that one day I would just stop saving her and you’d experience that fear all over again. No, thank you.”

Amphitrite rubbed at her brow. “We agreed we weren’t going to tell them about this.”

“That was before therapy,” Poseidon pointed out.

Her huff was still loud. “Yes, well, I still don’t like the fact that we’re having this conversation.”

“None of that answered my question,” Hades commented. “Why the fuck did you get involved Poseidon?”

“You’re intelligent, figure it out,” came his response.

Percy frowned. “Dad, that’s not helpful.”

Poseidon raised his hands further up into the air. “I know. However, I did make an oath not to talk about this shit, so I can’t elaborate. Maybe I can prod you in the right direction, but I can’t just flat out say that I did things without specific questions and the like.”

“Can you tell us why the you took that oath?” Hera asked.

Amphitrite banged her head against the marble of her throne. “Because I asked him to. Because saving Zeus’ daughter was a bold choice at the time, and one that I wasn’t sure was smart. However, telling him not to do so would accomplish nothing. Actually, it would accomplish less than nothing as he’d probably be stubborn enough to claim it loudly if I had demanded that. So, I compromised, save her if you must but tell no one.”

Poseidon nodded.

Zeus lowered his head into his hands. “If I had known, the war would have been prevented.”

“Because you would have been scared of my wrath,” Poseidon said solemnly.

“No, you buffoon of a fucking brother, because I would have known that someone still actively protecting my daughter wouldn’t have been the one to steal from me. You wouldn’t be trying to overthrow me with force, force that might well lose, when you had something that would have gotten me to step down from my own free will.”

Zeus groaned. “And that’s not to mention the fact that I probably would have taken this as proof that you cared. Like the fact that I questioned whether you and Hades ever even loved me or whether I was the fucking kid brother no one wanted would have gone out of the window, because you don’t save that brother’s fucking child.”

Poseidon winced. “Brother, we care.”

Zeus waved off the words. “Yes, I got that. I’ve got that loud and fucking clear from you, because you saved my daughter.”

Hades eyes narrowed. “You broke the law of gods, brother.”

Poseidon’s lips twitched into a smile. “Had I acted as a god of Olympus, sure.”

“Are you saying that you didn’t?”

Zeus’ head snapped around to Triton who was playing with the Atlantis symbol on his necklace. “Did you fucking claim her as part of the sea?”

“Oh, that, probably.”

Triton snorted. “Yeah, father’s claim on her is of the sea. The sea can’t harm her, and if she is in harm’s way, we will rise to intervene. Well, when capable of rising to intervene, like we can’t be more than we are to save her, but in general, she’s a part of the sea.”

“You….You gave her that much protection.”

“Yes.”

Artemis paused. Her eyes closed and her attention wavered for a second. “She still has it.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“She’s one of mine.”

“That makes her no less of my niece than when I gave her the protection for having been one.”

Artemis’ mouth snapped shut. “None of my hunters have good relationships with their godly parents, it’s kind of the whole point.”

“Not her godly parent.”

Hades rubbed his brow. “Athena, help me out here, what could his reasoning have been? Because if I had figured this out, I would have been pissed. Like angry enough to start a war. I was already pissed that Zeus had broken another one of his laws to save her. Had I found out that he wasn’t alone, I think I would have just lost my mind.”

Athena frowned. “I’m not sure. The logical answer was Percy, but as father pointed out, he did not use that when he needed it the most.”

“What happened when Thalia was dying?” Poseidon asked.

“You mean the turning of her into a tree. When her blood was soaking the ground and then slowly roots formed and her body stood upright as bark covered the human shape and then branches and leaves formed,” Dionysus answered.

“Before that,” Poseidon instructed.

Apollo furrowed his brow. “Dad called out to any and all of us. He was screaming for Hades to have mercy. He was asking anyone to save her, to do something.” He licked his lips. “I wanted to go heal her, but I wasn’t allowed to approach while the monster was still there. The laws for Olympians were going to interfere.”

“I wanted her to be behind the barriers of camp but to go out and get her.” Dionysus averted his eyes. “The furies and the hellhound army though, I’m not sure I would have successfully fought my way to her.”

“You’re an Olympian,” Athena commented.

“Not with all of my powers though, and Uncle Hades sent his full blooded children and a literal army of hellhounds. Maybe, if it had been the hellhounds, I could have gotten to her. Perhaps, if the furies were willing to listen to me. But in the end, I couldn’t do anything to get her beyond the camp for one reason or another.”

Artemis pursed her lips. “Apollo said it already didn’t he?” Her eyes cut over to Poseidon. “Dad called for help. He asked for anyone listening to help get his daughter to survive. She had fought valiantly, but against too many creatures for it to be a fair fight. You intervened because while indirectly, dad asked for your help, didn’t you, uncle?”

Poseidon’s lips curved up into a smile. “Glad you put the pieces together. Yes, it was the first time that I ever recall hearing your father desperate and praying. He was hoping someone would intervene, so I did. It was simple enough. The poison in her blood was not easy to continuously drain away and replenish so she wouldn’t get worse even as a tree. And the tree is my symbol, I can generally shape it as I wish.”

“I prayed,” Zeus whispered. “I prayed, and so you answered.”

“You wished for her safety. She has it. For as long as she lives, immortal no less thanks to Artemis, she has my protection upon her. The seas will never harm her, she will find peace within the water should she ever choose to use it, and if at all possible in fights, I will defend her as one of mine.”

Zeus stared for a minute. “I…”

Amphitrite huffed in vague annoyance. “He didn’t deserve for you to go all out of on his first request.”

“He made it,” Poseidon said with a shrug. “That was enough for me to be willing to do all of that.”

His eyes dragged over to his brother. “It’s the offer that I have repeatedly made to all of your immortal children, even Hercules as much as he is tiresome has a room in my palace and full protection of the sea. You asked for me to give it to her. It was no hardship to do, my brother. Consider it proof of my love if you would like.”

Zeus gaped. “Proof of….For fuck’s sake, Poseidon, you could have used that against me.”

“And yet he didn’t,” Amphitrite replied. “When our realm was shattering and our oceans raging and warring, not once did he stop the portion of his energy to ensure she was safe. If Percy had not saved her, he would have faded before allowing that magic to die out. That is the point of the protection of the sea.”

Zeus glared at Amphitrite. “I’m not saying that. I’m not trying to insinuate that he had hidden purposes in saving her and was waiting for the perfect moment to use her against me. I’m saying that, fuck.”

He cut himself off. He turned to Hades. “I’m so sorry that what I’m going to say next is going to feel like a bitch slap.”

“All of this has felt like a bitch slap.”

Zeus inclined his head. “Poseidon, this isn’t proof of just your love for me. This is beyond that. This shows that you considered us family at some of our worst moments and were still willing to treat us as such. I was being a shithead to you, and you didn’t waiver, because you knew that if you did, it would hurt me. You, you have just proved that you would never. You wouldn’t hurt me. Not even if everything went horribly wrong and I was a terrible person. None of it would matter.”

Poseidon nodded. “Because nothing else matters. If any of you come knocking on my door and ask me for help, there is little that I would deny you.”

“Other than me,” Athena muttered.

“Including you,” Poseidon corrected.

Athena glared at him. “I want my fucking rooms in your palace.”

“They are still in tact and unharmed. How else would you like them?”

“Where I can stay in them?”

Poseidon blinked. Long and hard, he stared at her. “Wife, Athena wishes for permission to come to Atlantis.”

“No,” Amphitrite said softly.

“Triton, Athena wishes to come to Atlantis again.”

“I will be staying elsewhere.”

“It is irrelevant because she’s not coming,” Amphitrite said louder this time.

“Of course.”

Triton cast his eyes towards his Uncle Hades. “Uncle, can I stay in the underworld for the duration of her stay?”

“Come as you please,” Hades replied on automatic response. His confusion seemingly apparent.

“Give me three hours heads up before you arrive,” Poseidon said, meeting his wife’s gaze head on. “I’ll ensure that you can stay a night in your rooms.”

“Fuck you,” Amphitrite snarled.

“She is my niece, and she asked. The rules are they have to ask me to intervene, she has asked me to intervene. You will play nice or I swear to the titans, I will throw you into your father’s territory and lock you in there with him until she is done visiting.”

Amphitrite’s rage shook the room. There were cracks in the floor from the area in which she was shaking.

Percy held up a hand to keep the throne room from coming apart under her quakes. “Dad, this is it’s own section.”

“The whole situation, yes. That’s why I’m making a point not to bring up why this is causing so many issues. However, today, it has been enlightened upon the whole council that there is almost nothing I would not do. If being a dick to my grieving wife and son, so that Athena has proof of the fact that I do still love her is what it takes, then so be it.”

“You aren’t being a dick to me,” Triton said. “Mother, take a breath and calm yourself. We already knew that father loved her still. This is just proof. More so than what he’s allowed her recently, but unsurprising since we heard her ask for it.”

Amphitrite sucked in a breath. The room stopped shaking. Her eyes were damp. She stared at Poseidon. “I will travel during her visit. You will not ask what I do, nor will you retaliate against what I do in that free time.”

Poseidon leaned over. He pressed a kiss against her temple. “Of course.”

She leaned into his touch. “Fuck you,” she repeated lightly.

“It brings me no joy to choose her, but she asked.”

“I am aware.”

Hades blinked. The display of love too much for him to handle after all of this. “Oh, fuck off. You love Athena. You love Zeus. Bullshit, this is a power move. One that I’m not quite equipped to see the full scope of, but at least do my the dignity of not pretending this is love.”

Poseidon turned to stare at Hades. “What have I done that has you so convinced this couldn’t be love?”

“Because you love me, and you have never offered me this.”

Poseidon frowned at once. “Brother, you’re right that I love you, but you’re wrong that this is limited to them. Tell me what you wish for my help with and you will have it.”

Hades furrowed his brow. “I wanted Maria to live. I wanted Nico and Bianca safe and happy. I was more desperate than he was for Thalia.”

“You did not pray to me,” Poseidon pointed out softly. “Nor did you come and confide in me that you were so upset with his demand of the oath because of your existing children. Had you done so, I would have helped you reason with him or failing that helped you protect them in the land of the living. All you would have had to do was reach out a hand and tell me the problem.”

Hades’ body shivered. For a second, Percy thought he was going to have to lunge from Zeus’ lap across the room to keep Hades from doing anything that would harm someone. Then, he broke down. Sobs wracked his body as he just shook from the emotions. “I have two children,” he finally said.

Poseidon nodded. “Nico and his sister.”

No one knew Hazel’s name. No one could ever know Hazel’s name right now. Hades had allowed Nico to break more than one law to have her, and while Percy knew why, the laws would need to be followed to the god of justice and king of gods.

“I..Protect them, please.”

Poseidon’s visage left. The throne suddenly empty, Amphitrite sighing, and Triton laughing.

Zeus stared for a second, then he too was gone. Followed very quickly by Hades.

Percy was left sprawling across the god king’s throne, this time not an ounce of energy racing through him that should possibly kill him. He’s not sure that was because of his status as a not immortal god, not mortal demigod being or whether Zeus had done something to ensure it wouldn’t hurt him today.

Hephaestus snapped his fingers and the view appeared in the center of the throne room from a cupid’s eye sight. Everyone turned to him, and he shrugged. “I wanted to have the ability to check on the camps when needed, so I positioned one at each of the camps. They appear to not be at camp Halfblood.”

A second snap switched the cameras over to Camp Jupiter, where Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter all stood in a circle pointing at two children. Nico was edging closer to their father, where Hazel stood slightly drenched and completely calm.

“Brothers, that girl is supposed to be dead,” Jupiter said, the essence of calm.

“I would know if anyone here was supposed to be dead,” Pluto retorted. “I see no claims on the living here.”

Zeus reached out towards Hazel. “That one wreaks of death, not to mention, I fucking remember her. It has been quite some time, but she had an affinity for the riches. She was an interesting one of your kids. Haven’t seen someone with that shared domain in centuries. She was peculiar. Hazel, wasn’t it?”

The name rocked several within the camp. Hazel inclined her head. “Aye, Lord Jupiter.”

Jupiter nodded. “Glad you remember to put respect on my name, girl. Now, Pluto, I can tell that the death of the girl has muddled with your senses. Yours and your other child’s, but this one cannot remain in the land of the living.”

Percy closed his eyes. Hazel had entered the water, Nico had not. It was clear to him now. When Neptune and Pluto turned on Jupiter to protect Hazel, he would be the one in harms way. “Hermes, any chance you’d be willing to yeet me to Camp Jupiter as quickly as I can handle.”

Hermes’ eyebrow rose. “You won’t be able to ensure that they won’t hurt you outside this chamber.”

“I trust all of you not to smite me.”

“While getting in the middle of whatever this fight turns into?”

Percy flashed him a smile. “If it kills me, it kills me. Will you help me?”

Hermes grabbed a fistful of Percy’s shirt and flashes them down to Camp Jupiter. When he eyes of the gods turned to him, he put his hands in the air. “Percy asked for a favor nothing more and nothing less.”

Percy waved hi to all three gods, ignoring the baffled expressions of the campers. He also ignored the fact that Annabeth was there. He wasn’t sure why she was there, unless she had something to do with the university today. He wasn’t even entirely sure what day it was.

Jupiter frowned. “We aren’t in therapy.”

“You left therapy, I didn’t dismiss you,” he said cheerily. His smile didn’t wane, but he did shift his feet.

Jupiter just shook his head and turned back to Hades. “Return her to her proper place, brother, before I do.”

Poseidon laughed. The noise was dark and loud. “I was unaware that you wanted to start war so soon after we finally got it figured out again. Or can you not see my mark on her? She has stepped into the sea.”

Hazel froze as all the gods turned their attention to her. She panicked and took a step back. “Lord Neptune told me to get in the water.”

“Fine.” Jupiter’s attention turned from the girl towards Nico.

Percy edged further in front of Nico. He was placing a lot of trust that his uncle was telling the truth about loving him. He was trusting that none of this was going to blow up in his face. “Nico, now would be a great time to run for the water.”

“Water won’t save me from him.”

“Water might,” Percy hedged softly. His eyes were laser focused on Zeus. “Uncle, please, calm down.”

Jupiter glared down at the two demigods. “He has broken the laws of the dead. Thanks to your father, I cannot right the wrongs, but I can still punish the one who broke them.”

Nico’s fear leaped out in front of Percy’s eyes. He could tell the boy was petrified. There was not fighting against the king of gods, not to the degree that he would need to have if this anger was being directed at him.

Neptune glowered. “Boy, get into the water.”

Finally, Nico lunged for the waves. Percy stayed directly in the way of the bolt and Nico. He didn’t squeeze his eyes shut, he didn’t wait for death. He just stood in between them, hoping like all fuck that he was right.

Jupiter didn’t raise the bolt.

The water drenched over Nico and a bubble seemed to form for a second. Neptune looked utterly pleased.

Annabeth shot forward aiming to slug Percy in the arm for daring to be so stupid. Only, Pluto’s hand clamped down on her wrist before she could reach him.

Percy winced. “Uncle.”

Pluto dropped his hold. “She does not get to raise a hand against you.”

“She is fine,” Percy insisted. He turned away from Annabeth. “She doesn’t know what’s been happening in Olympus.”

“No one should,” Jupiter muttered.

“Of course, Uncle.” Percy knew an order to not explain anything when he heard one. Perhaps, he would get that restriction lifted somewhat at a certain point, but it wouldn’t be just then. Instead, he just stepped forward. “We should get back to it though, this will undoubtedly be important to discuss.”

Jupiter huffed. “Very well, brat.”

Annabeth frowned. “Percy, it’ll take you a few hours to get back to the empire state building.”

Neptune laughed. “Girl, he doesn’t need the elevator.”

“You two, my lords, are not allowed to take demigods up.”

Percy gave her a deadpan stare. “The king of gods, certainly can.”

“Yes, but he would never willingly help you. Especially with you on a quest.”

Percy shook his head. He had forgotten that Annabeth was almost as pissed off at the queen and king of gods as he had been, only she didn’t have the same understanding of the family. She was just full of rage and ready to take them down by any means necessary. He took a step towards Jupiter.

Jupiter held out an arm.

Percy ducked under the arm and tucked himself into Jupiter’s side. His uncle can keep his image to his heart’s content, but after this shitshow and being left alone in that chair, he was damn well going to take the affection that teleporting to Olympus would give him.

Jupiter heaved a heavy sigh. “You are a insolent little brat.”

Annabeth sucked in a sharp breath.

Percy laughed, and he was gone in a flash alongside Jupiter. Landing back in Olympus, he watched as Hephaestus quickly turned off the cupid’s show. The last thing he saw were the flames of an offering. “Which of the big three is Camp Jupiter starting a pyre for?”

Athena burst out laughing. She stared at him disbelief. “How are your energy levels?”

Percy raised a hand to see whether it felt different and realized that he felt more awake than he had in ages. “Great actually. Why do you ask?”

“She has no reason,” Dionysus said quickly. “May I ask what we’re doing here now that we’ve been reliably been informed that Poseidon is a fucking family man sap?”

Poseidon snorted. His form shifting back at the call of his name. He settled in on his throne. “I believe we’re taking about the fact at some point my older brother decided it would be a good idea to allow one of his children to raise the dead.”

Hades winced as he took his own seat in his throne. “It’s not that I thought it was a good idea, so much as trying to take another sister away from Nico wasn’t something I was willing to do. Had I caught him before he raised her it would be another matter.”

“Why didn’t you?” Zeus settled himself and Percy into his own throne. He kept an arm around Percy’s shoulder.

Hades paused. “You’re not yelling.”

Zeus arched an eyebrow. “Would you feel better if I was? I was upset when I first saw her, but I would like to point out much as I offered to take care of the issue for you since killing your own child might be difficult, I did not actually strike the girl.”

“After I threatened you,” Poseidon pointed out.

Percy cleared his throat. “You didn’t really give him a chance to see either. Both of you assumed when he said that he would take care of it that he would immediately strike her or Nico down, but he never reached for the bolt.”

“Didn’t he?”

“No.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy. “You still put yourself between me and the boy.”

“Well, there was a chance I was wrong about your intentions and I didn’t really want another war, which would have broken out had you struck with the bolt, and I know for a fact that you like me more than Nico.”

Zeus boomed out a bit of laughter. He snuck a glance towards Hades, then Percy, and finally Poseidon before shrugging his shoulders. “Does the boy know to never raise the dead like this again?”

“Oh, yes.” Hades frowned. “We had a long talk about the rules of the underworld and what it means to be a prince there.”

“Is he?” Zeus questioned.

Hades furrowed his brow. “Yes. I’m not really sure why, but Nico has so many of my domains, that I’m not sure what will happen when his mortal body stops. I think he’ll have the chance to just remain a prince of the underworld though.”

“He won’t take it.”

Hades’ face fell. “Bianca.”

“He wants his sister. Or sisters by that point because I doubt Hazel has enough power to keep her from going to the realms of the dead a second time.”

No one can argue with that. Zeus took a moment, then he said finally, “your children don’t have to worry about me. They’re free to exist and live. I’m not thrilled about the dead one being among the living, but its hardly the first time one of your demigod children has done something incredibly stupid and this one isn’t nearly as bad as the others have been.”

“Thank you.”

Zeus swallowed. “Also, it dawns on me that perhaps this should be said out loud. Percy, you can always stand in front of me and someone else if you’d like.”

Poseidon shuddered in his throne. “Zeus, you can’t just tell him that. Eventually, you’ll blast him off the face of the planet.”

“That’s what I’m trying to say,” Zeus retorted. “The same way that even in our worst fights Thalia was safe because of you, Percy is safe in my eyes. He has my protection. The storms will never again hurt him, and if he needs sanctuary, Olympus will always stand behind him.”

Poseidon gaped. As did Percy, from what he knew of the myths, Zeus didn’t even offer that level of protection to his own children often. And here they were being offered to Percy when he didn’t have to fight for them. No one was demanding his presence on the battlefield, and Zeus was still offering him safe haven.

Finally, Poseidon froze. “Well, shit, brother, never thought I’d see the day that you chose to be protective of a demigod.”

“Neither did I.”

Dionysus blinked. “Perhaps this is a good place to end today. Thalia’s situation has been resolved between Uncle Hades and father, and somehow we all found out that Uncle Poseidon was involved.”

Percy nodded. “Yes, great session. We’ll resume tomorrow. And just so that no one is surprised by tomorrow’s topic, we’re going to be discussing Dionysus’ punishment and banishment and abandonment issues and family connection issues.”

Dionysus flipped him the bird for that one. “You didn’t have to lay it all out there.”

“Tell me truthfully, we would have gotten to the last two of those issues had I not thrown them out today.”

Dionysus glared. “I could still turn you into a dolphin, boy.”

Percy grinned. “You could, but you won’t.”

Athena shook her head in disbelief. “You have too much energy, child. Let’s see if you can handle training with me and Ares before crashing for the evening.”

Ares bared his teeth. “Rematch?”

Percy jumped up. “Lead the way, let’s find out whether I still need you to pick a fight on a beach to win.”

Zeus and Poseidon exchanged a look, and then as Ares, Athena, and Percy headed to the sparring arena that was set up, all the other gods trailed behind to watch this fight. They had heard before that Percy had beaten Ares at the ripe age of 12, but to see this in action would be something else entirely.

Ares started swinging his broad sword in anticipation as a stretch. He had a lazy expression on his face. “You’re mostly immortal right now, what level of injury are you willing to sustain?”

Athena turned to look at Apollo. “I want to see him fight with all of his strength.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Fine, I will be on healing duty. Have a glorious time trying to kill each other, just stop yourself from dealing actually mortal wounds to each other.”

Percy uncapped riptide and began the same stretches as Ares. “That’s fine by me. Just remember that you agreed to give it your all so that when I manage to kick your ass, you can’t hide behind not using everything.”

“Brat,” Ares grumbled. However, there was a light in his eyes that said he was no longer meaning that in a distasteful way. He genuinely loved that Percy was willing to give him this level of a fight with nothing more to be said.

Percy winked at him. He glanced towards Athena. “You mentioned wanting to train and spar.”

“I’ll start off on the sidelines, giving little tips to you both.”

“She enjoys that the most,” Apollo explained softly after her.

Percy inclined his head. “Alright. I’ll do my best to listen for your suggestions then.”

“Is it hard for you?”

He shrugged. “In some fights, yes. In others, not as much. It depends on how much I’m doing and how much of my father’s domains I’m calling upon. Given that I’m going all out, I’m suspecting that I won’t be hearing much.”

Athena nodded her head. “I have experience with that. Not to worry.”

Ares huffed. He set himself up for the fight. He glanced to Percy. “Each time one of us draws blood is a point. Whoever ends up with more points at the time the fight is called, wins.”

“Who calls the fight?” Zeus asked.

Athena pointed a finger at Apollo. “He’s the one healing us, so he gets the final say.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “If anyone has a genuine reason they need to fucking stop, let me know and I’ll call it.”

Several nods followed.

Athena grinned. “Alright, now are you going to follow proper procedure and bow before a spar.”

Ares let out a roar and charged Percy. His quick feet were all that allowed him to move out of the way of that much weight aimed directly before him. The two of them were then staring off on opposing sides than where they started.

Percy surged forward to match blades with them. The first clang of metal versus metal, where two unstoppable forces of strength met with a loud ring. Suddenly, Percy felt more than the normal amount of eyes on him. Citizens of Olympus were gathering to watch the match.

Once upon a time, at 12 for sure, he would have been concerned with this many witnesses, it would have made him slip. This time, he met Ares blow for blow.

“If you duck under his next swing, you should be able to cut his leg before he can get back to a defensive position,” a gentle voice urged him in his head.

He could see the movement the voice was saying, he was sure it was his cousin, but he hadn’t ever heard her voice be so kind to him before. However, he didn’t take the opportunity, instead he fell back with the hit. Ares raised his sword high for an attack, and he darted, his sword slashing into his dominant shoulder since the feint had been’t because of the strength but just a choice.

Ares hissed as ichor hit the ground. “Brat,” he growled.

“Come get me,” Percy teased.

Ares came after Percy with a volley of blows. Each one drove Percy further and further back. He could hear gasps from the crowd because he was being driven into a corner, and for most of those watching he was a puny demigod that was about to get his shit wrecked. Of course, he wasn’t planning on losing at the corner to give Ares a point either.

He concentrated on the ground. There were plants, soil, and where there were plants, water had to follow. He pulled on the moisture. He pulled and pushed it out and up towards Ares, to do a tumble roll under him and get away from the corner. Of course, on his way up, he couldn’t fail to grab another point by slicing his ankle.

Athena’s mouth was dropped. He nodded to her as Ares fought to pick himself up. His skin patching together somewhat as was the way with gods. “You…”

“Sorry for not listening to your advice, my lady, but I saw a better opening.”

She blinked. “Fine, let’s see how you fare against two.”

Percy swallowed. He cast a glance towards his father, step-mother, and brother. “Triton, can I borrow your trident?”

“What the fuck?” Triton whispered.

“Dude, I’ve only got the one weapon and no shield. Me versus them means I can only block one attack unless I’ve got another weapon.”

Triton blinked. Then, his trident was summoned, and he tossed it into the rink more pale than before. “You can yield.”

“I’d rather win,” Percy commented. He wasn’t one of the demigods with hubris as his fatal flaw, but he sure did fall along the same lines as them when it came to wanting to prove his worth. He wanted to be able to say that he continued his streak of beating war gods at battle.

Trident in one hand, riptide in the other, he faced off against the two gods. He nodded to Ares. He was giving permission for the spar to take back up. He was starting to feel a little less like his skin was barely containing his energy, but he was no where near tired either.

Ares came after him with the broadsword. He met the blow with riptide, surging forward just like before. A bit of energy coming from being able to go toe to toe with Ares in a clash of swords.

Only this time, he could sense the movement of someone behind him. His trident came up to capture Athena’s spear in between the prongs. He dropped riptide with enough of a force to be able to flip himself over with his trident to be able to parry the spear into the ground.

He reached for his pocket to once more retrieve his sword and block the next swing of the sword. He moved both arms, a tiredness at fighting against both sides starting to sink into him. He needed one of them to be brought down. He spun Athena’s spear off to the other end of the spar mat when a double attack with trident and sword. The move did allow Ares the ability to cut him down his side.

Where blood seeped out, in its bronze glory, it stung. However, Percy did not feel any urge to yield or pause the battle to patch the wound like he often felt. Ever since Tartarus, normal wounds like this, just didn’t faze him. If the enemies wouldn’t let him pause to patch himself up then he just would need to deal with the fact that he won’t be patching himself up this time.

He pushed back against Ares with his own volley of attacks. He sliced at Ares’ arm when his sword was unable to come back up. The problem with a broadsword is that it didn’t exactly move without a lot of energy behind it. He cracked the sword down against Ares’ helm and left his dazed on the ground.

He turned to face Athena. Ichor dripped from riptide, and the trident gleamed in the air. He lunged to the side as she tried to strike him with the spear. He spent a bit of energy to use the water in the ground to keep pressing Ares into the ground that he left him on.

Athena and him went around and around in circles. Both of them would see the patterns in strikes before a blow could be landed. Occasionally they’d play a move out to see whether the other would change patterns, but they didn’t. Both of their feet moved in the same directions.

Eventually though, Percy realized what he could do that she couldn’t. He didn’t just play through a full move. He aborted halfway through to jump with the other weapon. The trident had her pinned against the barrier of the spar, a prong to her neck. His sword blade coming up to slice at her to get another point, when a hand grabbed onto his arm and held him back.

Triton held Percy back as Athena was trapped. He could see the fear in her eyes where others would have just seen the anger and pain. He had raised her, he knew her. “She yields.”

“I don’t need you to speak for me,” Athena spat.

“And yet I am. She yields.”

Athena did not protest again. Her teeth grit down. “You’re good, Perseus.”

“Thank you.” Percy blinked and his energy disappeared as he dropped the domains for the first time since they started fighting.

Ares let out a booming laughter. “No longer need an ocean, boy.”

“Did you doubt that?” Dionysus asked curious as he popped his head into.

“No.”

None of the gods knew what to say when Ares plainly admitted that he knew this would come to be. Apollo healed all three of them, one after another. He carefully checked them over to ensure that he was treating them equally for all their harms.

Poseidon double checked Percy. “You’re going to be what kills me after all these years.”

Percy grinned at his dad. “Stop worrying so much, old man. They won’t hurt me in ways that they can’t save.”

Amphitrite cleared her throat. “And he’s not the one that needed to be saved at the end there.”

Percy blinked. “He knew I wouldn’t hurt her, right?”

Amphitrite shrugged. “I am unsure what is going through my son’s head at the present moment. You fighting her brought up many memories of Pallas. You fighting her should have been terrifying, but it wasn’t. We could see clearly that you held the upper hand most of the fight. They did not get a point on you until you allowed it.”

Percy shrugged. “Yeah, grandfather mentioned that I was a good swordsman when he was in Luke’s body.”

Eyes shot up towards Percy. Percy continued anyway. “So did the Pit’s personification. I’ve always been good in a fight.”

No one said anything, but as Percy walked to his room, he suspected that quite a few people were thinking something crazy about him. He couldn’t control any of those thoughts though. He could only control himself, and he knew he fought well. Tomorrow would be another busy day, but at least he thought they’d get away without anyone storming to the mortal realm because of the children alive.

Chapter Text

Percy woke up groggy as all hell, and Athena waiting for him outside his door. She considered him as he stood up. “Come, we need to get you subsistence before we go to speak.”

“My lady?” He questioned softly.

“You can call me cousin, or Athena, or anything you’d prefer, Percy. You beat me in a spar yesterday. It has been quite some time since anyone managed to do that. And I don’t recall ever being beaten by a mortal.”

“You would have broken the hold if Triton hadn’t called an end to the fight.”

“Possibly,” she admitted. She shepherded him into the kitchen. She prepared a plate of healthy breakfast food, and a drink of what looked like pure ambrosia mixed with liquids. “Eat.”

Percy knew commands that he wasn’t allowed to ignore and this was certainly on that list. So he brought the liquid up to his lips and took a large gulp as he ate. The food went down without complaint.

“We need to discuss yesterday.”

“I did what you asked for, cousin.”

“You beat two war gods using their domains against you.”

Percy frowned. “Neither of you were using the full extent of your powers.”

Athena shook her head gently. “Neither of us used our godly forms. That’s the only thing we didn’t use. Other than that it was all you and us with our domains.”

“Why does this matter?”

“Poseidon and I share the domain of battle strategy. Usually his pertains more to naval warfare and operations, but he can go head to head with my on ideas when we’re in a fight for our life. Yesterday proved my theory that you inherited that domain from him as well.”

Percy sucked in a breath. “How many of his domains did I get?”

“From what I can tell, there are none that you don’t have passing ability to use if not full control of.”

“That’s not normal.”

Athena shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen a demigod with this much power. It’s been a while, but you aren’t the first.”

“Who else?”

“You’ve met them both.”

“Athena, cousin, please.”

“You won’t like the answer.”

“And yet you started this conversation,” Percy snapped. If she hadn’t wanted him to get this answer she should have kept her mouth shut. She shouldn’t have explained to him that he beat Athena and Ares together with both of them giving it their all. This was not normal.

She considered him for a long moment. “The most recent was Heracles.”

Percy’s mouth fell open.

“And the first was my brother, Dionysus.”

Percy blinked. “Neither of them died a mortal death.”

Athena nodded to his now empty chalice cup. “No demigod I’ve ever met could drink the drink of gods. Whatever mortal life you were clinging onto, you’re losing here with us. Every time you claim one of us as family, it creates a new crack. Each time you go toe to toe with beings that you should quake in the wake of, you unleash a power that has not been seen for millennia now.”

“Why tell me?”

Athena took in a breath. “I agree with my siblings. We will hold our oaths to you. If you ascend, we will help you in ways that we didn’t or couldn’t for each other. However, I saw your face. You still want to remain mortal. All of those reasons you gave us were real, and none of them were the full truth. You want the chance to be granted a peaceful afterlife. You want to be loved and accepted with no further need for a battle and working towards a better goal.”

Percy couldn’t help but stare at her. Of all the gods that he thought might possibly understand him and resonate with what he was feeling, he wouldn’t have put Athena anywhere near the list. She was analytical and what he was feeling was anything but that. Still he nodded to her inquiry. She was being honest with him, so he owed it to her to be honest in return.

“I would take you back to the camp. Help restore your blood to its natural red and ensure that we stop sending you on missions that will test the bend in your mortality. I will take the heat from my father for having removed you from here. I will do everything in my power to ensure that the therapy continues, that we find someone else who is fully capable of understanding the positions we’ve all found ourselves in to monitor us while we do that, and that we do not succumb to the desire to return to our old avenues of working on it. I would do all of this and more. All you would have to do is ask me.”

Percy froze. The younger version of himself would have jumped up and down on the opportunity to do that. He would have said hell yes and damned the consequences. He might even have done so at the very beginning of this quest, but he hadn’t remained untouched by everything that he had seen. He had a true bond with one of his uncles, one that got him an oath of protection from the king of gods. Something that as far as he was aware, no other demigod had ever been given.

He wilted in the chair. “Tell me why first.”

“What?”

“Before I give you my answer, tell me why you’d offer me this first.”

Athena stared at him. “Do you really have to ask?”

“Obviously.”

Her eyes were gentle as she took in his appearance. “Percy, you fought me and won. But when someone else told you I needed to be done, you didn’t demand that I yield in my own place. You know my brother’s secrets. Secrets that could have bought you good will, secrets that would have killed him, and you kept them. You defend me and the god queen. You are beyond willing to help us anytime we so much as utter the word that we might need your help. You are willing to go the extra mile for us. I am offering to do the same for you, because I know that if I were in your shoes, I’d hope someone would.”

Percy nodded his head. “Thank you, Athena.”

She nodded back to him. She stood, and Percy could tell she was preparing to take him home.

He held up a hand. “Thank you, but I will not accept. Maybe, I should. There’s a part of me still terrified of doing what I’m doing, but I need to see this through.”

“Why?”

“I told aunt Hestia I would.”

“You swore no oath, and at this point, she would hardly hold it against you.”

“I would,” Percy said. “Sometimes, I think that’s why the river Styx gave me her blessing so easily compared to what the others blessed by her went through. Not to say that it was easy, because it was anything but that, but maybe there was a gentle nature to the burning.” He waved off the concern written in her eyes.

“Plus, I promised your brother I’d be there in the room when he confessed, and I’d hardly turn way from that promise either. It’s part of why you’re willing to help me.”

Athena closed her mouth. She stared at him. “He made his bed.”

“And yet you’re standing beside him.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s one thing to believe he made poor choices. It’s another to want him dead.”

“Your father won’t kill him.”

“You don’t know that.”

Percy stared at her. “Yes, I do. I’m the one who has been working with all of you to deal with the issues that your family has, so please, even if you can’t believe me right now, listen. Your father will not kill any of you. There is not a crime on this planet that he would deem worthy of that. He would mourn you. He would destroy the word for you. He would not willingly allow one of you suffer like that.”

“We’re literally talking about how he chose to do that today.”

Percy shrugged. “Then, watch what happens today. Watch his reaction to finding out the level of destruction that he has wrought on Dionysus today. Watch how he responds to all of you.”

“Why?”

“Because he will not react as someone who was justified, or as someone who did the right thing or any of what you’re concerned about. He’ll react as a father who just found out that one of his children is being hurt and didn’t trust him enough to come tell him.”

“None of us trust him.”

“Not yet,” Percy agreed. He took a second. “But I do. I might be the first, and it’s a weird feeling knowing I am when I am nothing but a demigod or at least I was nothing but a demigod, but I know if I prayed to him for help, he would drop everything and come.”

“I hope you never have to find out whether you’re right,” Athena whispered. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t force you to go, it is your choice to make. However, please know this offer doesn’t have a time limit on it. Time might make it to where my intervention is not as much as it could be right now, but I will still intercede where I can.”

Percy stood and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you, cousin.”

He remained in the kitchen for a moment. He just wanted another moment to himself before heading to the throne room. The day was going to be tough. Especially as the topic was not going to be, fun. Nor, did he suspect many of the kids were going to give Zeus an edge in to discuss.

He closed his eyes. His best bet would be to allow them to moderate themselves, but that just wasn’t going to happen. Someone was going to say that there were favorites being chosen, and then that would start another fight.

Alright, so then, Dionysus would get to speak first. As the person wronged, he had the most right to speak.

Logic would dictate that Zeus follows him. Give Zeus a chance to speak and be heard. However, too many of the other children would be amped up to allow him to speak. Even if Percy tried to squash all of their voices, one of them was going to leap up to their feet and get in Zeus’ face.

Which meant, Percy needed to let all of Zeus’ children speak. Probably best to go Dionysus, Athena, the twins, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, and then Hephaestus. Probably, but some of them were going to end up causing Zeus to have either an epiphany or a break down because of how much distrust was in the air.

Then, Zeus could speak. First, to Dionysus and then to the rest of his children. Because everyone was going to need reassurance after this. Maybe, just maybe, one or two of them would begin trusting that Zeus wouldn’t literally kill Ares before the day after this, but Percy wasn’t going to pin his hopes on that.

Ariadne stepped up next to him. “You’re thinking awfully loudly.”

“Oh, shit.” Percy re-ordered his list quickly. Ariadne needed to speak before Dionysus’ family did. She was his wife and arguably more impacted than any of his siblings by this decision.

She laughed softly. “You can relax. My husband will not allow this to end in bloodshed. He’s quite curious what Zeus will do when confronted with the full truth.”

“I’m not worried about Dionysus,” Percy admitted.

“His siblings then?”

Percy nodded. “This will be the last chance that Zeus has to win them over before we’re entering territory that even I’m only believing by faith alone in.”

Ariadne nodded to him. She set her chin on his shoulder and leaned into him. “Do you know when I was mortal, I often thought that the gods were rather above reproach?”

Percy snorted. “I don’t think I ever had that.”

“No, you were never given that chance to have blind faith.” She closed her eyes. “There has been since I was ascended to this immortal form, many times that my faith was tested. That I have seen gods that were in desperate need of reproach.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Ariadne.”

“Yet, I never have. Before now, when you showed up and demanded that we speak our true feelings into a circle of each other and practically demanded our truthfulness and full compliance. If it had been Hestia, I would have lied. Zeus, lie. My husband, lie. But you demanded, and the answers spilled from my tongue.” She gazed at him. “If you have faith, it will work, then it will.”

“Why?”

“I no longer believe the gods are beyond reproach. I do perhaps believe that you are worth more than them.” She stepped back from him. “If you are in need of an ally in the room, turn to me. I will work what magic I have to calm the tides.”

“Dionysus,” he summarized.

“He will be the one carrying the largest torch of anger. If I tell him to take a moment to breath, he will do so.”

“Not happily.”

“But willingly, which is more important,” she pointed out. As she walked out of the kitchen, Percy felt himself pulled to follow. So, he did. The two of them were the last to enter the throne room.

Zeus stared at Percy from his throne. A curious expression on everyone’s faces as they considered where he was going to position himself.

Percy cleared his throat. “For the sake of today’s session, I ask that no one speak unless I have called upon them to.”

Poseidon frowned. “What if we have something to say that we are afraid will be left out?”

“Trust that I will get to you.”

Hestia tilted her head to the side. “Percy…This session will be hard enough…surely you might wish to allow us the ability to intervene.”

“If you intervene, it won’t work,” he said bluntly. “There’s going to be a lot of anger in today’s session. Some justified, some less so. If we intervene when that anger is being expressed, we’re never going to move past it. We’ll bury it in the sand, and it won’t come up for another several centuries, but when it does come up, it will be ugly and hurtful and not at all useful. So, we aren’t going to intervene. There is only one place where I, and I alone, will intervene and that’s if someone tries to get violent.”

Percy turns to glance at Dionysus. “You’re going to have to speak first. You’re going to do so, but I have guided questions to make sure that we actually get through all of the issues that we have with this.”

Dionysus nodded. “Of course. Ask your questions, cousin.”

“Are you not sitting?” Hades asked of hims softly before Percy could ask the first question.

“Not presently.” Percy needed to be on his feet in case someone decided to lunge. He had a feeling it was possible. Actually, he was pretty sure it was likely. His money was on Apollo losing it at the reminder of his own pain and then realization that it was still ongoing for another.

He planted himself firmly in the center of the room. His eyes were locked on Dionysus. “Dionysus, please tell everyone in your own words what you are being punished for.”

Dionysus rolled his eyes. “Of course you would start there.”

Percy raised his eyebrow. Asking the question of the mental health god whether there was any other place to start. They needed to get to the root of this issue, and it wasn’t like there was any deeper root, unless they started with his abandonment issues, but the full proof of being abandoned had started here too.

Dionysus sighed. “Fine. Okay, uh, my punishment. Started in the 70s.” He twisted his mouth in displeasure. A glare, he shot at Percy.

“There was a nymph. One who for whatever reason there may be, my father decided was his and thus off limits.” Dionysus’ eyes cut over to his father. “Similar to most of the forest creatures, they belong to my domain. They often come and partake in my rituals and events. Hermes’ grandchildren most of them might be, but they pray to me.”

He stood from his throne and started pacing. “It was a night of one of the raves in my honor. They pray, we get fucked up, and honestly, I don’t recall of what happened that night. I know for a fact about four things for sure that night. One, we were all ingesting a wine that can fuck up even the gods. I made it, and I know what happens when on it, a bunch of fucking chaos. Two, at some point, the rave turned into an orgy, most of my events do, it’s part of my domain and energy. Three, during that orgy, I apparently slept with the nymph who was off limits.”

He stopped in front of his father’s throne. “I say apparently, because until you summoned me in all your fucking fury, I had no fucking clue that it was her. There were a lot of nymphs there, and I was with quite a fucking few of them. Rather than punishing the entire orgy, of whom, I know for a fact at least a few other nymphs or dryads touched her, you selected me. You also chose to punish me rather than ask her to not partake in the fucking celebrations and orgies, which would be a hell of a lot easier than asking a bunch of drunk morons, high on my magic to know which one is off limits in a sea of debauchery, but I digress.”

“Four, nothing that would stop you from bedding her and producing an heir as planned occurred.”

Dionysus looked towards Percy. “That’s what happened that led to my punishment.”

Percy nodded to him. He hated the way that half the room looked pale. He doubted that during the initial trial and sentencing that any of them had considered the possible alternative motives during this or that Dionysus might not have done it deliberately.

He waited a beat. “Would you please tell us what happened when you were sentenced to your punishment and how that made you feel?”

Dionysus snorted. “Can I say horrid and leave it at that?”

Percy shot him an exasperated look. There was zero chance he was ever going to allow it to stay at that level of analysis. It wouldn’t help anyone.

Dionysus pouted at him. He stepped away from Zeus’ throne and paced to stand in front of his wife, where she wrapped her hands around his shoulders. He took a moment in her grasp.

“The punishment was bullshit. I was summoned here to the council, only my throne was not allowed to be. A luxury that I had been denied, despite earning my place on this council more than once.” His eyes darted between the gods as if daring any of them to speak on the issue.

“I was then unceremoniously informed of my crimes. Crimes, I’d like to again point out, that I barely knew had happened. I couldn’t have told you while in my right mind that your nymph was present there that night, father. There were so many, there are always so many present, that I just kind of exist in the same space as them.”

“I was going to offer my defense. Something along the lines of, I wasn’t aware that particular nymph was there, and that at the time, I certainly couldn’t have been aware that the one I was sleeping with was that particular nymph, but I didn’t get the chance. You didn’t offer me even a single second to utter an apology or explanation. Instead, my wife was called forth.”

Dionysus deflated into her. “For a second, I really thought you were planning on hurting her to hurt me. It seemed like something you would choose to do especially given the staunch refusal to treat her as my wife at any other time.”

Zeus recoiled, a look of horror on his face.

“You didn’t, which is possibly why I didn’t put up anything other than a token protest at your sentencing. A hundred years cut off from my domain, banished from my family, cursed to take care of children who were inevitably going to die. A bit insane, really, when you think about. Sleep with someone once, in a night full of a drunken haze and lustful magic, and in return be cut off for a hundred years.”

Dionysus turned away from Zeus then. “That didn’t hurt so much, though. I mean, sure, it was extreme, but we’ve all come to expect extreme from you when we so much as breathe in a way that you don’t like. It was expected and like I pointed out earlier, given my fears on what you were going to do, I was almost grateful for the fact you were only targeting me. The rest of you, though, that shit hurt.”

“Not a single one of your stood up for me. Hermes, you know damn well what one of my revels is like. Your children and grandchildren have told you about it for generations. You of all people should have known what this would do.”

Dionysus turned his gaze to the rest of his siblings. “None of you stood up. None of you said, well at least let him speak before we sentence him. None of you said, hey if we’re going to banish him for a hundred years, maybe we should at least say goodbye before the sentencing. No, all of you just stood by. He determined my guilt and the rest of you just allowed me to continue suffering without a care in the world.”

He swallowed harshly. “You could have at least made a point that some of you were allowed to visit. You could have made it to where my banishment from Olympus wasn’t to be without any family for a fucking century. But none of you even tried for me. All of you objected when Apollo was punished, even if it was for naught. Where was my fiery defense?”

He sank into his wife’s embrace. “I’ll tell you, it was no where to be found because despite the fact that I have been on this council for years, all of you still treat me as a fucking inconvenience of a demigod raised god and not as a true family member. No one else would have been denied a defense. No one else would have stood alone in the face of your anger. For Hades’ sake, despite, all of the worse crimes done by members of this family, I am the one that is still being punished to this day. I slept with a fucking nymph at one of my own revels that she attended of her own free will. Apollo fucking committed treason, so did Hera. Neither of them still have their domains bound at the will of their king. Neither one of them have a sentence still ticking forever onward.”

Percy waited a beat to make sure that he was done. He also noted the pale complexions on several people’s faces. The only one who looked somewhat normal at this was Ares, and both Percy and Dionysus now knew exactly what his rebellion against this unfair crime ended up being. That was likely the only person who was ever going to be allowed to say that they were there for Dionysus.

How strange the world turned out to be? Percy never thought there would be a day he agreed with Luke. But when his father had told him about his duty still existed from having been born, he found himself sympathizing. He would never have considered that Ares might have valid reasons for turning to his grandfather as the better option, but here they were, and he could understand them both. He couldn’t say they were wrong. Maybe misguided. Possibly slightly unhinged, but not unreasonable.

“Dionysus, what did the punishment do to you?”

Dionysus stepped out of Ariadne’s arms. He sighed. “You really aren’y going to let me hide any of my secrets are you, cousin.”

“I’d say sorry, but the rest of them need to hear exactly what this did to you, and this is the only way that I know to accomplish that,” Percy quipped.

Dionysus rolled his eyes. “At the start of the punishment, it was an annoyance. My domain being cut off hurt. The pain was that of knowing there was a gaping hole inside of you and nothing could fill it. The pain dulled after the first few years.”

His eyes cut to Zeus. “That’s not to say that it doesn’t hurt. When you lifted it for this therapy session, I breathed for the first time in ages without feeling an ache. Trust me when I say that matters more than I ever thought possible. I would have thought once upon time that this was exaggerated, but it isn’t. Chronic pain dulls but it doesn’t leave and to be blessed without it is something that I will cherish until my dying days after how many years I’ve spent under this weight.”

“Anyway, annoying but tolerable. I’d say for the first four years, that’s how it felt. I had gotten to know most of the campers. While I couldn’t intervene, I was getting to see the children that my family had. The ones that they couldn’t afford to love. Children of Apollo would sing in the morning. Children of Ares would fight and train in the evenings. They’d break what few rules I would actually give them to earn a bit more credit among other campers. The children of Demeter would sit with me in the vineyard of strawberries. So on and so on. I don’t think there were any demigod children that I didn’t know. They all knew they could pray to me, and most of them did so.”

He averted his eyes. “The first major attack since I was present happened that Spring. Right as the kids were trying to make it back. I held funeral pyres for 13 demigods that Summer. 13 demigods that were screaming my name in a panic, hoping the fact that I was there at the camp meant that I would intervene.”

“I couldn’t,” he said finally. “Or maybe I just wouldn’t. Your wrath was something to be feared, dad. And the laws said I couldn’t interfere, so I didn’t. Instead, I listened as the only connections I had to my family called for me, and I could do nothing. I couldn’t lend them a hand, and then I had to bury them. After that, I stopped calling them by name. I stopped responding to them at camp as anything other than a begrudging guardian of sorts. I couldn’t go though that again, and I had gotten good at convincing them not to pray to me. They didn’t think that I would care, so they never prayed again. Only that didn’t stop all of them. There were always a few special brats that would still pray to me willingly.” His eyes cut over to Percy. He inclined his head.

“It was 13 years into my exile that I had my first child show up at the camp. During one of my breaks, I had found a mortal. She was nice enough. That child had some aspects of me, and I was happy to be able to actually interact with my kid. The only grace this damn punishment has given me. Only, me being able to have time with them doesn’t stop them from being hunted or mortal. She died. Her eyes were mine. Her mother slapped me across my face, when I brought her daughter’s stuff home with the message. That’s when I broke.”

Dionysus laughed. “Of course, breaking once wasn’t going to be enough. Grandfather was coming. My kids stood with me. And I stood with you.” He paused. “My largest regret is the fact that I stood with you anyway. I took my throne among you seriously enough to put aside the pain and stand with you against the attack. I did it without full access to my powers. I did it even as each battle brought me closer to being reminded what it was like to be a mortal. I think there were times when I thought I was going to die because what was coming for me was not something that I could fight.”

He visibly fought a shiver. “Do you even understand what fighting for Olympus did to me? As I watched a child, no where near adulthood take on the burden to save an even younger child the burden. As I watched the children I had a hand in raising turn because anything, anyone would be better than you as king.”

He clenched his fist at his side. “When I realized that my restrictions weren’t lifted, and every time I stepped into the fray to do anything, I was risking fading. I stood there, and I knew at that moment, if I fought there was a chance of death again. It was so bad that there were moments where I felt like a demigod kid again. And oh, did I resonate with them.”

“My twins were the only ones of mine at camp then. The only kids I had because having more just wasn’t something that was going to happen when I could watch them suffer. It was supposed to be one, and just to keep my cabin from going empty and causing you to get suspicious. And well, I suppose, it’s one now. Because I was banished when my son died. I couldn’t mourn like Hermes could. And I know he’s not exactly mourning well by all accounts, but bloody hell at least he’s got the ability to mourn. What do I have? That’s right, fuck all. I have fuck all.”

“And it wasn’t once,” Dionysus screamed at the rest of the thrones. “Once would have been bad enough. Once would have sealed my opinion that all of you hate me and wish I had never ascended and are constantly actively looking for ways to tear me down. But it was twice, because then we were fighting Gaia. And we did intervene eventually despite certain warnings, and I was risking my life again.”

He shook his head. He let out a shaky breath of air. “And I know, from conversations, at a minimum with you, dad, that you didn’t mean to let it go this far. I just, I don’t know if I care. Whether you meant to or not, you did allow me to suffer all of this. You did force me to watch child after child die while none of you were there for them. You did let me almost fade away in two wars with titans. And even now, if Percy hadn’t guided you to doing the correct thing more than once, I’d still be suffering that consequence.”

He swallowed. “Tell me that was the last question, cousin.”

Percy nodded. He reached out and squeezed Dionysus’ arm as he walked past. A small symbol of support, maybe not enough to do much, but it felt important to him that he at least tried to give compassion to his cousin. “Ariadne, would you mind speaking?”

Her head turned to Percy. Then, she let out a small laugh that carried in the silent chamber. “Oh, Percy, you are a delight.”

She turned to the council. “I hadn’t really considered the fact that I was supposed to be a part of this session in particular. In fact, if I were a betting goddess, I’d say this is why the Lady Hestia demanded my presence. Who better to speak on the impacts of my husband’s banishment and punishment than me?”

She stands. She passes by Dionysus’ throne and trails her hand down her arm. “I’ll start from the most poignant stance. What would have happened had he faded? All of you would have mourned. I have my suspicions that a lot of pointed fingers would be given over who did what that led to this. And you know what, not a one of you in the end would have accepted blame. Despite the fact every person in this room, with the exception of Hades and Persephone, would have played an active role in his demise.”

Her glare turned to Amphitrite and Triton who were frowning. “As much as neither of you care to admit it, your constant hatred of Athena has led her to be follower over a leader in these chambers. She will not confront Zeus because she is terrified of the two of you. She is terrified because the two of you will not let Pallas rest. She is gone, and there is nothing, any of us can do. Which is exactly what almost happened to Dionysus, and the reason why I will fight tooth and nail to get each and every one of you to admit what happened here was a tragedy.”

She softened her expression as she turned. “And just because I am speaking in larger terms does not mean I do not have a stake in this. If my husband had died, what would become of me? I am immortal in part as a gift to him for some of his heroics as a demigod. Would I stripped of my immortality? We all know I did not ascend on my own. Would I be dismissed to never have another group in these halls? It’s possible. I hang out with the dryads and nymphs, and they are kind. But among fellow gods, I would be an outcast. A goddess whose primary purpose is gone. How long would it take before I faded with him? A decade, a century, maybe even a millennia. Probably will depend on how much the rest of you cling to me as the last dying connection to my husband.”

She keeps her smile on her face even as she reads tears in all of their eyes. She blinks. “Let’s go to the punishment itself. What purpose was bringing me here, if not to use me a determent for his appeal? Was it to tell me my husband was banished? If so, I was not told. I was standing next to Hermes when he got sentenced. Not even a hug goodbye was offered. And alone I was. And because part of your punishment was not to see his family, I could not go to him. I could not go to him. I could not go see the nymphs and dryads are they are a part of his domain and where they are, he could still be. It was a removal of me from all aspects of society. I sat in our home, and I did not leave.”

She tilted her head to the side to consider Zeus. “For all that you are a god of justice, and for all that you claim to try to be a good king, I do not see it in your actions. You hurt people accidentally and proclaim it to have been an accident, but they continue to occur. I was the byproduct the way Artemis was a byproduct of Apollo’s punishment. It is us that you never consider.”

She bit down on her lip. “And his crime, those orgies a hundred people can sleep with him. He does not notice which one is which at the time. He barely knows me when I attend, which is why I often don’t. I prefer for his attention to be on me, and I know that part of his domain makes it hard, so I do not fight him for it. How dare you punish him for that? You helped him ascend. You accepted his ascension and watched his domains settle. You knew what that entailed. You knew what kinds of powers were to be granted to him.”

Ichor spilled lightly over her lip from where she chewed it. “You were angry, but not at him. Only Dionysus was who you could touch, who you had an excuse to target, and being toxic as all hell, you chose to take that when it was offered.”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t care what you do to me for having said this, but I hope you know for what it’s worth from me, you hurt him. And I forgive you.”

Dionysus’ head snapped towards her, as did Percy’s. That wasn’t what he was expecting in the slightest, after she drilled home point after point about how this hurt him and how this could have been the end of everything.

“To be clear, I forgive you, Zeus. You may have punished him, but you did so within your power and rights, and it wasn’t on you to figure out this was wrong alone, and others did not do so. I forgive you, siblings of my husband, for I know why you were scared, it’s why I was scared. I did nothing, and I understand how you did nothing. I forgive you, aunts and uncle of my husband for at the end of the day, you were just trying to decide whether this was worth you fighting for against someone who takes every perceived slight as an admittance that you’d overthrow him. And I forgive you Amphitrite and Triton because your influences on this were present but small, and they’ve lasted millennia now. My husband wasn’t going to be enough to break that.”

She paused. “I’m not really the one you have to convince to forgive you anyway. Dionysus has a right to be angry, and its him that you want to remain a part of your family. I’m just the extra side candy for this, but I am willing to forgive all of this. Because I did nothing either.” She turned to Dionysus. She slid down to her knees and bowed her head down.

“I am sorry, my husband. I should have said damn the consequences and fought for you. If not at your sentencing, at the wars. My silence was compliance, and I’m sorry.”

Dionysus stared baffled for a moment. “Darling, get up off the ground.”

“No,” she said softly.

“Darling, I’m not angry at you.”

“You should be. You are angry with them for the same things I did. So either you are going to admit that, or you have to give up being angry with them.”

Dionysus squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, Hermes was squeezing his hand, standing at his side. He didn’t speak, in response to the rules that Percy had put on them all, but he kept his hand gripped tight. He breathed out. “Fine.”

He grumbled for a second. “You’re forgiven, Ariadne. I know why you didn’t intervene, and I don’t blame you for them.” His eyes crossed the room. “And to circumvent anyone trying to prod answers out of his later, Ares, you’re also forgiven. I know what you did in response to this, and while I don’t like it, I know it is in direct retaliation for what was done to me. In your own way that was a defense, and I appreciate it.”

Ares whipped his head up to stare at Dionysus. His eyes were wide, and his hands froze all motions.

Percy was pretty sure his mouth also dropped open in shock. From the conversation the day before, Percy didn’t think that Ares and Dionysus were going to be on decent terms for quite a while. While not his intention, Ares had gotten his child killed.

Ariadne stood slowly and re-approached her small chair behind her husband. She gave his hand another squeeze. “Thank you.”

Percy blinked away his shock. He was the therapist for Gods’ sake. He had to manage to be normal. So much for his order of siblings. He was just going to have to wing this shit. “Ares, how about since Dionysus spoke to you, you go next speaking.”

Ares snapped his focus to Percy for a brief second, then jerked his head into a nod. He was visibly holding back his shaking. “Thank you. Just to explain a little further for those of you completely confused, Dionysus now knows my secret and more of my reasoning than anyone else ever did.”

His eyes darted over to Zeus before returning back to Dionysus. “At the time, I thought that if I stood up for you here, it wouldn’t matter. I’m starting to realize I still should have made the token effort, or at least confided in you that I planned on doing something about it. I shouldn’t have just made you rely on faith alone that someone cared, because you didn’t really have any reason to believe that from me.”

Dionysus opened his mouth to speak, but Ares shook his head.

“Thank you for your forgiveness, brother. I don’t think I deserve it, but I’m a bit selfish in that respect, so I’ll take it all the same,” he said softly.

Then, he turned all his focus on Zeus. The shaking went deathly still, a cold calm washed over you. “I want you to take me seriously this time. For all that every time we speak, you coddle us and tell us that’s not what you intended, I don’t care. Not about this. He could have died. He probably should be dead, and the only reason he isn’t, is an active effort on all of his siblings part to ensure he never went to battle alone.”

“You’re a dick.”

Thunder roared above them, but Ares did not blink. He barely even responded to the noise. “It takes two to do anything, and you only punished one of them. You didn’t consider why any of this happened.”

Ares stood up even as the thunder got louder. He pointed a finger at Zeus. “You were willing to condemn him to fade, and before you say that you had no way to know that the titan wars were coming, that isn’t even the worst part of this. A hundred years without his domain could force a fade on anyone. It didn’t take that many without full access to his domain as it laid dying for Pan to fade.”

A whimper escaped Hermes.

Ares spared him a glance of sympathy. “Tell me had he gotten worse, what would you have done? My guess is fucking nothing. To you it was justified, a fitting punishment for the crime.”

“Well fuck you,” he snarled. “Fuck you, and all of the bullshit that you’ve done to all of us over the years. Fuck you, and the fact that this was your solution to nothing. There was no crime here, and the punishment certainly didn’t fit it.”

Ares swallowed. “For the record, just so everyone is painfully clear, and on the off chance that I’m not dead by tomorrow, if you ever look at one of my siblings and decide that you’re going to try to harm them again, you will not get the chance. You will have war. You will have it with me, and if I cannot fight you alone, I will dig up any ally I can find to ensure that you never get the chance to touch them.”

Dionysus covered his eyes with a hand and groaned. “Ares…”

“Yeah, brother?”

“Why the fuck did you have to wait this long to prove this?”

“No offense, I wasn’t all that aware that I hadn’t before. Granted, it wasn’t like dad had gone all absolutely fucking batshit with a punishment before this either, so like it hadn’t been necessary.”

“No one believed it because if you were willing to hurt Hephaestus who was your full brother, why the fuck would you have any loyalty to us?”

Ares turned to stare at Hephaestus. Then, he dropped his head on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t suppose I can start talking about our issues today.”

Hephaestus shook his head slowly with a slight smile on his face.

“Alright, well, a very long story with some unreliable narration to the point that neither of us are completely sure where it stands aside, I don’t hurt him. I do shitty things, but so do we all. We aren’t exactly paradigms of the best the world has to offer.”

Dionysus stared at him for a second. “Alright. I will tentatively offer to believe you.”

Zeus’ eyes were blown wide open staring at his children. The thunder had mostly stopped, but the storm clouds were definitely still in the air. They weren’t entirely outside of the realm of bad times, yet.

Percy cleared his throat lightly. “Hephaestus, would you mind speaking next?”

“I will speak,” he agreed. His eyes were slightly narrow when he turned to Ares. “First, just to make it clear, we’re fine. You’ve never hurt me in ways that I have not allowed you to do. It’s not like I’m unaware of your affair or the fact that if I told you to stop you would.”

“Second,” at this he turned all of his attention to Dionysus. “My fear shouldn’t have stopped me from coming to your aide, brother.”

“Why did it?”

Hephaestus gave that question a decent pause to consider. His large hand came up to cradle his chin. “That is complicated, which isn’t to say that I won’t offer you the full answer, but give me a moment to puzzle it all together.”

Dionysus nodded slowly.

“I…I am not a brave god.” Hephaestus nodded slowly as he spoke, as if every word he was speaking was carefully measured. “I live with a lot of pain from my birth injury, and from mother’s actions afterwards. That pain has caused me to rather prefer the shadows. I don’t love expressing my feelings on anything towards anyone. I know that unless I pulled some trickery most of you would be able to overpower and hurt me. Which is not to say that I can’t fight, I can. It just requires a lot of forethought and planning to accomplish.”

He frowned. “You were caught off guard by your summoning, and so was I. I did not have a plan that would successfully get us out of this mess. It seemed to me that intervening on your behalf without any plan for when it blew up in our faces would only serve to make matters worse.”

He swallowed. “And not just for me. I would like to believe that if the risk had just been to me, that I would have done something. I’m not sure exactly what, but something at the bare minimum, but it was my concern and remains my concern that if I had acted on those urges, that you would have been the one hurt by those choices. You would have felt wrath from our father for daring to protest his divine judgement that you had done something wrong.”

Dionysus considered Hephaestus for a second. “Are you saying you didn’t defend me to protect me?”

Hephaestus chuckled. “Counter-intuitive, right? But yes. I didn’t want to see you worse off.”

He offered a wry smile to Dionysus. “Forgive me?”

He got a small nod in return.

Hephaestus’ tension vanished. “Thank you, brother. You didn’t owe me that, so I’m grateful that you did forgive me in the end.”

His throne dramatically started creaking until eventually his whole chair was facing the king of gods. His posture, suddenly more noble than Percy had ever seen it. “Third, you call yourself our king, and your choices made us your children. How dare you? You do not get to be cruel and call it justice. You do not get to be selfish and call it law. This was nothing more than an establishment as you as head power. You already had the throne and the crown, what more could you have needed that you felt the need to get from my brother’s blood?”

Percy flinched. The rage hidden inside of that speech went deep. He wasn’t sure how Zeus was going to take being so harshly ridiculed for one of his actions, especially given that unlike Apollo’s punishment, he did not have good reason backing him up. This had been a mistake, and all those who were in the throne room called it such.

Hephaestus shook his head. “I’d stand with Ares against you if it became necessary. And I’d like to think that if the end result was me having to take your throne, I’d do a damn better job than you have on it.”

Percy registered the nod to tell him that Hephaestus was done speaking, and Percy had to fight the urge to rub at his temples. This was not going well. He couldn’t really go back on his word to let all of the kids speak, and it did seem they had a lot to say, but all of them were being extremely antagonistic to a man who was at least trying to better himself for them. “Aphrodite,” he called out softly.

Aphrodite peered at him curiously. Then, she stood and crossed the floor to be in front of Dionysus. Similar to Ariadne, she lowered herself carefully to the floor and knelt on the cold stones of marble. She stared up at him. “Hello, my brother.”

Dionysus stared at her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m kneeling,” she said simply.

Dionysus rubbed at his eyes. “Yes, I am able to see that, why are you kneeling?”

“Hmm, a better question. I’m following our father’s lead in how to do apologies. I’m sorry I didn’t speak up for you at the time. I’d say that I had a good excuse, but I really didn’t. I just didn’t see any utility in doing so.”

She stared up at her brother. “He’s less likely to listen to me than any of the others, and not to say that you aren’t worth it, but I wasn’t going to start a war with him for you, at least not then.”

“Would you now?”

“Possibly.” She craned her neck to turn to her father, and she sighed. “I don’t think that he’d do it now. Your punishment that is. I don’t think he’d fail to let you speak so spectacularly that all of us would rise up in opposition. I don’t think that he’d just continue to allow suffering.”

“If he did,” Dionysus pushed.

Aphrodite frowned. “I suppose if he were to punish you like this again for a reason as asinine as this, then yes, I’d probably stand beside Ares and Hephaestus and fight him over it.”

“Why probably?”

Aphrodite groaned. “I mean, he is the king. For better or worse, we all swore to follow him. We’re his children, we’re his army, we’re supposed to be the most loyal group of citizens, he’s got. And yeah, he can be a dick sometimes, but I don’t see any of the other options who could win being better.”

Dionysus huffed. “Are you telling me that you might allow me to suffer because you think what, that you’d suffer more if you didn’t?”

“That we all would,” she snapped. “Like take grandfather. Let’s say that we all went to his side because of this punishment. He made it clear he would kill our children without the need of monsters and without any regard for any of us. He made zero bargains with most of us despite the fact that we would have been the ones best suited to be manipulated. So, he’s a shit option.”

Her eyes blurred with tears. “Poseidon would be the best of our uncles to lead all of us if father wasn’t because he has the experience for it with his older form, but he will never ever actually rebel. He might assist us in bringing issues to dad’s attention. He might even agree with us that he’s been a dick, but he won’t help us rise.”

“Among us, an heir has never actually be named, and if we fight amongst ourselves, we will quite literally always fail,” she said, with a tremor of something shivering down her spine. “So tell me, if we’re too fight, who the fuck are we praying to afterwards? Who will lead us? Who will keep us safe?”

Dionysus blinked hard. “I mean I know dad hasn’t gone and confirmed it or anything, but I thought we all had it figured out.”

“You do,” she asked bewildered.

“Yeah, I mean, I swore fealty to Hephaestus when I was like what three or four centuries into my godhood.”

Hephaestus nodded. “Yeah, of our cousin and sibling pod, only like three haven’t sworn me as heir. Aphrodite is one, Athena is another, and then Kymopoleia is the final. But I’m not convinced that isn’t just because she refuses to swear anyone above her. She’s kind of a force of anarchy.”

Poseidon didn’t quite hide his laughter at that comparison. When eyes turned to him, he held up his hand. “Sorry, just hearing her be explained that way is quite humorous to me.”

Dionysus waved off the apology. “It’s fine, Uncle.” He stared at Aphrodite. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know. If something happens to Zeus, then we’re swarming to your husband.”

Aphrodite gaped. She twisted and turned to stare at him, betrayal clear in her posture.

“It’s not like we talk much,” Hephaestus pointed out. “Literally the last three times I tried to do something romantic with you, you ended the evening by screaming at me loudly, trashing our shared rooms, and then fucking off to go sleep with Ares in an elaborate scheme in the hopes of pissing me off some more.”

She glared at him. “If you’re going to potentially become king, you definitely have to let the other half of your marriage who you’d elevate to queen know, you jackass.”

Hephaestus held his hands up. “Peace, wife. We’ll talk about it when we get to the fucking mess that is our marriage.”

Aphrodite didn’t lessen her glare until she managed to completely remove him from her sight as she turned back to Dionysus. “I didn’t know that. Nor do I know a lot of things when it comes to the members of this family. I’m not sure I ever could have told you that Ares and Hephaestus love each other as I’ve found out through these therapy sessions. Or that Athena is more scared of father than me. Or the fact that you didn’t know that you were loved. I don’t think it really pardons me for the fact that I didn’t try to do anything, but maybe it explains it. Because I’ll be honest, loving you never crossed my mind as having obligations towards protection. I’m pretty sure most of you love me, and I’ve never felt protected.”

Dionysus pondered her for a second. “Get up, Aphrodite.”

“Am I forgiven or am I getting up because you want to maintain your fury?”

He snorted. “I’m not even all that angry at you, Aphrodite. I know you’re telling the truth, so sure, we can call it forgiven. Just to be frank with you though, I would have come and helped you, had you ever told you felt that you needed to be protected.”

“Would you have? Even if it meant going against him?” She jerked her head towards Zeus.

Dionysus didn’t look towards his father. He didn’t have to in order to get the message across. “There is very little in this world that I wouldn’t have traded had it meant that I would be considered your siblings. He would be an easy choice to fight in that case.”

Aphrodite stood. She bypassed her own throne to walk by Zeus. She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

The stares in the room were infinite, but she paid them no mind. “I forgive you, daddy. I know why you punished him well enough. It was unfair, but at the time, you weren’t really thinking clearly and all of your supposed balances were scared of you, and you weren’t aware of that. A fool, but one can forgive foolishness.”

She stepped back from him. “But in for the sake of being honest and open, if my husband and lover declare war on you, I will ride at their side.”

Percy slid his hands together and offered a silent prayer to no one specific that they managed to survive this day, because he was getting less and less confident that they would the longer this day goes on. He let out a small breath of air once Aphrodite is once more sitting. Four more siblings to go, and chaos already built to hell and back. “Athena.”

Athena looked up and glanced around the room. She tapped her foot lightly against the marble floor. “Sorry, Dionysus, I wasn’t willing to risk Aunt Amphitrite or Triton’s wrath to save you from this.”

“I know.”

Athena chuckled lightly. “I think everyone knows now. I never spoke against anything, and I don’t think I ever would have before this therapy session. For Hade’s sake, I’m not sure I would now, if I were any less confident that Percy would jump in front of me to fight off his brother if the need arose.”

Dionysus shook his head in amusement. “Sister, we need to work on your trauma eventually.”

“You know, I’m starting to think I agree,” she said. She did so with a small chuckle. “Forgive me for being frightened?”

“Always.”

She inclined her head. She turned to Zeus. “You are quite possibly an evil god. You claim to be just, but you have never been that to any of your children. We all know what happened when Hephaestus was born. We were all there when I traded obedience for safety. Not a one of us ever felt safe under your rule. Not a one of us would dare utter a word.”

She breathed out. “But I suppose, we’ve thrown our cards onto the table. We’ve made a line that you cannot cross without us attacking. Mine isn’t Dionysus. Mine is any of them, same as Ares. Including Ares. You fight, and you will come face to face with me. Whether I win will be irrelevant then.”

Percy sank lower into his chair. Another god on the list of threatening Zeus today. Really, it was going to be a miracle if he survived the day. He really wanted to have taken Athena up on her offer right about now, and if her expression was anything to base his assumptions on, she knew it. “Hermes,” he called out.

Hermes looked up a little baffled at having been called out. “Huh?”

Dionysus let out a long suffering sigh. “Can I forgive him because he’s an idiot?”

Percy shrugged, this was their fight to solve. He wasn’t going to interfere in the process.

Hermes frowned. “Hold on, give me a second.” He shook out his staff and then each foot repeatedly until his form settled into something that was a little less depressed man and closer to the god that Percy had met on his first quest from camp halfblood. He stood with more weight than any of the others had.

He slammed his staff on the ground. He lifted it and pointed at Zeus. “For once, I’m going to be decisive in some matters. I know I’m your messenger. We all know I’m your messenger. But hear me, if you ever send me to fetch one of my siblings for you to hurt, I’m just going to take them and run. We’ll regroup and then we’ll come after your fucking crown.”

He nodded sharply. “I was under orders, Dionysus. I was to get you and bring you here. I was to go back to my throne and stay silent unless I was needed.”

Dionysus’ mouth fell open in a shocked ‘oh’ shape. “You…”

“I knew what was going to happen. I should have prepared you or maybe I should have just fled with you then and damned all the consequences. Who the fuck knows? I’m not the god of hindsight.”

Hermes threw his hands up into the air. “It was a shitty thing to ask me to do. To know the king’s will before the rest of the council. And just to be clear, and Apollo can truth check me if he’d like or we can wait until Zeus’ chance to speak, and he can confirm, but I did say this wasn’t a reasonable reaction.”

His eyes cut across the space. “When you told me to fetch him for his trial, I said that he hadn’t done anything wrong. You said the trial would show that. Only there was no trial, there was a witch hunt.”

Hermes swallowed. “So, I am sorry, brother, that you never got to hear my defense of you. I am sorry that you spent these many years thinking that I wouldn’t come for you if you needed me. I would be there. I would always be there. It was my position in Olympus that stopped me. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Dionysus stared wide eyed at Hermes. “You…you tried?”

Hermes shrugged his shoulders. “I put up a token defense of you. I wouldn’t say I went very far. I didn’t damn worlds for you or even tell our father that he was wrong, just that I thought it was an overreaction, but yes, I did at least say something.”

“Thank you,” Dionysus said.

Hermes raised an eyebrow. “This family really did a number on you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me for doing the bare minimum. It’s not something that you have to thank me for. Every member of this council should have done so, and the fact that I’m the one that did, is such shit given I can’t even do it in front of the rest, because I know so much early as a part of my job.”

Dionysus snorted. He bent over the edge of the throne, so he could reach Hermes’ arm and squeeze. “Thank you, brother.”

Hermes rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome.”

Percy had to admit that Hermes and Dionysus becoming this close hadn’t been something he saw coming either, but the fact that relationships were becoming closer over the therapy sessions had to be at least somewhat good to him continuing to try to repair things. “Artemis,” he requested softly.

Artemis lifted her head. She stared at Percy for a moment. She sighed. “I’m sorry, Dionysus.”

“You are?” He questioned.

She nodded slowly. “I suppose so. You were right that first session when we were talking about feelings and all of that. I had the most ability to come see you, and it never even dawned on me that might help you, so I didn’t. Had I thought of it, I probably would have come. It didn’t really ever seem to me that the punishment was something you’d fight either. I mean, you often told us you disagreed with how separated from the demigods we were. Honestly, I figured this was a punishment and reward kind of wrapped together. Thought that was why you didn’t argue for yourself, and I certainly wasn’t going to fight whatever reasons you had.”

Dionysus let out a harsh little chuckle. “Thinking we should be better with our children does not equal wanting to be stripped of most of my godhood and trapped with them as they die, and I can do little to stop it because of the lack of most of my godhood.”

Artemis inclined her head. “At the time, I thought you were playing us all for fools. That you intended to be right where you ended up. I thought, why else would he sleep with the nymph that Zeus specifically forbid. I didn’t realize that you were unaware. I did not realize that you were begging me to intervene and help you. Had I at any point realized that, I would of course have done something. I’m not quite sure what. Minimally I would have visited more often.”

Dionysus stared at her. “You claim this, but what good are your claims now?”

Artemis shrugged. She nodded to Percy. “He seems to think they’re important to say. For whatever reason, father’s claims were enough that Uncle Poseidon and Uncle Zeus are now attempting to get along better with him.”

Dionysus snorted lightly. “You get that’s because he has literally never apologized before in his life, so him doing so now for them was something that caught and kept their attention enough so that they are willing to let bygones be.”

Artemis considered him for a second. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a weirdly tipped arrow point. She tossed it over.

Dionysus caught the little metal. He turned it over in his hand. “What precisely is that?”

“Same point my huntresses use. Place it on a weapon of your choice. If you’re using that weapon, and you call my name, I will hear you. No matter where you are, no matter how much shit you’re in, I’ll come.” She paused. A frown passed her lips. “Correction, almost anywhere you are. The girl had one, and I presume she tried it at least once in the pit. I cannot reach you there. My domains don’t extend quite that far.”

Percy flinched at the reminder that they had done everything and tried anything to get out of the pit with more help than they got. He hated being reminded of the pit entirely, but the least they could do if they were going to bring it up was not mention how deadly alone they had been. If they hadn’t had each other, well, they wouldn’t have made it out. Annabeth would have been another broken spine at the bottom of that fall. He would have become one of the monsters down there. He could feel it burning in his blood. His blood still wanted to return home to the pit after what happened down there.

Artemis turned her head to Percy. “I’m sorry for bringing that up, but I felt it was important for him to know there was a limit. Although not really one of my own making.”

Dionysus flipped the arrowhead in his hand. Then, he slipped it into his own pocket. “Forgiven then, sister.”

The corners of her lips split into a smile. “Good. Use it when you need to, even if its not against who you thought it would be.”

She turned to Zeus, her head tilted to the side. “I’m not going to yell at you. I’m not even going to go as far as the others do. I heard the apology you gave me and Apollo last time. You mean it genuinely. If you were ashamed of what you did to him, you are appalled at what you did to Dionysus. This is just worse. Partly because it’s ongoing and partly because it was the first one.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “The crime isn’t mine to forgive though. It didn’t hurt me, not in any of the ways that you could apologize for and have it come across as meaningful.”

She tapped her fingers against her thigh. “Although, just because I’m not going to yell or go as far as they do, let me be frank for just this moment, if they all tell me that we’re going to war, I won’t ask questions. I’ll just gather my army and walk behind them slow and steady. I’d be sorry if the war was against you, but it wouldn’t stop me.”

Percy waited a beat to make sure that she was done speaking. He was feeling vaguely optimistic by the fact that there was no more thunder in the sky. He wasn’t as confident about the slightly nauseous look on the god’s face, but he couldn’t change how anyone felt about this. “Apollo, you’re up.”

Apollo glanced towards Dionysus and then his father. “I’ll stand with my siblings, dad. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think you intended for this to be a problem. I don’t think you imagined that this would be as bad as it was. I don’t think you wanted him to nearly die with the war. I think that all of this has gotten to be a ball rolling down the hill and where you were expecting anyone else to notice if it ran too far, we all ducked out of the way to preserve our own skin.”

He paused. “Like Artemis said though, you aren’t ours to forgive in this instance.”

Dionysus arched an eyebrow. Most people started with him or on occasion threatened their father first, that was a hell of a way to try to get him to forgive his brother when he could barely see them as not having betrayed him for this.

Apollo turned back to Dionysus. “I am sorry. I should have stood for you. Maybe if I had, I wouldn’t have had to suffer the same fate but worse. I’m hoping, maybe, that buys me your grace.”

“Should it?”

“I was made mortal, no aspects of my domains, not a single one to cling onto. I would have died, should have died even. I did worse than you, and while mine had a more attainable version of forgiveness than last this long, it was rough.”

“Yeah, well, I saw you as Lester. You weren’t very good at being mortal.”

“Is any god?” Apollo asked wryly.

Dionysus chuckled lightly. “Fair enough.”

Apollo twisted his mouth into a grimace. “Listen, we can go back and forth. We can say I should have stood for you when you were charged, I’d agree. We could say that I should have cornered dad after the first time I had to heal you in the titan wars to make him dix it, and I’d agree. But I didn’t. I didn’t do those things. And while the punishment dad gave me wasn’t for that, it sure as shit punished me for them anyway. I felt guilty as all hell about it during that quest. So how about, rather than the rest of them who are relying on good will to get them through, we rely on the fact that I don’t have many regrets left. I atoned for them. I suffered for them. Please, let that be enough, brother. I don’t have it in me to try to earn it a different way.”

Dionysus waved his hand. “Let it be erased then, brother.”

Ares gazed at Dionysus for a second. “Would you ask that of all of us? That we be punished for what we did.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“It’d start a cycle. We’d go around in circles tallying up who did what wrongs and to whom, and then we’d try to dole out what we thought were reasonable consequences, and eventually we’d stumble upon something that was cruel again, and then where would we be. Suffering the same damn nonsense, we’re in therapy for. No thanks. You apologized, and I’m going to believe that you’ll be better. You choose to break that in the future, well, we’ll see what it takes to earn my forgiveness then. I have a gut feeling it won’t be something nearly as obtainable.”

Percy nodded slowly. “That’s very wise, Dionysus.”

Dionysus turned his gaze onto Percy. “All my siblings answered for what they did. Let my father speak.”

“No,” Percy said softly. He knew that had been his original plan, but he had forgotten the others on the council. “Auntie Hera, will you tell him why you didn’t say anything at his sentencing?”

Hera blinked. Surprise colored her expression as all attention turned to her. “Oh, umm, sure.”

Dionysus snorted. “Wait let me guess, I was a bastard and you wanted to see me suffer some more.”

Hera let out a small little giggle of laughter. “Oh, it does bring me joy when you children acknowledge the reasons why I ignore your presence and do small acts of grief upon you. But this time, I didn’t do so for that reason.”

“You didn’t?”

She shook her head lightly. “The camp needed a godly director. Mars goes down to Camp Jupiter often enough. So does Mercury and Apollo at times. Your punishment succeeded in doing something necessary for quite some time. I didn’t speak for no other reason than that I thought it would benefit more of our citizens to allow this punishment to occur.”

Dionysus frowned. “Could you not have argued with him about his laws? Asked him to change it so that we were better off?”

Hera’s eyes darted to her husband. “You think he listens to me any more than the rest of you? The only one I’ve ever seen him listen to before this moment in therapy is when Poseidon and I forced him.”

That got a rumble of thunder in the air again. Percy closed his eyes. “Uncle Zeus, peace,” he thought. “That has it’s time and place for discussion, and I promise I will not let them gloss over it on that day. For now, let them be.”

The thunder stopped. Zeus’s head titled curiously towards Percy.

Percy was relieved. He doesn’t think that this would have gone well had he interrupted. This wasn’t supposed to be about that.

Dionysus swallowed. “Fair enough. And I agree with your point about the camp, even if the method was horrid and really accomplished less than your goal.”

Hera nodded. “Yes, well, in my defense, I did not see two forbidden children and two titan wars coming.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Thalia showing up, and I was like unsurprising at least one thing I’m drastically under qualified to handle shows up during this punishment. When Percy showed up, I was like are you fucking kidding me. When I found out it was grandfather manipulating my campers, I just set my head down on the table repeatedly with a lot of force. By the time that the earth mother showed up, I was already so far into the acceptance stage of grief that I was just like why not.”

Hera clucked her tongue. “Yes, well, perhaps, we should have started intervening around the time it was clear you were dealing with more than anticipated in your century long punishment.”

“Thank you.”

“Aunt Demeter?” Percy called out.

Demeter stood slowly and approached Dionysus. Her hand stretched forward and cupped his cheek. Her fingers soothing over his skin. “I said and did nothing as I normally do. When I speak against him or against another, I want him to know that I am never bluffing about what I will do in response. I did not believe your punishment so unjust that I would kill millions and thus, I stayed silent.”

Dionysus closed his eyes and accepted the comfort. “Why wasn’t I worth that?”

Demeter hummed. “It’s not a matter of worth, child. It is never a matter of worth. It is a matter of principle. I was willing to kill the world for my daughter, and only barely stopped myself at Zeus’ request. I would kill it for all of you, if I had no way of reaching you. You were going to be gone for a blip of time. Nothing more than a hundred years. A hundred years, is a time limit I was willing to accept, the way I accept Persephone’s half a year in the underworld.”

Dionysus nodded. Tears filled his eyes. “I wish you didn’t accept a bargain with me.”

“Yes, I see that.” Her eyes searched out Zeus’. She deflated somewhat. “At the time, I don’t think I ever considered that my brother would be cruel to you during these hundred years. I think that has been proved wrong.”

Zeus swallowed harshly.

Dionysus nodded. “If you had known how bad it hurt, would you have come for me?”

“Yes.”

Percy could tell that was enough for Dionysus as Demeter walked calmly back to her throne. Her only stop a brushing hand against Zeus’ shoulder. A small gesture of faith and compassion for him. “Dad?”

Poseidon snapped his head over to Percy. “You sure you want me to speak on this?”

“Dionysus had questions for the entire Olympic council, you are on the council.” Percy didn’t think his father speaking was in Zeus’ best interest, but it was in Dionysus’. He had to balance these needs, and for some reason, he suspected that trying not to include his father wasn’t something that he could do without causing issue.

Poseidon nodded to that. “I didn’t come for you because you didn’t ask.”

Dionysus froze. “What?”

Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. “Had you at any point during that meeting, even if you were unwilling to speak verbally sent me a message that contained some partial consideration of, hey uncle, I didn’t do it or I have a defense, or even a half-baked, please for the love of everything save me from the consequences of my actions, I would have spoken for you. I would have argued with him for days if necessary to speak for you, but since I was not asked, I did nothing.”

He frowned for a second. “The only people who don’t get me coming for them with nothing more than a single glance are my children. The rest of you have to tell me you’re asking me to intervene as your uncle and not as a god. It’s difficult to know when you want which form on the best of days, and these are not simple days.”

Dionysus’ mouth hung open. “Are you telling me that had I prayed to you, you would have done something?”

“Certainly.”

“I…”

Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry that things got as bad as they did. I certainly wish you or one of your siblings had told me about the restrictions continuing in the war. I could have broken them as easily as Zeus could have, and I would have, but since we do not have the power to time travel backwards to change what happened, all I have left to say is, in the future, do try to recall, all of you, that you can pray to me, and I will do what I can to help you.”

“Or me,” Hades announced. “I was not here when the punishment was determined. I was not here when all of this went down, but had any of you told me about it, I would have likely done something to change the outcome.”

Dionysus blinked. “I’m not one of your gods.”

“You are my nephew,” Hades said blandly. “You also happen to matter outside of our familial ties.”

Dionysus swallowed harshly. “I will remember next time to reach out to you and stop suffering just because one person tells me to.”

“Good,” Poseidon nodded sharply.

Percy waited a beat. He took a few deep breaths, knowing that a shitstorm was likely about to occur and there was very little he could do to change that. “Uncle Zeus, it’s your turn to speak.”

Zeus opened his mouth to speak then shut it again. He stared at Dionysus for an uncomfortable period of time in silence. Then, his eyes slowly dragged across the rest of his children. “I can’t do this,” he muttered. Then, he stood from his throne and fled from the room.

Percy sat on his own perch in shock as screams started coming from the various gods. Some of them were shouting that he couldn’t do that after ordering every single one of them to stay present and accountable for all of these conversations. Others were shouting that this wasn’t an acceptable way to handle this session.

Divine energy was leaking into the room, as mostly Zeus’ children were getting more and more upset by his absence. They had admitted harsh feelings. They had done the work of being brave, and the one they accused was just gone. No one was doing anything to stop this mess from occurring either.

Percy blinked as the pain hit him in the temple as more forms caused. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind. It was nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. He needed a plan. Someone needed to go after Zeus, figure out what had just happened to lead to him leaving, because that wasn’t a normal reaction. That wasn’t even close to normal.

He would be the best one to go after Zeus, followed perhaps by Hestia, but given the way his auntie looked like she was ready to commit a murder, he couldn’t justify trying to send her. But, it was taking everything he had to keep Dionysus from just leaving. The rest would follow if he weren’t here. He didn’t have the king of gods to back his orders up while he went and dealt with this.

Except, he didn’t need the king of gods. He needed someone that they would be forced to listen to. He needed someone who would help him manage this while he was in a different location. He needed the Queen of Olympus. “Aunt Hera,” he whispered.

Hera was at his side immediately. “Yes, this is quite a turn of events. I will, of course, help get you back to your camp. I’m quite sorry this is what it’s come to.”

“I’m not going back to camp.”

“Percy,” she breathed out.

“I’m going after your husband. Therapy isn’t over.”

“They aren’t going to last long enough for you to drag him back, and if he summons them again, they will lose whatever tentative grasp on sanity they have,” she warned.

“I know, which is why you need to keep them here.”

“What?”

“You’re the Queen of Olympus. The queen of gods. Your husband gave the first order, now hold them to it. You keep them here. Let them rage, if they’d like. Let them spar and explode things, and fucking get out some of the anger. I’ll be back, and I’ll have him with me.”

“What if you fail?” She asked.

Percy thought about that for a brief second. What would happen if he failed? Aunt Hestia would last a while longer with the rest of the family. Hephaestus might be able to postpone her fade if he overthrew Zeus and continued to work on the family therapy, but without Zeus the instigator of many of their issues, most of them would continue to fester. The pantheon would fall to ruin for a while. So, he couldn’t fail. The consequences were just too large to be allowed to happen. The same way it had been when he was sent after the bolt, the same way it was when he met his grandfather on the battlefield, when he entered the pit and exited the pit, when he fought giants, and mother earth herself. Failure just wasn’t allowed. “I won’t.”

Hera considered him. She looked him up and down. “Go. I will hold this for you.”

“It can be the favor you owe,” he quipped lightly with a smile. They both knew it was a joke to ease tensions.

Her smile was weak. “Go, Percy.”

And he went, he left the room, following the scent of ozone that his uncle reeked of. The smell that once he would have avoided at all costs, especially at a time with this many emotions running rampant.

Zeus didn’t lift his head when he heard Percy coming. It didn’t take long for Percy to put the pieces together. His head was buried in his hands, his back was shaking, and the closer Percy got, the more he could feel the water. His uncle was having an actual breakdown.

Percy stepped up close and rested his head on the center of Zeus’ back. He didn’t speak, just stood there, offering what little comfort that he had to give.

“It was the first time,” he said with difficulty.

“What was?”

“Dionysus’ punishment. It was the first time one of them had done something that needed to be punished by the king and not their father. Or at least, that’s how I saw it. I had a made it a law that no one could touch the nymph. It was a deterrent against a few minor gods who had been poking around her, something she had asked me for as a part of our courtship. Easy enough for me to manage. I hadn’t thought about his revels, I didn’t think about her involvement in them when I crafted the law, if I had, I would like to think I would have included an exception or I don’t know, warned her that there would be consequences that she wouldn’t be the one paying if she did.”

“Yeah.”

“But, all of them were scared. All of them stayed silent. What had I done that was so terrible that none of them thought I’d listen? They were supposed to be my checks and balances, to make sure that I didn’t take things too far as I was trying to work out this new dynamic, and clearly I misjudged. But none of them,” he choked on his words.

“Not a single one of his siblings, not a single one of mine, no one said a word.”

Percy nodded. That had been his impression of everything too.

Zeus stared at him, a sheen of tears still covering his eyes. “It was the first time, they shouldn’t have been scared. They should have told me. I would have changed it for them. I would have always been kinder if they needed me to. They’re my babies.”

“I know,” Percy offered him softly. “I know how much you love them.”

“Then, why? Tell me why they don’t know. Tell me why they didn’t tell me what to do differently when it would have made more of a difference.”

Percy considered that for a moment. “Do you want me to comfort you or do you want me to tell you the truth as I see it?”

“Why ask?”

Percy shrugged. “We aren’t in therapy, and your son isn’t here to call me out on the comforting lie, and since I do eventually need you patched up enough to summon what’s left of your courage and walk with me into that throne room, I’m giving you options. As many as I can.”

“Truth,” Zeus said finally.

Percy crossed his arms as he stepped away from Zeus. He sat next to him instead and dangled his feet off the cloud’s edge as well. He sighed. “Alright, honest answer then, it’s because of Hera.”

Her attention turned to him for the briefest of seconds. A small whiff of lotus flowers in the air, before it vanished into the air. She was busy but knew that he was with Zeus and that they were talking.

“What do you mean?”

“She hurt them, your kids. She hurt Hephaestus even though he was hers. She hurt many of the others too, over and over again. She never got punished though. Not once did you bring her to the council for her crimes against your children. Not once did you defend them against her. Instead, they were on their own against a force, they reasonably reckoned that they could not win against. Because they could not win against her. So, when it was you, they were already scared. If you would let their queen do such acts against them, how much worse was it going to be when it was you.”

Zeus gasped. “She didn’t…She didn’t go unpunished. I didn’t drag her before the council, because the council has no power over her. I, alone, have that ability.”

“Did you ever tell them that?”

“No,” he whispered.

Percy nodded. “They’re scared shitless, Uncle. They threw everything out in the open today because if they didn’t do it now, when were they? But they’re still scared. They’re scared that you’re not going to react favorably. They’re scared you might act rashly.”

“They threatened war.”

Percy blinked. “They threatened revolt. The same as your wife did once.”

“They threatened whatever the fuck you want to call it, when they wouldn’t even talk to me. Do I not get the chance to be better? Do I not deserve to be spoken to before being shuffled off the board? Should I not be given chances?”

Percy sucked in a breath. “They didn’t fight you today. Maybe that should be enough. That even quaking with fear, even as your thunder bore overhead, they didn’t grab weapons and charge you today. Earn more, because right now, they don’t offer it to you.”

“They should,” he said.

Percy shrugged slowly. “Uncle, before these sessions, I wouldn’t have either. I would have just been next to them, sword in hand ready to fight you down for the mistakes of the past. Before you judge them, ask yourself this, can you fix it?”

“Should I?” He asked.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“For all that they have bickered and yelled at me today, not a one of them has said what they ought to have. Not a one of them other than Dionysus offered up a defense of him to me, which is what they should have done then, and definitely should do now.”

“Was Dionysus’ enough?”

“Hmm.”

“If Dionysus had told you all of this at the start, would you have agreed that was enough of a reason?”

“Yes.”

Percy nodded. “What about Hermes?”

Zeus shook his head. “Our conversation was less about his sentence and more about the trial. Hermes felt that it was ill conceived to not inform everyone about the upcoming trial and the facts of it before we arrived to the chambers. I disagreed, feeling that everybody should have a voice immediately upon concerns such as this on the council. I knew we disagreed on methodology. I did not realize that was based off a disagreement on calling this a crime.”

“What would you have done had you realized that?”

Zeus stood abruptly. “What I’m going to do now? Damn you, Percy. You aren’t supposed to be so wise for your young years. You are not Athena’s.”

Percy smiled towards him. He wasn’t Athena’s child, but after all of this, he certainly was going to have earned her respect.

Zeus stalked towards the throne room, with Percy trailing behind. Percy was adequately prepared to have to tell everyone to sit down and shut up when they arrived, but when they entered the throne room, everyone was sitting on their thrones, looking mutinously at Hera.

Percy raised a questioning brow to his aunt as he took his own seat.

Hera flashed him a smile. “I may have pointed out that I have less scruples than my husband in terms of punishments and having been left in charge, it was my discretion what to do if they dared to leave.”

“Unhelpful,” Zeus said bitterly to her.

“It kept them here, that is what Percy asked of me.”

Percy inclined his head. “And the calm atmosphere.”

“Once, mother,” Dionysus said the word as if it were poison as the only god still standing, “said we couldn’t leave, I pointed out that, I was the only one who had any right to be this pissed, given that it was my trauma we were discussing when he decided that he had no responsibility to bear for how it was handled.”

“On the contrary, my son, I hold most of the responsibility for this crime against you,” Zeus corrected softly. “I did not flee from this room to escape that burden. I fled because I could not handle the things that were said in a healthy manner, and you did not deserve to have my emotions placed on you while you were dealing with your own issues.”

Dionysus crossed his arms against his chest. “That’s my decision to make, not yours.”

Percy blinked. This had not been where he expected the conversation to go.

“No, it’s mine. I get to choose to have my breakdown wherever and to whoever, I choose. My tears either would have made you angrier or caused you guilt, neither of which are helpful to our conversation.”

Dionysus’ remaining anger started to simmer. “You were crying?”

Zeus snorted wryly. “My children had just sworn to overthrow me if I fucked up again, and most of them had done so calling me rather deliberately harsh names as you articulated all the ways that I had hurt you and nearly caused your immortal demise, so yes, I was crying.”

Dionysus sat down slowly. “Well, what do you have to say?”

Zeus nodded in turn. “Quite a bit and very little at the same time.”

Dionysus rolled his eyes. “Of all the times to be a cryptic bastard, now might not be a good one.”

Zeus held out a hand towards Dionysus. “Take my hand, son.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked,” Zeus replied.

Dionysus’ eyes darted to the hand and back to his dad’s face. He was unsure and hesitating and waffling between what decision to make.

“Dad, this isn’t addressing anything,” Apollo called out softly.

“Hush, Apollo. He’ll see why it matters when he takes my hand.”

“What if I don’t?” Dionysus asked softly, still eying the outstretched hand.

“Then, you’ll tell me why you won’t, and we’ll go around until I’ve addressed all the concerns you have regarding it until you will,” Zeus replied calmly.

It was the calmness of his words that kept Percy from saying this was a bad idea. Adding frustration into this keg of gunpowder was not a good idea, however, if Zeus remained calm this might help more than anything else would in this context.

Dionysus swallowed. “You won’t hurt me?”

“No, my son, I will not hurt you.”

Dionysus squeezed his eyes shut and then reached out and grasped Zeus’ hand.

Zeus tugged him forward and a bright light clouded and shielded them both for a time. They were trapped in that embrace for quite some time. When they emerged, Dionysus was gaping at his father in true wide-eyed wonder.

Zeus stepped back away from his. “I am sorry, my son. The whole situation got out of hand. To me, this was the first time any of you children had actually betrayed one of the Olympian laws that I had made. It seemed that I had to make a statement, not only to you, but to the rest of Olympus regarding what would be done if someone had the audacity to go against my rule.”

He reached out and cupped Dionysus’ face. “I should not have done so without letting you speak. Next time, interrupt me, you foolish boy. I am not going to smite you or further rule against you just because you speak for yourself. I promise.”

His eyes flash with lightning for a quick moment. “That goes for all of you. You want me to consider something, fucking say something. I am not a mind reader, I do not know that which you don’t tell me.”

Dionysus nodded. His hands traveled down his arms. “What did you, dad? I can tell that it was something.”

Zeus tilted his head considering. “Something I likely should have done a long time ago, my son.”

“A non-cryptic answer, please.”

“Well first, I removed all traces of the restrictions I put on you.”

“Yes, I can tell that much. Thank you. However, the tingly sensation that hasn’t left my damn hands is different.”

Zeus grinned. “Unlike either of my brothers and many of my sisters, I haven’t actually given many of you kids any part of my domain. You, however, I probably harmed the most by that decision, given once upon a time, you were able to call down lightning on your enemies as easily as Thalia and Jason did.”

Dionysus raised an eyebrow. “Those weren’t the domains I claimed when I ascended.”

“No, I kept them on lock down when you did. You would have had to wrestle me for them, and you were by far the wiser for not giving me the fight I thought would be present.”

Dionysus laughed. “Yes, fighting the king of gods upon my ascension seemed like it might be a horrible decision for my first act as a god.”

Zeus agreed. “Anyway, you have a part of my domain again. You have access to the rains, specifically harvest rains, I believe. Demeter, you might want to check me on that, you have better connection at times for that than me.”

Apollo’s jaw dropped. “But I’m the one who can actually fucking see domains. Holy shit, Dionysus.”

Dionysus blinked rapidly over and over again. “Dad?”

“I do hope this proves that I do in fact see you as my son and my family. I would hate for my actions to be misconstrued.”

“Dad, this is too much.”

“No, it’s not nearly enough. But, if you’re good with my direct apology to you, there are other areas of concern that I need to address.”

Dionysus froze. His hands rested. “What if it’s not good enough? What if I tell you the fact that I was suffering for this many decades isn't something you can make better with just this?”

Zeus tilted his head to the side to regard his youngest immortal child. “Then tell me what would and I’ll do that.”

Dionysus stared up at his dad. There was an undercurrent of air gong through the room. No one was sure what would happen next, not even them. “You don’t get to punish me again. I don’t want to be in this position and wonder whether I’ll suffer like this again. I just, I can’t.”

“Oh, my son.” Zeus stepped forward and brought him into a hug again. “I’ll take care of that in just a minute. It’s a later point I want to address, but you have my word that I won’t be doing that any longer.”

Dionysus nodded against Zeus’ chest. “Then, fine, you’re forgiven. Just don’t…don’t do this again.”

“Never,” Zeus swore lightly. Then, he stepped away from Dionysus.

Percy watched as the rest of the children waited with baited breaths to see what happens next. No one expected him to walk behind Dionysus’ throne and come to stand before Ariadne. He inclined his head to her.

“Hello, King Zeus,” Ariadne whispered.

“Hello, my child.”

Ariadne arched one of her brows up, for all the world looking confident staring at him in this moment. For she was not afraid here in this room. Someone would leap to her defense, and they would keep her safe enough yet from the king of gods.

He huffed a laugh at the expression. “I called you here that day not as collateral or as a way to hurt him further, but as someone who should rightfully be present when her husband is being tried. If any in the room had reason to beg for mercy for him, it would be you, and as king, I would have been remiss in not bringing you there to do so.”

“For that to have worked, I would have to known that you meant me no harm and that I could speak among your council. I knew neither.”

Zeus winced. “Yes, I have come to learn that apparently many of my children do not know they are not going to be harmed when speaking opinions. Except for Hermes, who forgot to mention he disagreed with the charge along with how I was carrying out a trial.”

“I thought that was pretty damn apparent,” Hermes retorted immediately.

Zeus groaned. “Yes, all of you kids have made it clear that you think I know your responses to these things easily and without any issue. I would like to point out that if that were true, we would not be having this discussion for the hundredth time.”

Ariadne stared at him. “So why bother with me?”

Zeus blinked. “Because you’re my daughter and for some forsaken reason you thought that my summoning of you was going to cause you harm. You will not come to harm under my domain.”

“My husband has, his brothers too.”

Zeus breathed in and then out. “Yes, well, that’s going to change.”

“Will it?” She asked. “Because no offense, King Zeus, you have never been kind to me. You have never given me a reason to believe in you, and now that we are here, it feels like you are expecting me to help you build a better bridge across, but I want no part in it.”

Zeus’ hand twitched.

Percy prepared to have to launch himself in between them.

Zeus shook his head. “I don’t have much to prove that this time will be different. I have my word, but few if any of you actually trust it. I have the knowledge that my intention has never been to harm my children, but I don’t think a fucking one of you believes me. I know that this was the first time that any of you have done something that required me to punish you as a king and not as a bloody father, and yet somehow, none of you registered that this was a first to me.”

He threw his hands up into the air. “Actually, let me put a pin in this Ariadne. I will come back to this conversation, I will do my best to convince you. But for a second, I need to go yell at my siblings.”

Hades arched a brow.

“Most of my siblings,” he amended. “Hestia and Hades played no part in this. But the rest of you are supposed to help keep me balanced. Make sure that I’m not overcompensating in an attempt to be just. That’s like the whole reason we put this council in place, so how about someone fucking tell me where you all got off saying nothing.”

“Poseidon and I felt our advice was no longer desired nor warranted after the hissy fit you threw when we told you the last time.”

“You caught me in a net and forced oaths out of my throat.”

Poseidon cleared his throat. “We did come speak to you first.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes.

Percy flicked them both with water before that argument could continue. “That’s a different day’s conversation.”

Zeus wiped the water off his face with a flick. He nodded to Percy. “Very well, let’s just say that if I didn’t want you to still give your opinions, I very well would not have allowed you to continue to sit on this council. Or at least Poseidon, I wouldn’t have. Not sure whether I could have removed the queen from her court.”

Poseidon opened his mouth, then failed to come up with anything reasonable to object to in that sentence. “I mean, it was a harsh punishment, and I would have intervened on my nephew’s behalf if he had asked for it.”

“We know,” Zeus muttered.

“But, I also didn’t disagree with you.”

Dionysus turned shocked to Poseidon.

Poseidon shrugged his shoulders when everyone’s attention was on him. “Should he have listened to reasons? Probably, but not necessarily. You did break the law. Olympic law, set down by the king of gods. Now, you didn’t exactly do so consciously, but that’s not always a requirement of being tried as if you broke the law on purpose, and I think there’s ample evidence to suggest that you did know enough to know that you weren’t exactly being smart. Again, the punishment was harsh, but you were the first to ever break the law while sitting on this council. It was quite likely extremely important to send a message to the rest of the citizens of Olympus, that this was not going to be brushed under the rug or otherwise swept to the side.”

He bit down on his lip. “If this were my council, I would probably have done something different. I probably would have made you immune to the laws of regular citizens, and only punished you if you disobeyed an order I gave to you directly. But that’s not how my brother chose to govern, and his strategy is not so problematic that we need to scrap the whole thing. Where he erred was when he didn’t actually lift it when we were at war and you were in danger, that was too far.”

Zeus nodded immediately. “It was, and I deeply regret that. The only thing I can say is that…”

“That you didn’t realize it was still on me. You saw me fighting and figured you had already sent an aspect of yourself to take care of it, because there was so much on your plate that one or two things ended up sliding off the scale and not being recognized and since no one told you that hadn’t happened, you never realized that it didn’t,” Dionysus concluded.

At everyone’s shocked expressions, Dionysus shrugged. “Percy, Zeus, and I met for breakfast and hashed that part out.”

Zeus smiled. “It’s good to know you listened.”

“It was nice to hear you didn’t want me dead,” Dionysus retorted.

Zeus took a second. Then very quietly. “I’ve never wanted any member of my family to be dead or gone.”

Hades groaned. “Okay, let’s stop that train of thought. Zeus, despite some of your children being scared shitless, I’m sure they never thought that you wanted them dead.”

Ares blanched. “I think he will.”

Hades glared at Ares. “Well give him a bloody chance to prove you wrong, will you?”

Ares nodded slowly.

“Now, Hera and Poseidon while misguided, had reasons to not interject. Demeter that leaves you for why you didn’t speak after his question.”

Demeter turned to stare at Hades. “When did you become leader of this section?”

“When I realized that all of you were going to pick at wounds and not be useful at the moment. Why did you not tell Zeus that this was an unreasonable punishment?”

Demeter frowned. “I suppose that it goes down to the same as what I told Dionysus. If I disagree with you, I want you to know I mean I will carry this deep in my bones. If I started talking to you about the little disagreements, you wouldn’t take my threats as seriously.”

“You’ve been known to create famines when you truly disagree, I dare say that the mortal realm would let me know if you were in massive disagreement with me,” Zeus said wryly.

Demeter paused. “Would you accept me speaking to you on other matters?”

“Yes,” he answered abruptly. “I don’t know when this idea of me never listening started to occur. There are times when I don’t agree with the arguments against me, and as king will choose to double down. But I do listen to you all. I listen to Apollo when he tells me that trying to subvert fate doesn’t play out very well. Sometimes I will choose to try for the sake of my people anyway, but I listen. I listen when Hera and Poseidon tell me I’m being shady and need to listen even more to the point that these chambers are sacred and I can’t punish you for the words said in them. What more do I have to do to convince all of you that I’m willing to listen?”

“Ask,” Hermes said softly. “You have to ask us what we think. Because we’re all a bit nervous when it comes to you. For reasons that are our own fault, for reasons that are yours, we don’t trust that you won’t hurt us, so give us reasons to know that’s not the case, ask.”

“Fine. From now on, will all you please take for an assumption, if I’m calling a council meeting, it’s because I want your fucking opinions on the matter at hand?”

Nods came at his response.

He turned back to Ariadne. “I didn’t hurt your husband because I was trying to be a dick. Until we all uncovered the harm aspect of this when Apollo yelled it at me, I wasn’t aware that this was a harm. I knew that being banished would be shit for him, but a hundred years, is not all that much to an immortal being. And I didn’t technically say no one could visit.”

“You made it clear I wasn’t to,” Ariadne said.

“Well, yes. You are his favorite of all of us. You were the only one I thought would be a full punishment. Speaking of, the lift on not seeing you wasn’t in effect when he was called for council meetings, why did you never come?”

Ariadne blinked. “I’m not welcome here.”

“You are,” Zeus said simply. “I mean your rooms are just Dionysus’ rooms because you’re married and I’ve seen no evidence you ever spend nights apart when in the same area. And as of this moment, the council hasn’t shifted since Dionysus ascended. However, you are welcome in Olympus. You are welcome in the palace and this throne room. Hestia doesn’t have a chair on council, but I hardly kick her out every time we meet up.”

Ariadne sighed. “There’s more to inviting people than just giving them a place to be here. Lady Hestia is welcomed here because her hearth is here, and her domain is family which is present here. I have neither of those symbols. I am an extension of Dionysus.”

“No,” Zeus said loudly. “You have your own domains. You can use them to your heart’s content. You want to create your own myths. Have heroes sing ballads in your honor. Or whatever else will make you finally see that you’re a proper goddess not just an extension of your husband, you tell me what it’ll take to have that happen. I’ll help. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Just for the love of all that is holy stop saying that you’re an extension of him or that I see you that way, because it’s just not true.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

Zeus threw his hands into the air. “What do you want to have happen to believe me, daughter?”

“That,” she said with a point. “Call me that, the way you do the rest of them. You want me to think I belong here with your children, call me your child.”

He blinked. Then, he let out a roaring laugh. “Oh, sweet child, you’re a little fucking crazy too if that’s what you want in return for all of this, but alright. I accept that bargain. Now, will you accept my apology that you thought I would harm you and accept that I was actually just bringing you here as his wife?”

“I acknowledge you believe that is what you were doing.”

“Good enough,” he said with a grimace.

He paced to the center of the room. “Onto the more complicated nonsense, I am both your king and your father.”

“Always have been,” Hephaestus pointed out.

Zeus sighed. “But I’ve tried to balance the two, and I think its become apparent I failed. I don’t know when you kids stopped trusting me, but it’s clear you have. And that you haven’t trusted me for quite some time. I’m done playing that game with you.”

He darted his eyes over to Persephone. “I am not capable of being your punisher. Not without consequences I’m incapable of handling. So, I won’t be. I will be the overseer in trials, and the council will vote, but if you’re found guilty, I won’t be the one to issue punishments.”

“Then who will?” Poseidon asked. “You can’t find them guilty only to never punish them, brother. That won’t end well either.”

“Queen Persephone,” he continued as if his brother hadn’t spoken. “You often choose the punishments for those in the underworld, do you not?”

“I do,” she answered. She spared a glance with Hades. “In fact, most of those who choose to be tried by court end up on my docket. I have fun with creating tasks that fit the punishment.”

“Would you be willing to take over punishing my children should they be found guilty of having done something?”

She tilted her head to the side. “You would not be allowed to interfere.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think you do. Once the trial is over, they come before me. I will meet with them alone. I will hear their reasoning. I care not for the judgement of guilty or innocent at that point. I care about motives. And I will judge them for what motives they had and what that involves them suffering. They’ll never escape my form of justice until it is completed. You cannot order me to undo the punishments. They will just be.”

The gods in the room swallowed harshly.

“I am Persephone, queen of the underworld. Goddess of punishments. Be careful, King Zeus, of what you wish for.”

“Their punishments will never possibly lead them to a fade,” he requested.

Persephone nodded. “No. Destruction of the soul is not justice. They would learn no lesson, just be gone.”

“Then, yes.”

Persephone met his gaze. “Very well. I’ll be your punisher, King Zeus.”

Zeus cleared his throat. “That might mean splitting your time exactly down six months, might no longer be the most appropriate status.”

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t.” She raised her eyebrow. “I’ll figure that out with my husband at a different time though.”

“Of course.”

Zeus swallowed. He glanced at his children. “Is this acceptable?”

“What does that mean for me?” Ares asked quietly. “Will there be a trial at my confession?”

Zeus huffed. “I don’t know, Ares. It would depend on what the fuck you did and whether there has already been a punishment and whether you at all feel like you should still be on trial.”

“There won’t be,” Percy said finally. “You will all be allowed to react however you would like to, but there will not be a formal trial nor a formal punishment.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s confessing for a reason, and it isn’t for more punishment to be heaped upon his shoulders, it is to mend wounds that are underneath the surface of what he did.”

Zeus nodded. “It shall be as Percy says.”

Persephone inclined her head. “I agree. It would not be well done to make the first case be from these sessions. This may not come up one we finish therapy. I will, of course, be here and be ready to handle it if it does. But, I would like to hope that the secrets and breaking of rules might change as a result of us doing therapy.”

Silence covered the room for a minute. Dionysus hopped off of his chair. “Are we done?”

“Oh, yes, I think so,” Zeus said.

“Good, then I want to spend some time realizing what this new domain and the return of my other in full means.”

“Do you not want to punish him for nearly killing you?” Aphrodite asked.

“He has been punished for that. He lost nearly all of us doing so. And for that matter, he has to grapple with the fact that he came damn close to killing me, and the grief that carries.”

Percy clapped. “Well done, everybody.”

Hera waited for him at the close of the session. “Why did you ask me to?”

“Hmm.”

“Keeping everyone in the room would be a difficult challenge for everyone. I couldn’t even technically rule over Persephone, Amphitrite or Triton to keep them here if they chose to leave. The king of gods might, but the queen of Olympus can’t.”

“One, you are the queen of gods. It is part of your full title, even if you rarely use it. Two, I knew you would.”

“Others would have done so had you called to them.”

“Yes,” he agreed. His father, likely would have intervened. Aunt Hestia would have guilted everyone into staying if push had come to shove. And for that matter, he was pretty sure had he actually called Dionysus’ attention to himself, he would have calmed down at Percy’s request. However, the best one to allow anger to flow and keep it contained had been Hera.

Hera gave him a strange look. “Alright. You’ll be okay for the evening?”

“Yes.” Percy would dread tomorrow when it came. Before then, there was no point trying to belabor the point. What would come to be was already scripted. He was pretty sure the fates were laughing at him and everything.

Chapter Text

Percy woke up the next morning and plodded down to the kitchen area. He blinked when he arrived because in the kitchen was Hera amicably talking with Demeter and Hestia as they cooked. All three brothers were lounging on chairs in a discussion. Persephone was perched on the counter sitting at Amphitrite’s side as she chopped vegetables for whatever was being cooked.

He had to squeeze his eyes open and shut to ensure that he wasn’t just seeing things. He also had to do a double take on whether he needed food that badly. He was pretty sure Apollo would yell at him if he dared to not eat entirely for a day, so he slowly inched into the kitchen.

Hestia turned a smile to him first. “Percy, welcome. Don’t worry, we’ll have food served in just a moment.”

Hades turned his head to the side. “We decided to do a sibling breakfast, but we couldn’t get rid of the spouses.”

“And don’t you forget that,” Amphitrite teased. She reached out and brushed Percy’s hair back into place as it had messily fallen into his face.

Poseidon patted the seat next to him, a clear invitation to go sit with his father.

Percy decided to take him up on that offer. He leaned his head against his father’s warm body as the conversation began flowing again. The brothers seemed to be discussing the fact that Zeus had done quite well yesterday at easing some of the tensions that had been building.

Amphitrite and Persephone were talking about what it felt like to switch forms as drastically as Persephone had happen to her and whether there were any issues with that transition still impacting her. Plus, Hera and the others seemed to be discussing a betting pool for what Ares would confess to today. He had half a mind to say he would bet them all that none of them were close to right and would be shocked, but he had a feeling that might guide them too close to the truth, and his words to Ares had been the complete truth. He did not want Ares to be harmed in the pursuit for this information.

Poseidon wrapped an arm around Percy. “So, tell us, what are you going to do when we’re done needing you to be therapist?”

“Take a month long nap,” Percy replied immediately.

Zeus laughed. “Here or at the camp.”

“You know, I’m just going to collapse right in front of Aunt Hestia’s hearth and make it her problem.”

Hestia turned at the call of her name. Her chest was shaking slightly under the weight of her laughter too. “Will you now?”

“Oh, yes. You said this quest would be easier than my mortal peril quests, and having now been on this quest for several days, I can tell you one thing for sure. I would rather be assumed the thief of a godly object sneaking into the underworld again with my grandfather manipulating us all.”

Hades covered his mouth to stop himself from letting out his own barking laughter. “We’re not that bad, Percy.”

“I had to allow you to almost smite me to get you to trust your baby brother. I had to cling to Dionysus’ sense of loyalty to avoid Ares having a panic attack in front of all of you. Worse by far than grandfather. He just wanted to either convert me to his evil plans or kill me. It was much easier to see motivations.”

Amphitrite rolled her eyes. “Yet, I happen to know you’ve refused at least two offers to be done.”

“Three,” Hera corrected. “I offered it yesterday when Zeus fled as well.”

Zeus blinked. “You came after me,” he stated.

Percy nodded. “If I wasn’t, no one was, and someone needed to.”

Demeter placed a bowl in front of him first. “And that is enough to make you true family.”

“What does that mean?”

Demeter lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “To me, it means that you will never again stand against your problems alone.”

“Some of my problems, you don’t want to touch,” Percy warned. He had a flash of the pit. The unyielding force that had praised him for being strong enough to warrant the full attention. The constant weight hanging over him to deal with what had happened that day.

“I will be there,” Demeter replied softly.

Zeus glanced at the food. “What’s in it?”

“Not to worry, brother. I didn’t add our normal amount of ambrosia, since the boy was joining.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. He summoned a block of ambrosia and broke small chunks off into Percy’s bowl. “I’m going to assume you’ll need it for today.”

“Depends on how reasonable you promise to be.”

Zeus arched a brow at him. “Me?”

“Uncle Hades too. Probably my father. Quite possibly Aunt Hera. Auntie Hestia and Demeter are likely to be voices of reason. Apollo might go off the deep end. And I’m fully expecting Hermes to try to commit a murder,” Percy explained. He took a large gulp of the food.

Demeter blinked. “I think you’re winning the bet, Hera.”

Percy hummed. He’d be curious whether any of them got close enough to the truth to earn the bet in the end.

Poseidon frowned. “There’s not a lot of actions that would have all of us after him.”

Percy snorted. “Not many, is not zero, dad.”

After that, the conversations died down and food was passed back and forth. When they were all finished, the large group made their way to the throne room where the cousins were all waiting.

Hermes stopped Percy before they could go further in. “Percy, I have a question.”

“Sure, cuz, what’s up?”

“Ares says this is unforgivable.”

Percy nodded shortly.

“Do you forgive him? I fully believe you’re the best of us, so if you say no, we all need to be prepared.”

Ares winced in the back of the group.

Percy met his gaze. Between them, a hundred shared moments passed. Percy hated this god enough that it had transcended his memories, the same way his love for Annabeth had. However, Ares had fought next to him. Not just once but twice. He had fought for Olympus when it was in danger. He was the first to admit wrongdoing at therapy. He was scared and anxious, and he had done it for Dionysus.

Percy was nothing if not understanding. He was forgiveness in the flesh. “I forgive him.”

“Actively?”

“Every day. Every time I remember what he did, I ask myself whether he’s done enough to make it even. Whether today’s the day that I throw down with him with the intent to kill him. I’ve never done so. I forgive him because he has proven that he is sorry. In every way that is imaginable, he is sorry. What he did, it’s not forgivable. But he is. He is not just his actions.”

Ares choked back a sob. “Someone needs to gag you, sea spawn.”

“Not today.”

Zeus blinked. “I assume you’re prepared to hold some of us back if this gets messy.”

Percy shook his head. “No, today, you’re on your own. Your actions are your own.”

“Why?” Hestia asked, baffled.

“Ares asked it from me. He truly believes that my presence there would do nothing if you decide to kill him. And he’s begged me not to make one of the last things he sees in this life be me dying for him. I’m inclined to listen.”

Athena narrowed her eyes in Ares’ direction, obviously unhappy with his decision. However, when Hephaestus’ hand landed on her arm, she dropped her glare with a slight huff of air. Her annoyance still clear on her face.

Percy waited to see whether there were other questions. When there weren’t, he took up a seat, this time he settled on his podium as comfortably as possible. “For today’s session, I'm going to ask all of you to please listen to his full confession before you do anything.”

Hades nodded. “Of course, nephew. We can manage that much.”

Zeus agreed with a slight head bow. “Right.”

Percy watched as Ares crossed to the center of throne room. His whole body was alight with nerves, and that could be clearly seen in the way that he was holding himself upright as if the barest breeze would knock him off his feet and send him spiraling towards destruction and panic.

Ares reached the dead center of the room. He knelt carefully down on the hard ground. He placed his hands upwards, away from himself in an image of perfect surrender. “Before I tell you what I did, I want you to hear my apology for what it is, because I doubt any of you will listen afterwards.”

“Okay, son,” Hera whispered back to him.

“I am sorry. My actions have caused all of you irreparable harm. There is nothing I, nor any of us can do to patch the pain that I have caused. If there were something that I could do, I would not hesitate to do so, to spare you even a fraction of what I caused.” Tears built up in his eyes.

“I do not deserve your forgiveness, and I am not asking for it.” Ares blinked away tears as he glanced towards Percy. “For those of you who have forgiven me, know that I will never forget it. I am fully aware of how damned I have made myself. And the fact that I am still loved enough to hold a fraction of that pardon, is worth more than I could ever speak.”

“For those of you who are about to find out what I did, please know, that I never intended for it to go this far. I thought that it would be centered around father. I thought that I could fight him this way and win. For my siblings, who were being harmed for reasons at the time that made no sense to me.”

He cut his eyes over to his father. His breath shaky as he breathed in. “I told you yesterday that if I was alive and you went after one of them, you would have war. If I were a more fair person, you would have known that earlier because as it turns out, I was not willing to wait. Dionysus was harmed, and I went to war.”

“There was no war,” Zeus said puzzled.

Ares swallowed. “Yes, there was.”

“No,” Zeus said exchanging a look with his siblings as they all tried to piece together what the hell Ares could be talking about.

“It took a while to hatch the plan, but I went to war that day.” Ares closed his eyes. “I went to war that day, because I went to the only person who I knew who I thought could beat you off your throne.”

“Who?”

Ares stared at Zeus with a pitying expression as his eyes opened. “I went to grandfather. I planned with him to steal your bolt with the help of the demigods who hated you and your rules.”

Gasps filled the room with air.

“You wondered earlier how a demigod could hold your bolt and Uncle Hades’ helm at once. He never did. I did. I had to use him to do the thievery because that wasn’t something I had the ability to do on my own, but oh, I was behind all of it.”

Ares laughed, and the sound was violent and horrible. It didn’t sound at all like someone who was sane and okay. “I am the lightning thief. You were all right when you said it had to be a child of the big three. It was a child of the big three. It was me.”

“You?” Hermes asked. “You were the one that dragged my son into this fight!” He shouted the words at the god on his knees on the floor.

“Yes.”

“You got all our kids killed,” Apollo said as he gripped at his chest.

“Yes.”

“You sent us to a war that nearly razed Olympus,” Hestia muttered.

“Yes.”

Ares squeezed his eyes shut. “And you deserve to know, the only reason that I fought on your side, is because he broke his promise.”

“What?”

“Grandfather said none of the demigods would be hurt, that none of my siblings would be harmed in his war. When he had Hermes’ son attack Percy after he beat me on the beach, I realized that he was lying. He’d crush those that stood opposed to him, regardless of who they were.”

“That’s when you realized that he was the worse option,” Poseidon said with a wheezing laugh. Where Ares’ laugh had sounded all kinds of hollow and self-deprecating. Poseidon’s sounded unhinged, as if the news of the day had broken whatever remained of his sanity and stomped all around it.

Ares nodded. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry,” Zeus thundered. He moved to stand from his throne only to find Athena suddenly in front of him, her spear out.

The point of her spear held Zeus in place. Her body was tall, taller than a mortal could ever be, and Percy averted his eyes. He knew that the goddess was not holding onto her mortal form very well at all.

“You want to get to him, you will go through me,” Athena said bluntly. “He was an idiot. But grandfather is good at making idiots out of people, and you admitted yourself just yesterday that we had every right to want to defend Dionysus with all that we had. He did that.”

“Not like this,” Zeus spat out at her. He pushed her spear to the side and glared down at his son. He was standing at his full height.

Before Zeus could say another word, a large shield contraption threw itself around Ares. Hephaestus stood next to Athena blocking his way. There were no words spoken, but all the gods in the room could read the two children’s positions.

Hades stood taller still than them both. He stared over the gods to where Ares was kneeling with a blank expression on his face. He stepped over, and Athena’s spear wavered. Eventually, in the face of her uncle and his expression, she lowered the spear. It was one thing for her to stand up to Zeus, the father they all knew as being cruel and too far for his punishments of the children. It was another thing entirely for her to stand up against, Hades, known for his fairness and justice across the gods.

Hephaestus too allowed his shield to grant Hades access to Ares. Everyone was staring watching this unfold, as if speaking even a small word would send everything cratering into despair.

Hades crouched down and placed a hand on Ares’ head. “I understand now why you didn’t want me to swear that oath.”

Ares whimpered lightly. He didn’t fight against the hold that Hades had on him with a gentle hand. He didn’t flinch or wince. He just continued crying lightly where everyone could see him.

Hades tightened his hand into a grip in Ares’ hair and guides him into leaning back against him. “Let me be clear now, though, because I doubt that there are more secrets than this.”

Ares’ laugh was heavily covered in sobs, but he did laugh at that. “No, Uncle, this is the extent of it.”

“Good,” Hades said dryly. “I swear on the river Styx,” thunder boomed and roared underneath them at the force of his oath, “that if any try to kill you for this, I will stop them.”

Ares gasped as the oath took hold of them all. He clutched at his chest.

Hades rolled his eyes. “You might deserve punishment, nephew. Not for the least of which is daring to steal several symbols of great power and responsibility for nothing, and the greatest of which is daring to speak to your grandfather without any counsel on the subject. But you do not deserve death for it.”

Zeus froze where he had stood in front of his children still. “Tell me neither of you idiots thought I was going to go kill him.”

Athena stared at him. “Your hand is touching your bolt, father.”

Zeus looked down and seemed surprised to find that her words were true. His hand did rest upon his bolt. He removed it immediately. “I would not have killed him,” he replied.

“Forgive me,” Hephaestus said softly, “but I trust Uncle Hades not to, far more than I have ever trusted you not to.”

Zeus sighed softly. “I would not kill him,” he repeated. He sat back down on his throne. “Brother, are you fine dealing with this?”

Hades blinked. “What?”

Zeus shrugged his shoulders. “You’re already there next to him. My children apparently have a lot more faith in your word than mine. Someone needs to handle this situation, and they’ve made it clear it can’t be me. I’m asking whether you’re good to deal with it.”

Poseidon covered his face in his hands and let out an uncontrollable burst of laughter. “Of all the times to et someone else have the reins, it being today was not on my bingo card, brother.”

“Athena held a damn spear to my neck.”

“You could have brushed her aside,” Hades commented.

Zeus inclined his head. “I didn’t.” He didn’t have to add that Hades had. He had walked through their defenses as if they were nothing. He had stormed through, and yet, Ares stayed knelt on the ground, unharmed.

Hades sighed. “I can be responsible for this.”

Ares glanced between his father and his uncle. His whole body was still shaking.

“Breathe, nephew,” Poseidon advised. He stared at the other two. “We should probably talk about how the hell we think this ought to be handled. He’s clearly still panicked.”

“I would be too,” Hades said frankly. “I mean, going to our father is barely not treason. Actively helping him definitely was.”

Athena cleared her throat lightly. “His reasons shouldn’t go unaccounted for.”

“There are no reasons to go that far,” Hades countered.

“I disagree,” she said. Her eyes flickered towards Dionysus. “Yesterday, we all made a point that we should have done something for Dionysus. Father went too far, and none of us were willing to do anything. Ares thought he was alone in getting something done, so he went further than he should have.” She cleared her throat. “He went to get allies where he could find them. Father is not an easy man to stand against. Name who he should have gone to.”

“Me,” Hades snarled. “Or Poseidon.”

Athena paled, but she stood her ground. “Poseidon is not trusted by Zeus’ children. He hasn’t been since my banishment from the sea. For all that he has started to vocalize that his support of me is what keeps me alive, that has not been known by any of us.”

“Then, just me.”

“You’re unknown to us all,” Ares finally whispered. His words were choked behind the sobs that he’s been crying since he got down on his knees. “I didn’t know whether you’d agree or not. You don’t really fight father on anything, actually. You stand apart from us, and you don’t come. You did not know Dionysus was in trouble, because you are not summoned to this council. You were not in agreement with the oath that was taken, but you did so at his command. You were angry at his failure to follow it, but you did not raise up arms against him. Your realm is so far from us, that had I came to you, I did not know whether I would gain supporters in my fight, or just you sending me back to my father with my tail between my legs cowering.”

Hades frowned. “Niece.”

“Uncle,” Athena replied.

“Ares,” he continued.

Ares hung his head low in shame. “I’m not trying to get out of punishment, promise. I just…it’s important that you know that I wasn’t just trying to hurt people.”

Hades sighed. “Fates above, you children.” He met Zeus’ eyes. “We could just do a good ol’ fashioned walloping.”

Zeus shrugged lightly. “I left the decision in your hands.”

Percy’s eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of his hands. The gods were different than mortals. He knew that.

All the same, the fact that Hades was suggesting physically hitting Ares left a sour taste in his mouth. He remembered the way that he had reacted to seeing Ares raising a fist at Clarisse. The way they had to have a frank discussion several months later about the fact the physical threat had been just that, a threat. He had never hit her, nor any of his children as far as Clarisse was aware.

He also knew that there was a difference between abuse and hitting a child who was disobedient. He really did know that. There was a way to do it where permanent harm and fear aren’t staples of the punishment, and the fact Ares wasn’t protesting, meant that more than likely this fell on the not abuse part of this scale. His breath was still coming unevenly.

He could know the logic all he fucking wanted, and it wasn’t going to change what he was remembering. He recalled the secrets that Smelly Gabe would demand from him. The way that his fists would land against Percy’s head to knock him to the ground and keep him out of the way and unable to tell his mother anything. He remembered the way that kicks would land on his sides, and the lash of a belt when he upset the man, and his mother was busy at work and not likely to come home and see what was happening. Long before he learned how to fight back and long before he realized that he’d go toe to toe with creatures much more dangerous and a hell of a lot crueler.

But he still knew what scent Tartarus had chosen to torment him. His personal designed fears still smelled like Smelly Gabe. His biggest fears were still a man who got the privilege of living with him and his mom. The same man that beat him down.

He couldn’t breathe quite right. He couldn’t focus on the scene in front of him. And he desperately wanted someone to wrap him up in their arms. He wanted someone to come through for him and save him from this. All the pain, and all the focus was irrelevant. None of it mattered.

He wasn’t going to be able to tear Uncle Zeus’ attention away from his son, not when his son had just confessed to what had been said. No one was going to pay attention to him right now. He was just going to sit there.

The only god that he knew of who consistently knew the second someone even thought of them, which is all that Percy could possibly manage was Hephaestus. And his thoughts were disjointed enough that he wasn’t even confident that he could string together a mental message to that either.

Hephaestus sent a small part of him over to Percy. “Were you hoping that I would intervene on your behalf since you promised my idiot brother you wouldn’t?”

Only Percy didn’t manage to speak back, he just stared up at the god in front of him trying to force his lungs to take in breaths.

“Fuck, cousin. What the fuck? How did you get to this stage of a panic attack during this?”

Hephaestus disappeared from in front of Percy. The shield buckled up. He spun towards Zeus. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but something is wrong with Percy,” he yelled over all the other conversations about what Hades was planning on doing.

The gods all froze. Poseidon moved first. He got to Percy’s side and held him close. “Hey, hey, my son, just breathe.”

Percy wanted to be able to summon his normal sassiness. Say some bullshit about how he’s clearly trying and if that were the only problem then they’d all be fine, and yet they weren’t. They weren’t fine at all. His gaze looked up and he saw Hades still with Ares, and pitched forward in fear.

Dionysus moved next. He reached for Percy’s face. He guided Percy’s face up to meet his eyes. Being the god of madness had a few perks. He knew the traits of a panic attack. “Perseus, match your breathing to mine.”

The use of his full name shook him to his core. Since he had asked them not to a few days ago, none of them had used it. They all danced around it. Some of them unwilling to call him by his shortened nickname. He managed a shallow breath.

Dionysus smiled. “Good, keep doing that.” His head turned to Hephaestus. “What did you glean when you realized there was a problem?”

“He prayed to me.”

“I hazarded a guess that was so, what did he say?”

“Nothing of subsistence.”

Dionysus’ eyes flashed. “How about you let me be the fucking decider of that since Apollo and I are the most likely to know best what is going wrong?”

Apollo ran a hand over Percy’s forehead. “I could put him to sleep and that might fix it, but only if the trigger isn’t still present, and since we…”

“Since we don’t know what it is, that does us zero good right now.” Dionysus gave a sharp nod. “Hephaestus.”

“I’m telling you it was of no consequence.”

“Son,” Zeus said with a warning in his voice.

“His exact thoughts were something along the lines of I can’t get Uncle Zeus’ attention and the only god whose attention I can get is Hephaestus but I can’t explain anything to him.” He rolled his eyes. “I went towards him, tried to get his attention, realized that I couldn’t because he was already in this state, and then I interrupted fucking everyone.”

“Oh,” Dionysus said.

“Like I said, nothing that helps.”

“I didn’t hear him call,” Zeus admitted.

Hephaestus waved him off. “We had other things on our mind, if I wasn’t accustomed to that form of prayer, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything either.”

Dionysus snapped gently in Percy’s face. “Hey, kiddo, I might be able to get your mind to tell me if we make eye contact and I make it a little worse for a tiny bit of time.”

“What?” Poseidon hissed.

“Trigger a flashback with your domain, and you could watch it and try to puzzle out what is going wrong,” Apollo concluded. “What are the chances of him being able to tell us anything?”

Percy focused on his breathing. In with Dionysus. Hold with him. Release it with him. There was no fucking way when Uncle Hades still had a grip on Ares’ head that he could make anything better right now. He knew that Uncle Hades wasn’t going to hurt him, he knew it. But he couldn’t make himself believe it. All he saw was himself in Ares’ position and Smelly Gabe standing over him. The apologies would mean nothing. “Do it,” he choked out between his shaky breaths.

Dionysus cut his gaze over to Poseidon. “I’m not doing shit without your approval because if I don’t have that, you might blast me out of the bloody sky with your waves.”

Amphitrite stared at her husband, and then her stepson who was shaking like a leaf in Dionysus’ grip. “Do it, Dionysus.”

“It’ll hurt him.”

“Less in the long run.”

Dionysus’ eyes flashed a deep purple. He forced Percy’s head up and their eyes met. Suddenly, Percy wasn’t seeing the room at all.

He was locked in the past. The first time he had tried to bring up to his mom that Smelly Gabe had made him fork over all 20 dollars he had earned by carrying groceries for their elderly neighbors so he could bet on more poker games. The fist came down on his temples. He had woken with bruised ribs, not broken because broken meant a trip to the hospital and that couldn’t be allowed. Doctors would be suspicious. Suspicions weren’t to be trusted not to call Protective Services, which weren’t allowed by Smelly Gabe or his mom.

The scene changed. The pit was dark and the smell was the exact same. Percy was alone. There were times when he wasn’t able to be right next to Annabeth and those were the worst. The scent was overpowering and their were voices in the wind reminding him that maybe Smelly Gabe had been right. Maybe Smelly Gabe had a point when he said that Percy needed to be taught a lesson.

Then, Percy was released. The throne room of gods came back into his view, and he clutched at Apollo since Dionysus had pulled away to retch into the air.

Apollo held him close. “Dionysus, what did you see?”

“A mortal who hurt him.”

“A mortal?” Zeus said in disbelief.

“He abused him as a child, before he knew he was a demigod, before he knew anything, and long before he could have picked up a sword let alone used said sword against the titan of time and win.”

“Fuck,” Amphitrite whispered.

“He’s dead. Long has he been a part of Uncle’s world,” Artemis added. “I recall being rather proud of the mortal woman’s prayer to me for help with her vengeance. He also beat our cousin’s mother.”

Dionysus closed his eyes. Thoughts were racing behind those closed eyes as Dionysus struggled to piece together what Percy couldn’t verbalize. That everything had gone wrong today. That everybody had been hurt by these actions, and yet that physical violence like this. Where one was a child, even an adult one, by a trusted elder was going to trigger him. There were other ways, there had to be other ways.

Dionysus’ eyes opened and he cursed in ancient greek. “Uncle Hades, get away from Ares, now!”

Hades froze, but he immediately moved away.

Ares collapsed on the floor. “What the fuck, Dionysus?”

“Percy,” Hades asked as he approached. “Does he need me?”

Dionysus shook his head. “Take several steps the fuck away from us.”

Zeus froze. “Son, why are you?”

“Because the person in this room who would remind him of his abuser right now is the man who suggested hitting another as punishment.”

Hades paled. He stepped away with his hands in the air. “Not like that.”

“I know that,” Dionysus shouted. “I know that, and I’m sure Percy knows that, I am less convinced that he can speak to that.”

Hades looked over towards Percy. “I didn’t…”

“I know,” Dionysus’ voice softened, as Percy stopped heaving as loudly with his breathes. “I know, we didn’t know. It’s not your fault. But I did need you to fucking move and stay away so that it didn’t get worse.”

“No, yes. That was definitely the right choice.”

Apollo watched Percy. “Percy, I’m going to try to guide you through an exercise to ground you, here, alright.”

Percy gave him a shaky nod. He was doing better now that Ares and Hades weren’t right next to each other, and he felt quite bad that he had thrown off the entire meeting the way he had. That wasn’t what he was hoping would happen.

“It’s all okay. Can you tell me five things in the throne room you can see?”

“Uh…” Percy’s brain stalled for a second. “Marble.”

“Good.”

“Dionysus’ eyes. Your sun halo thing. Athena’s spear. Dad’s Hawaiian shirt.”

“Very good job. What about four things you can touch?”

“Dad.” Percy paused. “Umm, cushion on my pedestal. Dionysus’ arm. Your arm.”

Apollo chuckled. “Yes, we’re all kind of surrounding you, aren’t we?”

“Don’t go,” Percy pleaded.

“Yeah, no.” Poseidon wrapped his arm more firmly around Percy’s body.

Apollo nodded. “We’re not going to leave you. What about three things you hear?”

“Your voice. Hum of Dionysus’ mind. My heartbeat.”

“Two that you can smell.”

Percy closed his eyes and forced himself to focus on the here and now. It would be easy to say the pit with it lingering in his mind, but that wouldn’t help ground him at all and that was the actual goal. “Oak and pine.”

Zeus chuckled lightly.

Dionysus rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, brat. I know I’m here.”

“Could be dad’s.”

“It’s not,” Poseidon said. “You’re mostly feeling the remains of his domain having touched you so intimately.”

“Oh.”

“Can you taste anything?”

“Leftover ambrosia,” Percy quipped. He managed a weak smile. “Sorry for the interruption.”

“No, no, we’re sorry that we triggered you.” Hades grimaced. “I wasn’t aware that things had been that bad for you.”

“It was…” Percy hesitated. He didn’t want to dredge up old wounds, but he had no other way to explain it. “It was necessary. Mom needed to keep the monsters from noticing me for as long as possible to keep me alive. Either Uncle Zeus or Uncle Hades or the monsters were going to get me if they found out I was a forbidden kid any earlier, so the abuser made it hard for monsters to find me.”

“That shouldn’t have been put on you,” Zeus said finally, after a moment of silence had overtaken he whole room as no one knew what to say or do.

Percy nodded. “Yeah, umm, what solution? Ares’ confession still needs to be dealt with.”

Persephone sighed. “Yes, I suppose, we should figure that out. He does need to be forgiven before we leave here today, or the work we’ve done has been for nothing. And he is clearly actually remorseful if nothing else.”

Zeus nodded along. “Indeed. He shouldn’t have been put in that position either. He should have known better than to respond as he did, but the circumstances that drove him to it, those are mine to bear.”

Hermes cleared his throat.

Ares flinched.

“I don’t see the need to punish him further,” Hermes said bluntly. “I think that instead, we should just forgive him. Perhaps, not in the kindest way though.”

Apollo stared at him. “What? You of all people.”

“Should be angry, and I am. I am so beyond angry that I don’t think there’s a word for what I feel in this moment. But punishing him won’t change anything, and he’s already beat himself into a pulp for this more times than we could count.”

Hermes stared at Ares. “It would be far more damaging to him to know that we won’t hold it against him. That we will eventually all of us forgive him. While we list off the ways in which this hurt us, then just dealing out a physical punishment that leaves him redeemed in the end.”

Ares swallowed. “Brother, I…”

“You’re sorry, yes you’ve said.” Hermes cut his gaze over to Percy. “My solution also has the benefit of ensuring that Percy doesn’t fall into another fucking panic attack or that we have to send our therapist away, because let me be clear that would be a mistake. Percy’s the only one most of us would listen to if we took this too far, and we might. We’re all angry, and we could step too far.”

Hera held out a hand to stop the bickering. “Hush.”

The room fell silent around her. Rarely did Hera speak as the Queen of Olympus when Zeus was in the room. Rarely did she command the same presence as her husband, but when she did, everyone shut up and listened just in case, it was going to be a matter of life or death again.

“We’ll vote. I see three options as it stands. Option one, we forgive Ares and we move on. No need for punishment because let’s be clear he has suffered. He has watched us suffer, and he fought beside us. Father hurt him as much as us during the war, and that alone was likely a punishment.”

Again silence followed her pronouncement. “Two, we do what Hermes suggested. We punish him by listing out the ways that this hurt us and leave the door to forgiveness open, or maybe we forgive him today, that would depend on the individual in question.”

“Or three, we send Percy back to the palace, while Hades carries out the physical punishment, and we reconvene tomorrow.”

Ares shook his head. “The session wouldn’t be over, we’d have to re-summon him to make sure that the session was complete.”

Zeus nodded. “Three, would be the physical punishment and subsequent recall of our therapist then. Percy, would you mind giving us your opinion on which of these would be best?”

Percy sighed. He rubbed at his face. “Uh, one wouldn’t work for the majority of you because you’re still too angry. Three is a tempting option but one that might backfire. If Hades goes to far, distrust will spread. If Ares breaks, several siblings are going to panic. If he isn’t punished harshly enough, the anger won’t have actually dissipated any. Uh, two is probably the best then. But, Ares should have the chance to address everyone after they speak. Because there’s a chance where he could, he tried to make amends already without you guys knowing it, and he deserves to speak on it too.”

Zeus was grim as he nodded. “Very well, as king, I will cast the first vote. I am in agreement with Percy. Option two is for the best.” He pointed to Hera.

“Ah, as queen, I suppose I should go second. I’m more in favor of option one. The continued pain of this will help no one.”

Zeus pointed to Hestia.

Her gaze sharpened. Another moment where Zeus was going against the normal order of things to allow the non-council members to vote. She took a breath of pause. “I think option two as well.”

Zeus turned to Demeter.

Demeter licked her lips. “I’m going to be honest, I think that Hades solution was the most elegant way to end the bickering and the fighting. It could work out incorrectly, but it doesn’t have to. We’re smart people, we can handle a physical punishment without it turning to shite.”

Zeus pointed to Hades.

Hades threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know. Fuck. Since when do I have a vote?”

“When I tell you that you do,” Zeus said calmly.

“Fuck.” He breathed in. “I hate the comparison that was made of me when I was about to physically strike Ares. I don’t believe it was a fair comparison, but I don’t really want to further cement that connection by going through with the punishment still. So I guess, I’m for option two.”

Zeus huffed but accepted the answer all the same. He pointed to Persephone.

Persephone arched her brow at the silent command. The amount of times that she has been consulted before this set of family meetings was nothing compared to what she was asked of now. Finally, she spoke softly. “While I understand where my husband is coming from, I think him doing his original plan is in the best interest of keeping the family together, similar to my mother. If done incorrectly, it would cause more harm. But if done correctly, it eliminates the problem at its roots.”

Zeus took that in for a second, then gave a jerky nod. He glanced to Poseidon.

Poseidon rubbed his mouth. “I find myself unwilling to disagree with Percy. I choose option two.”

Amphitrite spoke before Zeus could point to her. “I too would likely respond in kind with Percy.”

Zeus gestured at Triton.

Triton blinked in surprise. Then, he glanced at his brother lying down. “I don’t mean to disagree strongly with Percy or my parents, but I don’t think option two or three are necessary. He made mistakes, and he fought alongside us to correct them. At great personal risk, I might add, since grandfather is not the kind of man you want to think of you as a betrayer. I don’t see him needing punished further.”

Zeus nodded once. “Speak your mind, young prince, when I tell you to. No one here will judge which way your vote leans.”

Triton swallowed. “Thank you, King Zeus.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome to call me uncle as Percy does, if you’d like. You do not have to stand on ceremony.”

Triton glanced to his father. “I will keep that in mind.”

Zeus moved on, he pointed towards Hermes.

Hermes stared at him. “It was my suggestion to consider option two, why on Earth would I need to vote for that again?”

“Because this is a formal vote, and I’d prefer to hear your thoughts in a proper format before we do something that will impact a member of this family based on what has happened before.”

Hermes sighed. “Fine, that’s fair. I vote for option two.”

Zeus pointed to Dionysus next.

Dionysus slammed his head back against the throne he was sitting on. “Can I abstain?”

“No,” Hades said pointedly.

“Damn.” He glanced to Percy. “Option two.”

“Any reason?”

“Many.”

Zeus rubbed his temples. “Could you be less antagonist for a moment?”

Dionysus shook his head. “I’m inclined to say that I forgive him and be done with my role in it. Which if I were just voting for myself means that I would prefer drastically to vote for option one. However, I am not the only person he harmed. In fact, I’m not even sure I’m someone who should vote today as I did in fact learn about all of this ahead of time and have had time to come to terms with everything. For the others, option two is the fairest option that doesn’t hurt Percy. Because I am not willing to do anything that would ever hurt him after all he’s done.”

Several gods dropped their mouths open in an ‘o’ shape. Dionysus jerked his head into a nod to show that he understood that everyone had failed to think that way.

Zeus licked his lips and let that answer be. He gestured to Ariadne to vote next.

She stumbled when she realized that everyone was looking at her. She glanced towards Ares. She remembered what happened to all of them. She remembered the forgiveness path. “Option one,” she whispered. She didn’t look at her husband as she distanced her own vote from his.

Zeus gave her a comforting smile. He had already defended Triton for speaking his mind, no one was going to say anything about the different possibilities that each of them cold vote. He pointed over to Athena to continue the vote rather than stagnating over that vote.

Athena blinked. “For similar reasons to Dionysus, I shouldn’t vote. But since I’m being asked, I would say option one.”

“Why, daughter?”

Athena’s eyes carried over to Triton. “One of these therapy sessions is going to bring up one of the largest mistakes I’ve made in my immortal life. During that session, I have no doubt that there is a chance a vote like this one might be carried out. If I’ve been working since the action occurred to be better than that mistake, I would like to believe that people would forgive me without causing me more harm than I’ve done to myself with my guilt. I would like to be forgiven for those crimes without having to prove further that I am willing to equal out the pain. I offer Ares what I wish someone will do for me later.”

Triton tilted his head to the side. His eyes were boring into her head as he listened to that speech. When she was done, he just gave her a little nod of the head to say that he understood what was being said.

Zeus’ mouth snapped shut. He had nothing to say to that. No one did when Ares was pretty clearly leaning towards option two in the vote so far. He pointed to Artemis.

Artemis stared in silence at Ares for a uncomfortable amount of time. She didn’t blink. She just sat there with her body unmoving as she stared at him as if he was prey. “Option one.”

Apollo’s eyes tracked to his sister. “What?”

“I think we should just forgive him. He’s clearly had quite a time trying to balance the equation.”

Zeus cut off the possible argument by pointing to Apollo. “Don’t fight her for her vote, just cast yours.”

“But….”

“Each of you gets the same ability to figure your shit out with Ares. The votes will be counted, and if there are issues with how the vote went, we will work together to figure shit out.”

Apollo huffed. “Option three.” He glanced over at Hermes. “The power of word won’t make him suffer enough.”

“Sounds like revenge, not punishment,” Hermes countered.

Apollo’s face paled.

Zeus didn’t say a word to that exchange. They weren’t wrong. They weren’t right either, but he could understand how they got to this stage, so he wasn’t going to fight them both when they were like this. He nodded to Aphrodite.

Aphrodite had her arms crossed over her chest. Her fingers drilled on her arms. “Fuck. I didn’t realize how hard this was going to be.”

“Why, daughter?”

“Because I still love him. I’m so fucking pissed, I want to slap the ever living shit out of him, but I don’t want him harmed further. And I don’t know whether that means option two or one would be best.”

“Where do you lean?”

Aphrodite frowned. “Option two,” she whispered with a light whimper.

Zeus raised his eyes to his heir. “Hephaestus?”

“Option one.”

“Really?” Apollo asked.

“Yes.”

“You were heartbroken when Beckendorf passed. I remember how the forge was filled with tears for a while.”

“I loved my son,” Hephaestus agreed. “Ares didn’t kill him though. Grandfather got him killed in a war. His love for his fellow campers got him killed. I don’t blame Percy for the fact that he died while he was in charge. I don’t blame Ares for wanting to save Dionysus by going to the only one that he thought could and would fight Zeus. I blame exactly one person, and they are reforming in the pit due to their crimes. I trust that’s enough.”

Zeus nodded. “That seems wise to say.”

Hephaestus shrugged. “Wise or not, it’s what I believe needs to happen.”

“That leaves you Ares.”

Ares blinked and stared at his father, shock written in the blank expression of his face. His mouth hanging open. “Dad, I’m the one on trial.”

“Yes, well, Dionysus had a vote in his.”

Dionysus rubbed at his eyes. “The sham trial, that’s your basis.”

“I didn’t say it went the way I thought it would, but it was always my intention that you kids still have your votes when you’re in trouble for treason. That’s the point of having a council, they get to vote on everything to ensure you aren’t going off the deep end because of something.”

Ares threw his hands up into the air. “If I say option one, I’m an asshole, dad. But obviously, I want everyone to forgive me because I’ve been fucking trying. But my fucking attempts don’t matter in the face of their anger and pain that I caused on purpose”

“So don’t vote for option one,” Percy suggested softly.

Ares narrowed his eyes in Percy’s direction. “I can’t go with my preferred punishment either, brat. We both know that I would never actively choose something that you wouldn’t be here to see through.”

“So don’t vote for option three,” Percy drawled.

“Fuck you.”

“Why are you upset?” Athena asked.

“Because option two is a fucking bullshit solution. Hearing all of you lay out the ways I hurt you is such fucking shit. I mean even dad couldn’t handle us all throwing it at him day after day in these sessions without flying off his handle. And I’m not nearly as strong as him.”

Zeus blinked. “But it was the best way for me to be able to relate with you kids, and making sure you understood that I was not going to ignore what I’d done to you on accident.”

Ares growled. “Yes, my vote is clearly going to option two. I just also know it’s going to be a fucking horrible time. And being complacent in my punishment is such a horrible thing to be.”

“I wish I had that option,” Apollo whispered eventually. “This would have helped me understand the choice being made.”

Ares paused. “Yeah, I hear you.”

Zeus clapped his hands to drag attention back. “Option two wins by a very narrow margin.”

Ares paled but sat up straight where he had been on the floor. “How are we doing this?”

Zeus glanced at Percy, who then sighed. “Okay. Okay. Give me a second.”

Percy rubbed his temples. “Ares, you’re staying in the center where everyone can easily see you.”

“Yes, cuz.”

Percy blinked. “The order that you just went in for a vote, that’s the same order as we’re going to list out the harms that were done. And before you say that you weren’t impacted, yes, you fucking were. There is no one here who hasn’t been hurt by his actions, and since this was the will of the council, all of you will force him to listen to you.”

Gods took turns nodding to Percy in understanding.

“During this portion, you aren’t saying shit about forgiveness or understanding. This is about what happened to you. After you finish saying what happened to you, Ares gets to say his piece. It will likely be repetitive. He will likely say that he never intended for it to happen. That the consequences he had prepped for with the promise he had gotten from grandfather hadn’t been meant to do shit, and that he came to your aid once it happened, because he did. That’s okay. He can respond however he wishes. It might be a whole shit ton of sobbed apologies, and we’re all just going to sit here and hear that. Got it?”

Everyone again nodded to Percy. They were all paying close attention to him, and he was just hoping beyond everything that no one was going to go nuclear on this part of therapy given that for once, it wasn’t Zeus that was about to get dogpiled on by every single god. No one else had ever come close to this level.

Percy swallowed. “You will then get to decide whether you forgive him or not. That is entirely up to you, and it is not necessary to forgive him. If you don’t, then Ares will stay away from you until you come to him and until you say that he’s forgiven. You will treat him with respect while in these chambers because it is literally impossible to avoid him when a full council meeting is called, but outside of that, he will not approach you. He will not ask you again for your forgiveness, you’ll be the one to decide that, and you’ll decide that whenever you choose to.”

“What does that mean for family meetings?” Hestia asked.

“It means that if you want those that don’t forgive Ares in attendance, you can’t invite Ares or vice versa,” Percy said softly. “It’s the closest way to an actual consequence that isn’t banishment for him and given the severity of what he did, this is the best solution.”

Ares nodded. “I understand, Percy.”

Percy smiled at him. “Alright. Does anyone have any questions?”

When nothing was forthcoming, Percy nodded to Zeus for him to start off the roasting session as the king of gods. He was prepped to intervene if he thought that a break was necessary to avoid the breakdown of a war god that might result in bad news.

Zeus laced his fingers together. “You designed the plan that resulted in a fight between me and Poseidon that could have splintered this family and likely killed your Aunt Hestia. When I finally did figure out that I had started a war on your lies, I would have been unable to patch the holes that were created. I would have lost my siblings, and the root cause of it would have been yours.”

Ares winced where he stood, but he didn’t try to avoid the accusations.

“You forced me to balance being a king of gods and a titan war on top of the many other duties that were on going. Dionysus’ punishment took a back burner, and he nearly died for it. You almost killed your brother too,” Zeus added. “You are the reason that I became the villain in most people’s stories of this generation. You caused me to miss the funeral of one of my immortal nephews and sent your brother into a grief spiral that he to this day hasn’t snapped out of.”

Ares breathed out as Zeus finished up. “I…I won’t offer you an empty apology about not having intended for most of that. Because at the end of the day, I wanted you distracted. It was my intention to see you overthrown. I am sorry that I chose violence instead of talking to you.”

He stared at his father. “If I could take it back, I would.”

“I know, son.” Zeus hesitated, then he sighed. “You’re forgiven. At least by me, you’re good. I understand what caused you to do this, and while it was objectively the worst solution you could have come up with, you were attempting problem solving.”

Ares gulped and a layer of his tension disappeared. “Thank you, dad.”

Hera glanced at her husband, then she looked at Ares. “You forced me to live in fear. I remained constantly terrified that I was going to be eaten again. I would be reforming, but cut off from all of my domains. I lived with this fear through a huge war. During this war, I was forced to contend with the fear that one of you kids would die. What you did to me was force me to live in fear for nearly a year, and I can’t believe you didn’t come to me when you started doubting your father. Your Uncle Poseidon and me are the only ones who have actually done something when necessary to handle him going dictator instead of king. If you were concerned, you should have come to us.”

Ares paused a beat, almost as if he was unsure whether she was done. When she didn’t speak, he licked his lips. “Mom, I didn’t come to you because you were on his side. You enjoy the pain of my half siblings. Don’t try to deny that, we both know that these therapy sessions have proven this repeatedly.”

He averted his eyes. “I am sorry that I had you so scared for so long. That was unfair, and something that I hadn’t considered was everyone else’s response to grandfather no longer being locked away. I should have, and I didn’t.”

Hera waved off the second part of his sentence. “Wisdom was not a part of your domain. You were never supposed to be the brightest child, and it’s okay that you aren’t. And for your part in causing my fear, I forgive you. Eventually, he would have found a way to terrorize us again. It is one of the few constants of our immortal life. We stopped him this time. We will likely stop him better next time, but he will try again. It is his nature, as much as it is ours.”

Ares swallowed. “Thank you, mom.”

Hestia breathed in. “You could have killed me, Ares. If Poseidon and Zeus had gone to war, I think that would have been the start of my fade. I wouldn’t have been able to pull myself back from the edge. My brothers fighting like that would have killed me, and I don’t think it ever even occurred to you that I was in danger. I shouldn’t have been your afterthought.”

Ares’ eyes welled up with tears.

“Then, once that death had been prevented. You are actively the reason that I was strained as much as I was. Fighting father is horrid on my domains, and my grip on them was weak from your actions. It is a miracle that I am not dead. It is a miracle, and the reason I was so close to death’s door was you. You are the person to blame for how close to dying I’ve been these last several years.”

Ares’ tears were streaming down his face once more. He stared at her through his tears. “I’m so sorry, auntie. I didn’t…. I didn’t realize that all of this would put you so close to a fade, had I known, I would have…. I would have done something different, I promise.”

“I know, my sweet boy.” Hestia glanced over towards Zeus, and her face twisted into something complicated and vast. “I suppose in the vested interest of family and healing, I do forgive you for it. I don’t think I have any anger for any of you regarding what has happened. What was the way we did things, was in fact the situation we were in. I cannot change it, and now that I have done something to try to fix it, I’m finding more and more of you willing to meet me at least part way.”

She turned to Percy then. A small smile on her face. “I’m with my dear nephew on this one. As long as you are here and trying to make things better then I am willing to extend you every inch of forgiveness that you might require.”

Ares gasped out loud. “Auntie…”

“I know. I love you as well.”

Demeter huffed lightly. “That was incredibly sappy, Hestia.”

“Your turn, though, sister. Let us see whether you fare any better.”

Demeter turned to Ares. “You put me at risk. You put my daughters and sons at risk. You did so out of selfish desire to overthrow your father for your brother.”

She fell silent.

Ares tentatively spoke. “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“I know, Aunt Demeter. I put all of us in danger. I thought I’d only really be putting him in danger, but grandfather didn’t really care about anyone else other than himself. He might have tentatively cared somewhat for a few of the people under his control but only the ones he didn’t see as pawns in some game that the rest of us weren’t aware we were playing. I’m sorry that it happened.”

“See to it that you are.”

Ares nodded. He was prepared to accept that she didn’t forgive him. After all, it was not likely that he would earn the forgiveness of most of the people in this room. Not after what he did.

“However, I cannot judge you for doing these things. In the desperate desire to protect my siblings from that monster you turned to, I was willing to wage war against all titans. If I had lost, far more would have been hurt than ever dreamed of fighting in the war you caused. In the end, you did nothing that me, your father, your mother, and the rest of your aunts and uncles did not also do. If they tell you otherwise, they’re fucking liars. We thought Zeus was the better choice, if at some point you feel that is no longer the truth, we can hardly be upset that you did not.” She sighed. “You are forgiven by me, at least, on the basis that much as I would like to be upset, I have no right to be. I would have done the same for my siblings against a similar figure in my life, with very little hesitation.”

Ares exhaled sharply. “You don’t have to forgive me.”

“Yes, I do. Mostly just because I want to forgive myself for having similar thoughts once upon a time.” Demeter stared at him. “You are not the first god to ever have concerns about another and choose violence. You are not the first to flock to my father. You are simply smarter than them in having come back to the light.”

“Thank you.”

She rolled her eyes.

Hades groaned. “That, I guess brings us to me.” He stared at Ares. “You did nothing to me. I was unhappy that father got released, but I was more pissed at Zeus and Poseidon than anything else. I did not fight in this war. I made the very deliberate decision not to fight in this war. I didn’t stop my demigod son from fighting it, and I did get beaten back by the brat of a therapist we have when I tried to stop him when he had Styx’s blessing. What you did was misguided and stupid.”

Percy cleared his throat. “Uncle, he did steal your helm.”

Hades glared at Percy for a second. “Oh, yes, that. I had almost forgotten that in the insanity that followed that part of the confession. Right, stealing my helm was also stupid. I got pissed, nearly killed several mortals to try to get it back. Almost started a war with my brothers over it.”

Hades flipped his hands over in a little gesture of so what. “At the same time, if it had been you that came to me and just asked to borrow the helm for something, I would have said yes. I wouldn’t have questions and we would have ended in the same place.”

Ares let out a desperate laugh. “You’re really not angry.”

“No, my nephew. I’m really not.”

“But…I stole from you. I did it on purpose to raise your father to overthrow mine.”

“Stupid decisions, truly.”

Ares blinked suspicious. “I am sorry I stole your helm.”

Hades waved his hand. “It’s forgotten, child. Like I said, had you come to speak to me, I would have likely given it to you to complete whatever task it was that you thought you needed it for.”

“I am sorry that I led you to fight with your brothers.”

“You didn’t. The oath made me itching for a fight anyway given that both of my brothers seem unable to keep their dicks confined to immortal beings.”

Hera covered her mouth but not in time to stop the absolutely window shattering scoff to ever grace the rest of the gods’ ears. She looked sheepish as eyes turned to her, but Hades simply winked.

Ares frowned. “I’m sorry I went to your father.”

“Ah, now that’s a good one to say sorry for. He was after all locked away for good reason,” Hades said. He stared at Ares. “You are forgiven all the same. It’s not like you were alive for some of his more insane actions, and the stories don’t do it justice. Plus, you would have heard your father and not your mother tell the tale. And Zeus, the darling baby brother, got the easiest end of the stick under his reign.”

“I had to overthrow the bastard with extremely limited help,” Zeus replied petulantly.

“Yes, and you can say you had a harder time when you rotted away in his stomach unable to fade but unable to live,” Demeter said waspishly.

Ares stared at them all, then turned back to Hades. “Is there…something else I should be apologizing for?”

“Not as far as I’m aware. Unless you’re about ready to tell me you had more skeletons in that closet of yours, and you need to purge them.”

Ares shook his head. “No, this about covers it.”

“There we go.”

Persephone leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder as she regarded Ares. “To me, there was more to this little story. You caused my husband to fight against my father and mother. At some point, I would have been demanded to take a side. Now, while I know, that I am the queen of the underworld and where the souls are standing is my place, I also do not relish having to turn my back on family. You almost ensured I had to. That hurts, brother.”

Ares swallowed. He nodded. “I’m sorry, sister.”

“Good decision to apologize to me. I am not known for my mercy.”

Demeter’s head shot up, as did a few others. Neither Persephone or Percy paid them any heed.

Persephone blankly looked across the throne room. “However, my brother was in danger. He was in danger of fading. Of dying a slow and horrid death, or from being shut out for an entire century. While time means less to us than it does to mortals. One hundred years, is still one hundred years. I wasn’t told of his banishment. I was not aware it had happened until it was brought up one day when I was up here in the Spring time during the fight against my father in law.”

Her eyes hardened. Her mouth flattening into a line. “I cannot be angry at you for almost making me fight my parents, something which I am loathe to do. Because had you come to me and told me what they had done to my brother, I would have helped you. I would have risen the armies of the dead and marched on Olympus to free him. I would have stood as the head of a realm, as it’s queen, and told them it was time to fight. What happened was unacceptable in a hundred different ways, and you are not responsible for a great many of the causes. I do not blame you for how you reacted to them.”

Ares paused. “I didn’t know that you were unaware.”

“It happened shortly after my six months were up. I was not on Olympus at the time, and when I arrived, we had already switched to the no one talk about it stage of the punishment.”

Percy glanced over at Zeus, and then decided fuck it, this better be said now. “In the future, I know Persephone is going to be in charge of these punishments, but perhaps a memo to the rest of the family to let them know what is going on might be in order.”

Zeus turned his head just a bit to give Percy a nod.

Persephone nodded as well. “Yes, I will ensure that everyone knows at least among family what has been decided.” She stood and stepped up to Ares. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “I am sorry that you felt you were alone during this.”

Ares froze under her touch, but eventually he threw his arms around her and held her tight. “I’m glad we’re doing therapy like this, and I’m learning that I’m not.”

“Me too.”

The two stood in each other’s arms for several minutes. No one among the council was willing to breathe a word, until Persephone took a step back. She walked back to her throne and sat on it, poised and regal.

Poseidon rubbed a hand against his beard. “You, my nephew, might be the most troublesome of Zeus’ children in terms of causing me grief. You mostly certainly are the reason I almost lost Percy. You are clearly the one responsible for Zeus’ and I’s largest fight to date. You manipulated all of us into going into a titan war. You got several of my citizens in Atlantis killed when Oceanus decided to take advantage of the fact that titans were once again vying for control.”

He glared down at Ares. “All of the physical repercussions aside, you nearly broke this family into little pieces. The sea and the underworld likely would have stayed connected, but none of the rest of you would be any longer. Hestia would have been gone. Zeus would have been dead, many of your siblings as well, because while I’m sure you don’t want to hear this, you need to. If you’re going to try to overthrow a king to save your siblings, you have to confide in your siblings that you’re doing so, that way they don’t end up defending the wrong side and wind up dead.”

Ares paled. “Yes, uncle.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Not to mention, despite the fact that you are in fact in massive amounts of trouble, you clearly crave all of us being affectionate towards you and offering you forgiveness. If you are this close to the family, why the fuck didn’t you think to yourself and go, I wonder whether I can talk to any of them about my concerns and my anger and avoid doing anything that will further alienate me.”

Ares winced. He waited a beat to see whether Poseidon had anything more to add. Then, he knelt down once more on the stone. “I know, Uncle Poseidon. I should have just come and talked to you or Uncle Hades. I should have told my siblings everything. But I was so scared. Scared that dad would find out and I’d be in a worse position. Scared that I was wrong to believe that any of you loved me or had any affection for me whatsoever.”

He choked up on a partial sob. “But, I am so sorry, Uncle. I didn’t mean to start the titan war like this. I didn’t want the whole family harmed. I just wanted the pain to be gone.”

“I know,” Poseidon whispered. He stared at the god down on the ground. He stood, and grabbed Ares off his knees and settled him into another bear hug. “You take after your father in the fact that I can hardly stand to see you cry.”

Ares buried himself into Poseidon’s chest and let himself be held for a while. “I’d say we’re manipulating you, but I don’t think I’ve got enough control to stop.”

Poseidon chuckled. “I’d know the difference.”

Ares walked back to the center of the room and waited for Amphitrite to speak.

She was staring at her husband’s back as he walked towards his throne. Then, she moved her head to regard Ares. “The ocean went to war. We talk a lot here in Olympus about the war that happened on Earth and towards Olympus, but your war there would have been for nought had the ocean not held our ground. The oceans fought. My father against me. My children against abyssal creatures long locked away. My husband fighting against the domain giving out. We barely had a spare moment to come help you. We came anyway.”

She tilted her head to the side. “You are the reason we suffered those wars when we did. You are the reason that for a time, there was no peace in the ocean.”

Her silence rang over the room.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Amphitrite. I was not part of the war in the ocean, but I imagine, it was not pretty and that was my fault.”

She scoffed. “It’s forgiven and forgotten.”

“What?” Athena asked baffled.

“His crimes did nothing that would not have happened at some point. My father has been itching in his restraints since they were put on. More so, since the death of your mother, girl.” Her eyes hardened towards Athena. However, they softened upon seeing Ares. “You were an idiot. You started many wars. But there were no harms that can’t be patched up that occurred. My forgiveness is free to you, this time.”

“Thank you.”

She shrugged. “It is not a hardship to be kind.”

“It is,” Ares corrected softly. “It is especially hard to be kind after someone has hurt you. And while it was not my intention, and it may very well have been inevitable, I still deserve at least a fraction of the responsibility for it having happened when and how it did.”

Triton tilted his head to the side. He moved his eyes from Ares towards Athena, then focused on Ares. “I fought in a war. It was not a peaceful thing to be prince of a realm while they are at war. You will watch citizens that you were honor bound to protect die. You will watch your parents falter and stumble as the impacts of being drained nearly dry hit them.”

Triton swallowed. “For a time, I wondered whether this was going to be the moment I was going to watch one of them go down. They had enough faith that they would reform, but in the interim I would have been king. I was terrified that I was going to be placed in charge in the middle of a war with two of my grandfathers with a tentative peace with Olympus and the underworld.”

“Had that happened,” Triton accused softly, “you would have been the one to send me into that mess. You would have kick started every moment. And every shred of blood that I had to wash off my hands, all the eyes that I will never see open again. Those are yours. You chose to make sure there was war between us. You had your reasons, and we were the ones who suffered for it.”

Many mouths fell open gaping at the end of Triton’s speech. For a god who said that he was fine forgiving Ares, there was a lot of anger underlying those words. Anger that did not seem likely to simmer and fade away.

Ares bit down on his lip. “Cousin, I did not know it got that bad in the sea.”

“It was not for you to know, nor any on Olympus. Father did not trust Uncle Zeus, and thus, we did not trust his children.”

“I would have come to help out under the sea. This was my mess, and I was everywhere trying to patch my mess back up. Had I known that things were so bad down there, I would have found a way to come back to help.”

“I know.”

Ares tilted his head to the side. “I…What?”

“You’ve made it clear throughout your apologies to the others that you feel guilty, responsible even for the lives that you cost, the burdens that are yours to carry now and forever into the future.” Triton arched a brow. “I don’t need to repeat the same apologies or tell me that you would have changed something had you known. I know that, you know that. You are telling me nothing new.”

“I don’t understand.”

Triton sighed. “This is why I felt this punishment was unnecessary. We are attacking you, you apologize, and then what? We forgive or don’t forgive you. We continue belaboring the point to senselessness. We spill our anger and pain onto the floor and hope it doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.”

His head shook. “I don’t care what you did, Ares. I don’t care about the harm that I suffered. Those things are irrelevant to the current situation. I care about whether you are sorry, which you are. I care that you know that what you did was shit because there were better ways to have handled all of this, which I trust that you have had drilled into your head by this point.”

Ares nodded. “I am sorry, Triton. And I do know now that I should have done anything else but at the time I just didn’t know that.”

“I know this,” Triton said to him softly. “You have my forgiveness. You don’t need it and according to many others, perhaps you don’t deserve it either. But you have it all the same.”

Ares blinked. “Why wouldn’t I need your forgiveness?”

“Because we’ve never been close, and your crimes against me our mostly surface level. As mentioned, they would have happened eventually. It was an inevitable occurrence. No need to worry about each other.”

Ares stared at him. “I care about you, Triton. Had I known that you were suffering for my actions, I would have come. I wouldn’t have just showed up for the guilt. You are my family.” He frowned. “We’ve been bloody awful about showing it to each other. Like truly the worst at showing it to each other, but I would always come. If there is war in the sea and you would like my presence, all you ever have to do is let me know.”

His eyes scanned the room. “That goes for any of you. You want me to come to help you out for whatever nonsense is happening in your domains that you think mine would be a boon for, I will come.”

“And for Poseidon’s children,” Hades commented.

“Yours as well,” Ares corrected.

Persephone started at him. “Our children do not fight wars in the same way that you do.”

“Nor would I suspect they would. All the same, if I am able to aid them and they would wish for that aid, I am more than happy to give it,” Ares stated.

Athena glanced at him. “I would like your assistance in the greek camps capture the flag.”

“Which side are we intervening on?”

Athena stared at him. “Let’s confuse the little children.”

“I love this plan.”

“We shall bless Dionysus’ children and tell them not to accept any team ups and trounce the rest regardless.”

Dionysus belted out a laugh. “Just one of my brats left, Athena.”

“Even better.”

Zeus chuckled despite himself. “Make weird plans later, children. We have a session to finish.”

Hermes looked up. That meant him. Triton had just gone, and he was next on the chopping block from the vote, but he wasn’t ready. His body shook.

Percy was about to speak up, offer to skip him, when Ares pushed forward. He leaned forward and allowed Hermes to fall upon him in a terrible embrace.

“Gods, I hate you,” Hermes muttered softly.

“I know, that’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I love you almost as much as I hate you, and that’s got to be something out of a fucking insane person’s mouth.”

Ares huffed a small breath of laughter. “Thought this was your grand plan, brother.”

“That was before everyone started speaking. What are my pains compared to some of these? I mean, yes, I have been grieving for an awfully long time, and one could make some rather pointed remarks as to whose to blame for them.”

“It’s me,” Ares stated.

“No, it’s not.” Hermes sucked in a breath. “You went to grandfather, like an idiot. You may have put the pieces into motion, but we don’t know for sure who all would have come to Pan’s funeral if the war hadn’t been happening.” His eyes cut to Hera. “There were other people and designs on that funeral that I could not have foreseen.”

Hera swallowed. Then, she nodded her head. “Had I found a way, I would have done it regardless of the war.”

Hermes inclined his head. “And then Luke is my largest bone to pick with you, so I’ll ask you this only once. Did you put his name forward to be the pawn for grandfather?”

Ares shook his head. “No, we knew we needed a demigod to work for us for the plan to come close to working, but I didn’t know any that I could say for sure would do so. I mean, my own kids, would probably hesitate to steal from the king of gods, and I knew them best. Grandfather told me to leave it to him, and he’d figure out who would be best.”

Ares grimaced. “I didn’t object though. I knew who Luke was when the solstice occurred. I could have said something about the chosen being your favorite son.”

“Grandfather would have made the choice seem reasonable.”

Percy cleared his throat. “To be fair, there was no one else. The others were angry, yes. But not so angry to take on gods with nothing but a titan’s word that it would be okay in the end. This was mostly his anger at Hermes.” His eyes softened when they met Hermes.

Hermes covered his face. “I want to hold onto my anger and my grief. My son should not have died. He should not have been some pawn that we were using in this game of who is righteous and who is not.”

“Of course, brother,” Ares whispered. His face was dejected.

Hermes shook his head. “Those aren’t the rules. I’ve told you what I’ve suffered, now you’re supposed to speak, dumbass.”

Ares snorted. “We didn’t really follow the rules here.”

“Fuck off,” Hermes said softly.

“I’m sorry, Hermes. For what pain this caused you, it was unacceptable. I should have thought through what going to grandfather was going to look like. I should have realized that he was always going to have an agenda, and his agenda was not going to be something that I was going to want to be a part of. And Luke, he deserved an uncle who looked out for him, not one that ended up selling him down the river to grandfather.”

“I forgive you.”

Eyes shot from across the room to stare at Hermes. They were still tied together in an embrace, and Hermes was standing taller than he had in quite a while.

Hermes huffed a breath. “You are my brother, and you were fighting to save another one. I don’t blame you. Actually, I don’t blame anyone anymore. It happened. The prophecy was going to come about, and unfortunately my fate was wrapped up in it, as was everyone else. We all suffered and hurt. And holding onto anger won’t change anything. Doing this family therapy and moving forward, just might change something in the future.”

Percy shot him an approving smile. Finally, someone was getting his whole mantra for trying to push through this therapy when everything was a little insane.

Hermes pushed Ares back towards the center. “I’ve made my peace with this. Let the others speak.”

Dionysus laughed. “I’m supposed to follow that show of fucking feeling.”

Zeus narrowed his eyes, and Dionysus flapped his hand to tell him not to worry about it so much.

“Listen, Ares, I know why you did this. You did this for me, and we’ve talked about it. But holy shit, this was the worst possible way to go about helping me you could have come up with. Sneaking my wife into camp to make my banishment lesser, excellent choice. Fighting father and getting yourself banished next to me, decent. Joining grandfather and forcing me to watch a multitude of our children die horrifically while I am the only god for miles and can do nothing to help them, horrendous.”

Several gods winced.

“I was on the front lines with them. I was basically as close to mortal as we can get while fighting beside them, and I still couldn’t full interfere. If nothing else, that should mean I have the most reason for anger. Even if we discount all of that stuff, I have more rights to anger than most because you killed one of my two children. I don’t have mortal children anymore. I don’t because I watch them die, and I know they deserve parents that are closer. They were twins, and the living one, he still doesn’t respond well to anything. Because of your actions, I will watch him wither in grief perhaps for an eternity.”

Dionysus blinked back tears. “Then, to make matters worse, I’ve unfortunately grown to care for at least some of the brats. It is hard to hate Hades’ spawn. He’s a stubborn punk of a kid that should be dead several times over. Much as I try to hate my cousin over there and call him other names to separate us so I won’t feel his death so strongly, I can’t. It is impossible. I feel him as family in my bones. His girlfriend too has wriggled her way under my skin. The reason why I’m going to hurt again, is almost entirely your fault, Ares.”

Ares waited a beat. “I’m so sorry, Dionysus. You’re right.”

He shook his head. His arms trembled slightly, then he gave in and wrapped them around himself. “I should have snuck Ariadne in. I should have stuck by you in banishment. I should have fought the war on my own. Or anything else, really. But I didn’t. I tried to be bold, and it didn't work. Forgive me?”

Dionysus raised his eyes to the sky. “Yesterday, I said I’d protect you but it didn’t mean I forgave you.” He actively left out the part where he had quite clearly forgiven his brother later, because that was less important for this conversation.

“I remember.”

“Good. Then know that today, I’m not saving you from anyone else. I’m just doing this for me.”

Ares nodded.

“You’re forgiven. You may be a stupid oaf. But you’re the stupid oaf that happens to be my brother, so you have privileges,” Dionysus finished.

Ares settled. “Thank you.”

“Don’t.”

Ariadne cleared her throat lightly. “You risked my husband to save my husband.”

Ares inclined his head to her.

She snorted as she shook her head. “I think this might be the most idiotic thing that I’ve ever been told. However, I was requested to list the harms that you did to me. I don’t really think I ever played a role in your thoughts. But if Dionysus had died, most of my place here would have withered. At the time, I was not one of the family. Whether I currently am or not is something that we could debate for the ages.”

Her eyes softened when they landed on him, despite the harsh words. “My suffering is almost always the last on anyone’s list but Dionysus’. And really, should I complain? I am immortal despite the fact that I was an unimposing mortal for much of my life. I am the wife of an Olympian, even if rarely treated as such. You jeopardized both. Whether I could have held onto my domains without him present is questionable. They were gifted after all by King Zeus as a way for me to remain his wife. Would they stay?”

“You can call me father,” Zeus interrupted with a slight eye roll. He had told her this before, but it would take some getting used to before she used it. “And your domains would have held steady. Likely you would have taken some of his even.”

Ariadne turned to Zeus. Finally, she nodded. “I didn’t know any of that, and these were my fears. The things you either put me at risk of or made me think I was at risk of.”

The silence fell over the room. As much as everyone liked to say that she was family, as she laid out her harms, it was more than apparent that none of them had ever bothered to treat her as such.

Ares rubbed at his face with one hand. “I’m sorry, Ariadne.”

She huffed slightly.

“You should have been on my list of concerns and quite frankly, sister, you probably should have been my go to ally for this nonsense.”

That caused Ariadne’s lips to twitch towards a smile.

Ares took full advantage of that slight twitch by winking at her. “Foolish, I am most definitely. Forgive me anyway?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Hera asked softly. “You admitted yourself that none of us have treated you as family. Why forgive us as if we are?”

Ariadne stared for a second at the queen of gods. Then, she burst out laughing. Her laugh carried across the tense room. Even Apollo’s angry posture faded somewhat in response to the noise. “I have never held a grudge against any of you. Not for a single moment of this immortal life of being both one of you and apart from you. I was human. Now, I am so much more. I would not trade a day of this for anything else.”

Ares swallowed. “Even had my actions had more consequences?”

“Even if this family therapy never happened, and we had continued on into our own destruction,” she answered.

Slowly, the lighter energy faded, as eyes made their way over to Athena. Her hands were crossed in her lap. She licked over her lips. “Hi, Ares.”

“Hello, my sister.”

“This war was not good for any of us. For me, the most concern came for Annabeth. She is so wise and one of the champions of Olympus. But she also follow Percy into battle. Where he goes, she follows. No matter the risk, no matter that she is not one of the strongest. You dragged her into this war. Not just by ensuring Percy was one of the players, but also by virtue of being her favorite demigod the host of grandfather.”

Ares nodded.

“She bore the weight of the sky as a result of your actions. And I… well I stood by and did nothing. Terrified of father’s wrath, I stood idly by. I went where he told me I could go. There were often times that was a difficult task for me to accomplish and not what I wished for.”

Ares stared at her. “I’m sorry.”

Athena shrugged. “I believe we are all aware of that. Plus, words do little to comfort us after the harms that we have suffered. A better question, is what have you done since?”

He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

“From my recollection, despite being at fault for most of this having begun, you came to our side in the fight.”

“Of course, I did. This wasn’t meant to be a war against all of you. Just father, the second I realized that it wouldn’t be that, I came home to stand beside my family.”

Zeus cleared his throat. “Should I be concerned that you still feel this way, Ares?”

Ares waved his hand in a so-so gesture. “I don’t believe that you would do this today, and definitely not right now. However, I am speaking of the past and possibly of the future. If I believe you to be a harm to this family, I will fight against you, even if it is a misguided attempt that doesn’t end up well, I think that’s still for the best when you decide to go off the deep end.”

Zeus groaned. “What if, rather than fighting, you come and speak to me?”

Athena cleared her throat. “We’ve talked about this before, father, and I’m speaking. We all know that we would allowed to come speak with you. I believe this would be in an instance where you have shut us all out. Now, if I could go back to speaking.”

Percy covered his mouth to avoid laughing. The way that Athena was effortlessly stopping them from going down the path already covered was hilarious. And to think once upon a time, she would have been on the side of rehashing this repeatedly.

Zeus inclined his head. “My apologies, Athena.”

Athena turned back to Ares. “You fought by our side. You did what you could to ensure that your children took some of, if not the brunt of the attack, regardless of whether this worked or not, yes?”

“I did, yes.”

“Then, I see nothing here to forgive. You made up for your actions ages ago. It is only the fact that we are learning about it now that is causing harm. You shouldn’t have old actions held against you.”

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow, and Athena faltered in her speech for a moment. Then, she recovered. She glanced to her uncle and saw him still perched on his throne. He would stop them from hurting her on purpose, she trusted that much.

“Ares, from this here today, we have heard that you are sorry. We have heard that you tried your best to comfort and make right the wrongs that you caused. You do not owe us more.”

“Thank you,” Ares said. The relief in his eyes made strides and bounds towards the healing this family was still desperately in need of.

“Just…don’t let the kids be the cost of your rebellions going forward, Ares.”

“Never again,” he swore.

Apollo huffed in his seat as if the idea of this made him physically angry rather than at peace. He crossed his arms and glared.

Artemis rolled her eyes. “I have made my hunters immortal. They do not die by aging, they range through the forests with me and me alone, Ares. Your actions took one of them from me. One of them that had stood beside me for millennia. Someone whose fight and legends were enough to ascend her to the stars.”

“As if losing her was not enough, brother, your actions took my newest from me too. A sweet girl who wanted protection from her uncles and fled to me. Hades’ eldest at the time. She was adorable and lovely and deserved so much more than being ripped apart during the titan war.”

Artemis wiped under her eyes to push tears away. “And that alone wasn't enough either. Grandfather was smart. He needed me out of the way for a time. Apparently I was more of a threat then the rest of you. He forced a way to get me to take Atlas’ spot holding up the sky. A punishment designed to torture people, and I had to bear it. If I had not been relieved, I would have remained crushed under the sky even as others died in my name.”

Her eyes turned away from Ares, to search Percy out in the crowd of the gods. “I don’t like men. I especially don’t like mortal men. However, it was on this day that I made an exception. Someone who to this day is welcome to speak to my hunters without wondering about risk. Someone who is welcome to treat me as a cousin despite being mortal. Because he saw them dying, he saw me suffering, and he took my place. Athena’s daughter held the sky for longer, but she was tricked into going under the weight of the sky. Percy took it on willingly, under the assumption that I would come back for him, that I would help free him once more. He had nothing but faith in a goddess that he barely knew, shortly after many of us had tried to kill him over and over again. And he trusted and believed. You put us all in that position, Ares. You are the reason there is a white streak through his hair. The memory of a weight too heavy to bear on my shoulders.”

Ares whimpered softly as she fell silent. “Zoe, she didn’t deserve what happened that night. If I could switch our places, I would, Artemis. The people who suffered that price shouldn’t have had to when I did not have to suffer the same.”

“I do not wish that,” Artemis said flatly. “I would rather have you, my brother, than my hunter, as precious as she was to me.”

Ares blinked. “I’m sorry about Bianca. Her death was not meant to be.”

Artemis shrugged her shoulders. “Olympus would not have survived her being the child of the prophecy, and being my huntress like Thalia would have upset the fates. Something was almost always going to happen between them.”

“And you shouldn’t have been his target for any reason but as it turns out, grandfather doesn’t keep his word either.”

She titled her head back and laughed. “Find me a god who does.”

Ares hitched his thumb over at their uncle Hades. “There’s one.”

Hades raised a brow. “Really, nephew?”

“What? Am I wrong?”

Hades sighed, long and suffering. “I try to keep my word at all times, but that task is easier

said than done.”

Artemis turned her gaze to Hades. “You’ve always honorable, Uncle. I just wish your kindness had extended to our father’s kids.”

Hades rubbed at his eyes. “For the love of the Underworld, Artemis, we’ve been over this. You children were never the target of my anger. You were always welcome.”

“No, we weren’t,” she snapped. “If we were, you would have come to tell me that Zoe made it to the afterlife safe, the way you went to Triton after Pallas. I will never have children of my own. I am one of the virgin goddesses, the only one that truly has no way of reproducing. Athena and Hestia have other means when they wish it.”

“Niece.”

“She was my child. An immortal one of my children. One that had stood beside me and been loved by me for over a millennia. If you claim that we were always welcome, you would have come to me. And you would have gone to Hermes, but you did not. We are not all equal.”

Hades frowned. “I…”

Artemis turned from him. “That is not the problem of the day. And to be honest, I don’t care to hear the excuses for why. There was a war. Father was a problem. Onwards and onwards, we can go blaming each other. I don’t care, and I do offer forgiveness for you not coming.” Her eyes narrowed. “Under the presumption that you will be better later, if you ever do this again, I will have no mercy for you.”

“That’s fair.”

Ares cleared his throat. “Sister, I am sorry for the pain that you suffered under Atlas’ punishment.”

Artemis waved her hand in a dismissive motion. “You, too, are forgiven. You were an idiot, my brother. A fool who believed our grandfather’s word when we cannot even trust our father’s.”

Zeus flinched back at this.

“But you did it to help the siblings. You did it on the grounds of this would be better for all of us in the end. I don’t blame you for this. I don’t begrudge the harms I suffered.”

Her eyes furrowed for a second. “Just, one small thing…”

“Yes,” Ares said immediately.

“Don’t ever go after Percy again.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Percy stared at Artemis. “I didn’t ask you for anything when I helped you, nor would I.”

Artemis sent him a withering glare. “You asked for nothing, but I can still see the mark that helping me cost you.”

“Annabeth holds it to.”

“Annabeth was the bait for me to show up. Grandfather chose her to be the hook to draw me in. You were unplanned for. Their plan was for me to stay trapped unless and until one of the gods came for me. You chose to take this burden, it was not chosen for you.”

Percy frowned.

Ares stared at Artemis. “You have my word. I will never target Percy.”

“Good.” She unfurled her shoulders. She glanced over at her twin. “As far as I’m concerned, our issues are resolved, Ares.”

“Thank you, my sister.”

Ares followed her stare to Apollo and flinched at the pure rage in his eyes. The only thing keeping Apollo in his throne and not lunging off to finish Ares off was the vague threat of Percy and their father.

Percy swallowed.

Apollo spat on the ground. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, what is the point of me telling you what you did to me? You know.”

“It was the will of this council,” Zeus pointed out.

Apollo threw his hands up. “Fine. Whatever. I’d like to point out, that all of this implies the fact that I didn’t trust dad regarding the fates and didn’t want to try to circumvent them again was at least partially on you. You were the reason that they were able to reach us to punish us.”

Ares bit down on his lip.

“However, that’s mostly nothing. So, you allowed the fates to reach us. That was always inevitable. But do you know what your stunt fucking cost? I do. Most of my children.”

Several people reached out, but Apollo held up his hands. “Hermes lost quite a few, but most of them, no offense Hermes, weren’t on the right side of the conflict. And several weren’t really his, just given to him because of our bullshit regarding non-Olympian gods.”

“I was the one with 20 plus children. I was the one who went from 20 to 8 in the span of the one battle. I was the one who buried child after child. Only, I wasn’t really there. I was up here watching as my children were laid to rest. You got them killed, Ares. You are the reason I had to grieve so many. You didn’t come to speak to me about your concerns. Did you not think that I would help you? Did you not care?”

Ares flinched under the weight of those words. “Brother.”

“You have lost that right,” Apollo snarled. “You could have told me then, and while pissed, maybe, maybe we could have found our way to forgiveness. You could have begged for Zeus’ justice.You could have made things right when you realized how much harm you caused. But you didn’t. You chose to be a fucking coward.”

“I was scared,” Ares defended.

“You should have been! You got so many killed, nearly got us fucking faded and imprisoned and for what? Did it accomplish anything?”

“You know it didn’t,” Ares sobbed.

“Damn right, I know it didn’t. But that’s why I don’t give a single fuck about these empty apologies you are giving us now. If you were sorry, you would not have hidden away. You would have faced our justice. You would have stood by the actions hat you did. The fact you didn’t is proof that you didn’t care about any of us.”

“I…”

“Shut up,” Apollo commanded, and the throne room was silent. “Shut up, Ares. Am I wrong? Did you ever come to tell me that I was burying my children because you thought you could save our half bother with our grandfather’s aid?”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Did you ever try to face me and tell me that the reason I mourned was you?”

“No.”

“Did you wait until now, several days into a family therapy session to make amends now that you know that forgiveness is something that our family is capable of?”

“I did,” he admitted.

“I don’t give a fuck about that. You don’t deserve to be forgiven just because we can. You don’t deserve to be forgiven for my 12 dead kids. You don’t deserve to get to stand here on this council as if you didn’t do worse than anything I or Dionysus ever did when we suffered so much more than you ever will.”

“Because I was a fool, Apollo,” Zeus intervened. “He is not being punished like you were because I deeply regret causing you that harm.”

Apollo shook his head. “Do you not see how much bullshit that is? Do not see how you still favor your favorite son as he stands before you? Do you think your regret would have stopped you from wanting to smite me had I done such a thing? If Dionysus had done it?”

Percy cleared his throat. “Ares, would you like to say anything?”

Ares stared at Apollo. “Tell me what to do. Do you want me to find a way to bind my powers and go on a series of trials for you? Do you want me to be banished? Just, please. I’m sorry, and I know you don’t believe me and maybe you have every reason to not believe me, but please tell me what do do to help make you believe.”

Apollo laughed. “The council already decreed it, Ares. Or did you not notice? You will face no punishment. You will face no banishment, suffer no beating, and prove yourself through no trials. That is the will of this council. The ways that you could have used to prove to me that you meant a word of this nonsense, you skated right by. So, here’s the one thing I can do in this bullshit decision from everyone else. I don’t forgive you. You can sit there in your tears and your guilt and you can fuck off. Because for my children, the ones I buried, I don’t forgive you.”

Ares lowered his head in a bow. He didn’t fight the words.

As much as Percy wanted to stand up and snap at Apollo for not seeing this effort as what it was, he chose to remain the steadfast watcher. He had said this was an option the gods could choose. This was a fair decision on Apollo’s part.

Apollo swallowed harshly. He collapsed into his throne. “Percy, is there anything else needed? This is the first time that he wasn’t forgiven so I’m unsure.”

Percy shook his head. “No. Just, Ares, won’t be allowed to come talk to you until you invite it outside of these chambers.”

Apollo nodded briskly. “I presume, I’m not to make that impossible for him just to try to force a punishment.”

Percy nodded.

Apollo rolled his eyes. Still, he didn’t seem inclined to cause a problem with those restrictions. Just, seemed angry as all hell at Ares still. The anger seemed to burn under his skin.

Ares swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. He nodded to Percy his assent and understanding at what this meant.

Aphrodite blinked away tears once again. She stared at Ares. “I don’t know what to say. Yes, my children were harmed. We were all put in danger, and yet none of that matters to me, Ares.”

“What matters is that you are the one that I chose to love. You are the one that I choose to spend most of my time with. The one that I have had most of my children with. The one I seek when I am struggling. The one I trust with my burdens.”

She turned away from him. Tears now streaming down her face. “Yet, you do not feel the same. No one who loves someone would do this to them. No one would hurt them like this. You turned against the whole family. You say that you did it for your siblings, but where were we? You didn’t tell us. You didn’t ask for our aid.”

At this point, her arm was trembling in rage, her tears dried up as she stared at him. “You were with me. The night before you framed Percy, you were with me. I was there in the mortal world. We were hidden from father’s sight at least somewhat. And yet you did not choose to tell me a single thing that was going through your brain.”

Finally, she stopped speaking. Her frame shook as she stared at him. “Tell me, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“That’s not what love is,” he said shakily.

“Pardon?”

Percy face palmed.

“You say that I told no one and that much is true. That early on into the fight, it was dangerous for you to know of my plans to hurt Zeus. If I had spoken that out loud often, the more chance that he would have realized the attack was coming. Love is protecting people even when there are clear issues that could effect them.”

Ares rubbed a hand over his face. “Me doing this doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, Aphrodite. It might mean that we show love in different ways and it definitely means that I’m an idiot. But don’t sit there and think that I did all of this because I didn’t love you. I did this for love.”

He swallowed. “I am sorry, Aphrodite. I should not have done any of this. It was a mistake, and all my noble reasons are shit in comparison to what ended up happening. And if I had been a smarter man and told you, this probably could have been partially if not completely avoided. However, I was not smart. And I did think it was protecting you.”

Aphrodite sighed loudly. She wiped her face harshly. “I don’t like what you did. I don’t like how it made me feel, or the fact that several people here got to hear your confession before I did.”

“In my defense, it is often harder to handle rejection and blame from someone you love.”

She glared at him, but the look had lost most of its intensity. “Yes, well, there is that. I forgive you, Ares. If only because there is no world, in which I could handle being apart from you for any major amount of time.”

Ares nodded his head.

Hephaestus tapped his fingers against his throne. “I suppose the harm you did to me was when you didn’t decide to come to me as the heir to the throne when you were planning to overthrow the king, you know as his rightful heir. Also, getting my son killed was hurtful.”

Ares winced. “Yeah, putting grandfather on the throne instead of you was a rather stupid idea.”

Hephaestus shrugged. “He was a useful pawn for you.”

Zeus froze. “Hephaestus, what are you talking about?”

“Oh,” Hephaestus paused. The tapping got faster. “You see, I can’t offer Ares forgiveness, because his crimes are my crimes.”

“What?” Hades stared at Hephaestus. “Trust me, being older does not make you responsible for their actions.”

“No, it does not.” He passed. “However, being in the room with him as he chose to do all of this, does. I was there when he first reached out to grandfather. Although Ares was unaware that I was there. Most of you are often unaware when I am there. Anyway, I was the one that ensured that you were not able to see Ares steal your helm. I am the one that helped him sneak Luke in and out of the throne room. You wish for someone to blame for this, and Ares might have done everything, but I ensured he would not suffer for it.”

Mouths were agape, and Percy fought the urge to scream.

“Why?” Zeus asked bewildered.

“If he thought you needed deposed, then I was going to help him. It is my throne after all. My plan was to use grandfather to weaken you, trap him, and then go after you myself. It was only when Percy chose to save Olympus and I saw what you did for him that I chose to back off that plan.”

Aphrodite rubbed her eyes. “My lover and my husband, perfect.”

Persephone tilted her head to the side. “In the end, you didn’t really do anything more than him, you’re just complacent in his crimes.”

“Yes.”

Hera lowered her head down. “Are we doing all of this again?”

“If you wish,” Hephaestus offered. “Or we can assume that if you would forgive Ares, you would likely forgive me. Which means, Apollo, do you have issue with me?”

Apollo shook his head slowly. “You wanted Ares safe, I can understand this. You weren’t so stupid as to go to grandfather. You just weren’t willing to send Ares to the rest of us to face consequences. I wouldn’t have send Artemis to you even if she were being this dumb. I have no bone to pick with you.”

Hephaestus inclined his head. “For additional consideration, I am sorry that it came to war. I wish that Percy had been around and favored enough to do this long before we got here, but that’s not how it worked, and thus, it didn’t end up being how the situation was handled.”

Zeus nodded slowly. “Yes, well, we can all thank Percy for being here now. If he wasn’t, we’d be screwed.”

Percy nodded. Then, he clapped his hands. “Let’s call it for the day. We’ve been here for several revelations and we all could use a break.”

Ares picked himself off the ground slowly. Surprised, to see that Hephaestus’ hands were there to help hold him up. He held onto them.

Hephaestus stared at his brother. “Come to mine tonight. Let me help.”

Ares nodded.

Hephaestus raised his voice. “Any of the rest of you that want to come and be around family are welcome around my room in the palace tonight.”

Aphrodite let out a long suffering sigh. “I’ll be there. I need to wait a moment for a few aspects of my domain but other than that I’ll be by.”

Hermes snorted. “I didn’t want to be alone, so I’ll come around.”

“So will we,” Ariadne announced.

Persephone glanced towards her husband. Then, she stepped forward. “I’ll come.”

Hades raised his eyes to the sky. “Then, I suppose I’ll follow.”

Athena nodded. “I believe I shall join.”

Artemis stepped forward. “Aye, I’ll come.”

“Really?” Apollo said. “You’re all going to go, knowing that I won’t.”

“No offense, twin of mine,” Artemis said softly. “But we want this to be about family and healing. You are the person that has decided to hold a grudge. You have to be prepared for that to mean that we side with each other sometimes.”

Percy watched as everyone left and Apollo was still just standing there. “Come on, it’s no good to stay here and wait for tomorrow.”

“Was I really unreasonable?”

Percy took a second as they walked to think it over. “I remember what the Apollo cabin was. I remember being heartbroken, and I know as does Nico the pain that Will suffers as one of the few survivors. But, Apollo, can you blame him truly? There was a huge problem here, he wanted to fix it.”

Apollo wrapped his arms around himself. “I don’t want him to just get away with it. I don’t want it to be swept under the rug.”

“That’s fine. That’s why you had this option.”

Apollo nodded. Percy guided him into his room. Nice and tucked away with water running. “You can stay with me,” Percy offered.

Apollo shook his head. “No. I want to go raise the sun properly. I want to see my descendants. And for a minute, I want to ignore family and therapy.”

“Not for long,” Percy said with a wince.

“What do you mean?”

“Tomorrow’s session is what Hades did to the oracle of Delphi.”

Apollo let out a huge curse in ancient greek. He kicked the damn wall of Percy’s room and just raged. “You’re telling me that tomorrow I have to relive a worse trauma, and that half my siblings are pissed at me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Apollo threw his hands in the air. “Well, I guess we’ll see how tomorrow goes then. Bloody bastard.”

Percy knew that wasn’t directed at him personally but the situation because Apollo didn’t reach for his domains at all. He was angry, but not a hurting Percy level angry. Just a somewhat done with the situation angry.

Chapter Text

Whenever it was that Percy woke next, Apollo was in his room. Cross legged on the floor sitting and appearing to meditate. It took Percy a second to remember that he had offered even if it had been rejected at the time.

Apollo blinked and opened his eyes at Percy. “I would like to ask you another question about the Ares situation.”

“Go ahead,” Percy offered softly. He knew how much this had to weigh on more than just Apollo. If he could make this better, even in a small inconsequential way, he would do so.

“Does Ares blame me for not forgiving him?”

“No.” Percy was surprised by the ease that he could give that answer. “Ares doesn’t begrudge you the anger you feel. He knows that what happened was a mess and that he is ultimately responsible for at least some of the causes.”

“Not grandfather?”

“That bastard holds all the deaths on his shoulders. His hands are seeped in blood,” Percy said softly. “Your brother however, also feels the blood on his. He thinks that if he hadn’t done what he did, none of them would have died.”

“He’s right,” Apollo muttered.

“No, he isn’t.” Percy toed himself off the bed. “It would have taken longer, but grandfather would have succeeded. He was reaching into my dreams before he had a hold on Ares and Luke. He would have won me eventually with subtle manipulations, especially if the lightning bolt incident had been avoided. Because Poseidon wouldn’t have claimed me, and I wouldn’t have been able to see the harm in siding with the madman.”

Apollo stared at Percy for a second. “Fuck,” he said softly. He pressed his hands into his eyes.

Percy reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Seriously, though. There are bigger problems today than Ares. If it takes you a hundred years to be okay with what happened, that’s fine. I’ll stand up for your right to take that time. So will the others.”

“Just not last night,” Apollo whispered. “Which means that the night before I have to confront Uncle Hades, that I had fucking no one beside me.”

Percy hesitated for a second. He was a little unsure. “Are you scared?”

“Uncle Hades stands on the fact that he hasn’t hurt any of us. That he isn’t like the other brothers. I’m a little terrified that he’s going to say that this isn’t a problem and then what the fuck will happen. Is anyone going to be on my side after the shit show of yesterday?”

“Breathe,” Percy commanded. “Hephaestus, I need you,” he murmured under his breath as quietly as possible.

Hephaestus was in the room seconds later. His eyes filled with a slight confusion as he saw Apollo there, then he turned to Percy. “You needed me?”

“Apollo is freaking out.” He gestured at Apollo who was now pouting slightly as Percy’s behavior.

Hephaestus turned to address Apollo. “What’s up?”

“Percy filled me in on what today’s session is going to be.”

“Uhuh, he does that on occasion when it will impact us.” Hephaestus stared at Apollo. “Do you want to let me in on what’s happening and why exactly Percy thinks you’re freaking out?”

Apollo looked away from his brother at that. He stared at the corner of the wall. “We’re talking about Hades cursing the oracle of Delphi.”

“Oh.” Hephaestus paused. “Well, you’ve been the center of these sessions before. I doubt that confronting uncle will be any harder than confronting father.”

“I wasn’t alone then,” Apollo snapped.

Hephaestus exchanged a look with Percy, confusion written along his face. “Brother, I’m afraid you have me at a loss.”

“I…I don’t want to fight him without knowing that there’s going to be someone on my side.”

“Cool. Don’t blame you.” There was a pause. Then, enlightened hit him as he slumped. “Apollo, we’re all still going to be behind you.”

“Will you?” He demanded the answer.

“Yes, you stubborn asshole. Yesterday, we wanted to comfort Ares because there was a lot of trauma that came out in the way that he confessed to those crimes but not a one of us is angry at you for holding a grudge.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Hephaestus said. “More than likely until you’re okay with Ares again, we won’t have another night like that where no one is with you. But yesterday was a complicated situation.”

Apollo stared. “Promise me,” he demanded. “Promise that you at a minimum will be at my side.”

Hephaestus crossed the room. The hand not using his cane to remain upright caressed Apollo’s face. “My brother, even if you were in the wrong, which you are not, I would side with you against anyone other than our siblings. We are a united front.”

Apollo’s eyes searched for any traces of a lie, even though he knew that lies wouldn’t register here. “Okay. Okay.”

“And I happen to know for a fact, that regardless of how angry you are at him, Ares will lunge to your defense before I have the time to get a word in edge wise.”

“What?”

Hephaestus chuckled lightly. “Brother, you may not see it, because Ares doesn’t exhibit most of the normal signs of caring, but he loves all of us more than we could ever know. He would start war after war for us.”

Apollo stared. Then, he swallowed. “Okay, okay.”

“Why does this one freak you out more?” Percy asked softly.

“Honestly,” Apollo whispered, “because it is Uncle Hades, and he doesn’t do things like this. He doesn’t hurt us. We don’t suffer from him, and he’s repeatedly reaffirmed that he’d come for us, so what the fuck does it mean that I suffered from him.”

Percy’s mouth fell open in shock. Then, he chuckled. “Apollo, I can guarantee you that he didn’t know.”

“What?”

“When I told him that his actions hurt you, he was pissed as all hell. Not at me, not at you, but at himself. He would not have harmed you on purpose.”

Apollo narrowed his eyes. “Then why are we doing therapy over it?”

“Because you had doubts. Because you get to be angry. You get to be all kinds of pissed. Hell, you get to fucking demand he pay penance, if you’d fucking like. The whole point of these therapy sessions isn’t to just patch together a better family and forgive each other. It’s about allowing the feelings all of you have bottled up and inaccurately expressed for years to come out so that you can move forward together.”

Apollo stared at Percy for a long time, then he collapsed. “I know you’re right.”

Percy shrugged. “I’m going to be honest, I knew that someone was going to have a lot of issues with any of this. My money wasn’t on you, but it’s alright. I saw this coming.”

“I should be better with this.”

Percy tilted his head to the side. “Why? These emotions are difficult at the best of times, and we’re speed running through issues that would take others decades to centuries to overcome. You’re not at fault for needing more than an evening talking to one another.”

When he didn’t get a response, Percy darted in to hug Apollo. “I’m going to go get some food, but it’ll be okay.”

With that Percy once more found himself drawn to the community kitchen. He was more surprised to see Ariadne sitting alone in the kitchen. “My lady,” he said.

She snorted. “Cousins.”

“Cousin,” he corrected.

She leaned against the back cushion. “The divine energy is still a lot for me some days.”

“Really?”

Ariadne nodded. “It’s not like I ascended naturally. I was fully mortal, no god blood at all really. Or well I think I was a distant legacy, but not someone who was remembered. Not someone who was gifted with godly energy and divine energy. Even now immortal that I am, staring at all of them being full gods is too much for me to handle.”

Percy frowned. “You need to talk to Uncle Zeus about this.”

She winced. “I do not wish to bother the king of gods.”

“He asked you to come to him for help with this,” Percy pointed out as he laid out a nice breakfast for himself.

“What did I ask for people to do?” Zeus asked as he stepped into the kitchen. He laid a gentle hand on Percy’s shoulder as he stood there behind him. He did place a small brick of ambrosia on the plate as well.

Ariadne smiled in a way that portrayed her grimace almost as much as her respect. “I am merely having issue with how much divinity was in the room with all but Apollo there and in their full godly forms.”

“Does that often bother you?”

She ducked her head in a sheepish nod, but she nodded all the same.

Zeus frowned. “I will look into this. I’m not all that aware of another mortal who ascended quite like you did, my dear.”

She licked her lips. “You don’t have to. This could just be my burden to bear.”

Zeus arched a brow. “You are my daughter, of course I will look into this. Thank you, Percy, for bringing this to my attention.”

Percy nodded as he ate. He was being rather quick about his meal this morning, because between yesterday’s session and Apollo’s nerves this morning, he did not want to allow this to fester any longer than he absolutely had to.

When he finished his meal, he went to the throne room. He wasn’t surprised that he was among the first today, although a gentle nod to Hera meant that he knew the message would be conveyed. He approached his beanbag chair and clambered on top of it.

His breathing was calm as everyone approached. He kept it calm and steady as he could so that if Apollo glanced towards him for support, all he would get is a calm balm telling him that everything was alright.

Once everyone was there, Percy stood on his podium. “Today’s session is going to be a little further back into time that I wasn’t there for and know very little about in all actuality. Nico has told me a small portion, and Rachel has told me other small bits, but Auntie Hestia believes this is important to talk about and I’m inclined to agree with her. We’re going to talk about the curse on the Oracle of Delphi.”

Eyes shot across the room. A few people darted their gaze to Zeus on instinct.

“Now, I am going to put a few restrictions on this conversation. Much as I am loathe to do so this early into the session, I have a gut feeling that this will go off the rails extremely quickly if I am not prudent with my warnings here and now. We will not go into the oath that caused all of these actions to take place. Your apologies will not have excuses that boil down to the oath upset me. You will not drag that into today’s session. That will have its own place and has its own causes that could be considered extremely problematic. Today, we are going to address specifically this.”

“Percy?” Dionysus called. “Perhaps a reminder on why that is important.”

“I’m not going to allow the blame to shift onto the oath, when there were such drastic choices made with what to do in response to the oath. This deserves to be its own situation without any dismissal of emotions that could come up.”

Zeus nodded.

Hades cleared his throat. “If I may, nephew, take over from here.”

Apollo winced, but gave an almost indecipherable nod to Percy to let him know that it was alright to allow this.

Hades glanced over at Apollo. He pursed his lips for a moment. Then, in a move that truly shocked everyone in attendance at this meeting, he took off his helm and placed it in Apollo’s lap. He also laid his weapon across the arm of Apollo’s chair. He quirked a small half smile towards Apollo. “I’ve never been all that good at words, Apollo. I don’t know what to do now that I know my actions didn’t hurt who I intended them to. And in all honesty, I just wasn’t thinking, my nephew.”

“Okay,” Apollo’s voice trembled as he said this. His eyes on the major weapons of mass destruction in his lap.

“Tell me what you would like me to do to make amends, and I will, Apollo.”

Apollo pursed his lips. “Did you realize what this would do to me? Did you realize that you were blocking the most faithful of my followers? The only mortal who could see through the mist? Did you realize how many mortals would fall into peril trying to fix this curse?”

Hades looked away sheepish. “No. I should have, but I was not thinking. I realized sometime shortly after, but my curse was already finalized, and I could not hasten its end the way I worded it.”

Apollo squeezed his eyes shut. Tears leaked out of his eyes.

Hephaestus looked pained by the way that Apollo was clearly struggling.

Artemis frowned at her uncle. “Why put the burden on him to tell you how to make amends?”

“Because I don’t know what would make this right.” Hades shrugged his shoulders. “I messed up, and that’s quite easy to see. I hurt him, and that’s quite frankly, I’m not going to forgive myself for that forever. I made it a point never to hurt you kids as a result of our sibling fights, and I didn’t intend to start here.”

“Did you think this would hurt dad?” There was a soft, childlike note in his voice, where he was pleading with them to understand. He was begging them to not send him away and judge him.

“It was a thought in my head that it might. Mostly I wanted to hurt her.”

“The oracle?” Hermes questioned.

Hades nodded. “It wasn’t quite reasonable to blame her, but she is the one who told me that none of my actions could spare Maria. I did not like this information and felt that if I just worked with what she had told me would happen, I’d be able to change the way the story ended, when I couldn’t. I wanted her to suffer.”

Apollo stared at Hades, then he started laughing. The first laugh was quiet and almost deranged with the way that he curled in on himself. The second set of laughter was much louder and still complete with wide eyes and a lack of comprehension in them. By the time the third set rolled around, he was practically just reveling in the delighted stares of others.

“Nephew,” Hades spoke softly.

“No, no.” He managed to get the words out in between his laughs. “You don’t understand. I didn’t think that I had done anything to warrant punishment, but if you wanted to hurt her for that, then I suppose I did do something to warrant you being that pissed off.”

“What?”

“Did you think my oracle came to you out of the kindness of her heart? Did you think she sought you out against the norms of my oracles because she saw your future and wanted to torment you?”

“Yeah. That seemed rather apparent with her decision to come tell me.”

The unhinged laughter was back. Apollo’s hand was covering his chest as he fought to gain control of his laughter and the gasps of air that he was taking in.

“Perhaps,” Hephaestus said over the laughter, “you could explain it to the rest of us, as we appear to be confused.”

Apollo clutched at his chest but nodded at his brother in understanding. “Uncle, my oracle came at my behest.”

“What? You wanted to torment me with your father’s actions.” For the first time in these therapy sessions, Hades flinched back. Hurt filled his eyes as he stared.

Apollo stared at Hades in disbelief. “You are so quick to judge.”

“Apollo,” Zeus said in a low voice. “I don’t know what you are intending to do with this rant, but right now, you’re just going to drive him to anger.”

“He deserves whatever I choose to tell him,” Apollo snarled. Then, almost as an after thought, he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, cousin. That wasn’t helpful.”

Percy blinked. “Your emotions are your own, Apollo. What you feel is important, although taking your anger out on others won’t do much good.”

He squeezed his eyes closed. A small chuckle escaped him. “You really are something else, cousin.”

When Apollo opened his eyes, he focused on his Uncle Hades once more. “You’re a damned fool. And I’m a fool for wanting to help. And father is most certainly a fool for having done so.”

“I… what?”

“I sent her to tell you because I did not want you to be suffering in grief for something you didn’t see coming. I had seen you squirrel off the children. I thought that was quite poetic for the fates and the prophecy. Something that would upset Zeus and not break the oath. If certain people had managed to keep it in their pants, that would have come to be.”

“I… you knew,” Hades stuttered.

“I know a lot more than what the rest of you tend to recall that I would know.” Apollo rubbed a hand across his face. “However, I wasn’t done explaining.”

“Sorry, nephew, continue.”

“Anyway, I realized that dad was unhappy that you were still paying attention to your old lover. Something about not being separated enough from mortals. Something about fear. I could taste it in the air. And the prophecy was easy enough to see the moment you went back after the kids were gone. Zeus was going to kill her that day.”

Zeus winced. “Apollo, I never intended for you kids to get involved in that oath.”

“Nor was it you that got me involved. That was all my choice,” Apollo said, his voice harsh and unwavering. “I chose to go to Uncle Hades in a voice that I could get without setting you off. I chose to warn him about the love he had found’s incoming demise. I am the one who thought that maybe it would be nicer to spare him the shock and agony of not knowing just this once.”

Apollo’s eyes bore into Hades. The gaze had no touch of forgiveness to it, and for one of the first times, Percy truly understood why Apollo was also the god of plagues. Yes, he could heal. Yes, he was full of light and life. He could sing for hours and prophecize. But he could also wreck civilizations with illness. He could take the joy out of music and refuse to play.

Hades swallowed in the face of that rage. He could barely breathe. He hadn’t thought about Apollo at all, and here he was, and he was not a forgiving god. Surprising given that once Hades would have thought Apollo would be all over the possible redemption of the family. Trust that to not be the case any longer.

He turned a pleading gaze to Percy.

Percy blinked. Right, he was leading these therapy sessions. “Apollo, am I right in hearing that you were trying to help Uncle Hades?”

Apollo’s intense gaze turned to Percy. He lost a bit of his anger, gazing upon his cousin. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“And you’re hurt that after trying to do everything possible to help him, he took that gift and punished you for it?”

He ducked his head in another nod.

“And you’re aware based on his own argument that he did not intend for this to hurt you? He thought that it would hurt the oracle and possibly Zeus, but not you.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Ah, yes. Yet another apology that boils down to they’re sorry this had an impact on me, but they didn’t think of it at the time. I was an after thought. The consequence that they didn’t fucking see coming. Dad says he didn’t know binding my powers would hurt me, and I forgave. Ares says that he didn’t intend to get so many of children massacred in a war they shouldn’t have been in, and somehow I’m the only one not forgiving him. And now my uncle tells me that when he purposefully attacked my own fucking mortal mouth piece, he didn’t realize who it would fucking harm most.”

Hades raised his hands in a placating manner. “Apollo, I am sorry.”

“We’ve established that,” Apollo said bitterly.

“No, we haven’t.”

That got Apollo’s attention. He furrowed his brow. “Sure, it is. It’s quite literally the first thing that you said to me.”

“No, I gave you the tools that would give me more power than you. And I told you to tell me how to make amends because I’m shit at words. Between those two things, you inferred that I was sorry, but the rest of my answers muddled that view.”

Hades stared at his nephew. “I am sorry. It was not my intention to harm you, but I did. And there is nothing that I can do to take that back, but I would. If it were possible to do it all again, I would choose differently. I would ensure that you were not harmed. I would ensure that you did not doubt that. I would take whatever consequences followed that over this, every single time.”

Apollo’s mouth fell open into a gape.

“I don’t know what to say to you. I don’t what could possibly make this right. I did not consider that she was trying to help me, that you were trying to help me. It felt like someone was rubbing salt into the wound, not prepping me for the inevitable, and I know that a part of that is grief and the fact no one is all that rational during grief, but I should have been better and made sure that I didn’t hurt you in my grief.”

Apollo’s eyes watered. He turned his head to the side. He wished that someone were there at his side, holding him together during this.

Hephaestus was there. He was leaning harshly against the side of the throne, his cane still with most of his body on his own throne, but he had an arm wrapped around his brother, and a gentle hand, caressing his blonde hair.

Hades smiled at Hephaestus. “Apollo, tell me what you wish for me to do.”

Apollo sniffled lightly. “I want your word that my oracle won’t be part of your fucking problems again.”

“You have it.” Hades tilted his head to the side. “I vow to never target the oracle of Delphi again.”

Apollo eyes darted down. “I want your promise that you’ll come talk to me next time a prophecy is read that involves you, your children, or your lovers, so that I can at least try to explain what the hell is happening.”

“I will come to you,” Hades swore softly. He reached out to run a hand through Apollo’s hair too.

Apollo wilted against the touch. “I just…stop treating me like a fucking thing to use. My prophecies aren’t just things you can use. They’re integral to who I am.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Hades repeated. He stepped closer. He wrapped an arm around Apollo now, and Hephaestus faded back to his own throne.

Apollo’s eyes lit up. He twisted in his chair until he could see Ares. He pointed at his brother. “You’re an asshole.”

“Uhuh,” Ares said softly.

“You’re going to help me build actual memorials for the children you got killed.”

“Sure, Apollo.”

“And you’re going to help me train the remaining kids on how the fuck to fight if they get into a closer fight, so they don’t get themselves killed.”

“As you wish.”

Apollo huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then, fine. You’re forgiven too.”

Ares blinked. “What?”

Apollo shrugged helplessly. “Well, I mean for fuck’s sake. I was willing to forgive dad, thinking that he did me the worst out of everyone only to find out that you were a secret fucking betrayer and the reasons and excuses I had afforded to Uncle Hades turned out to be shit, so suddenly dad felt like the more reasonable one of all of us.”

Zeus couldn’t help but let out a snort of amusement. “Really?”

“Oh, hush. You still hurt me plenty, but shit, at least I did actively do something to you first.”

Several people gaped at that. Finally, Ares spoke into the silence of the room. “Why forgive when you weren’t ready to set the anger down?”

“It seemed at the time like you weren’t offering anything, but both of you were. You just weren’t able to offer things I wanted to see at first. You will never again go to grandfather before me.”

“No, I will not.”

“Uncle Hades will never again target my oracle in an attempt to get to me.”

“That’s correct,” Hades whispered.

“Then, I’m done fighting. The anger was covering for hurt anyway. It was time to admit that it just ached because I would never have done that to you. I would have ignored my father’s orders to let the woman die to tell you that her death was coming. I would have ignored dad’s demand to ignore Dionysus if you had told me your solution, brother. And Dionysus, had I realized that you desperately needed someone to fight Zeus, I would have done so. So to me, the fact that you didn’t engage in that for me, it just fucking hurt.”

Dionysus rolled his eyes. “Alright, well before getting pissed off next time, talk to us too, asshole.”

“What?”

Dionysus pointed towards Hades. “Listen, Uncle might be an idiot and a fool for targeting your oracle without considering the harm it would put you in, but he couldn’t be blamed for not knowing the prophecy was from you. You mostly direct the fates. She could have been meant to explain to the rest of the mortals about Zeus and chose to piss off the god of the dead. That, honestly, would be easier to believe than you choosing right then to go against father’s wishes for the first time.”

His finger traveled over to where Ares was. “And that dumbass might have gone to get us all overthrown by a titan with more issues than Zeus, but at least he had causes to fight for. You had made no move against father than any of us could see. No one knew that you could be trusted in the fight. Don’t blame him for not going to you when you weren’t a trusted individual. The only one of your siblings that would have known for sure is Artemis, and she’s your fucking twin.”

Then, he jabs the finger into his chest. “As for me, fuck off. You didn’t speak for me. You suffered the same, and I forgave you on that basis. But you did not come when I needed you. You might have, had I spoken up, and fine. But don’t act like you did something at the time, because you didn’t.”

“I would have,” Apollo screamed.

“And we would have helped you with the oracle had you bothered to speak to any of us,” Dionysus raged back. “I was there with her. I was there with the others that tried to take her place and went mad in the absence of your guiding light. I could have helped. The madness he cursed them with, it was my domain. I could have fought him for control, and I would have won. I could have helped, damn you, Apollo. You didn’t trust me either.”

Percy cast his eyes around the room.

Hades was frowning. “Dionysus, I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Shut up,” Dionysus snarled. “This needs to be said to all of you. The only two people here who has truly acknowledged fully and utterly that they fucked up and fully accepted all that means are Ares and father. Father knelt in front of Uncle Poseidon and begged to be forgiven because he overreacted. He explained why, and he made no excuses. Ares did the same. The rest of us, we keep going in fucking circles.”

Dionysus’ eyes blazed with a deep purple. “So, here goes nothing. I am sorry, father. I should have argued my case. I shouldn’t have allowed my fear of you to mean that I never did anything in response to you. I should have done more, so that I wasn’t blaming you in part for a fear that didn’t have any logical basis. You had never hurt me, never struck me. You wouldn’t do that.”

Zeus blinked.

Poseidon shook his head then laughed. “Hey, brother, your kid has a point.”

Zeus snapped his gaze up to Poseidon, confusion written in his eyes.

“When you declared that the winter solstice would be the point of war if I didn’t return your bolt, I should have told you that I didn’t have it. And when you didn’t believe just empty words, I should have gone to get something that would convince you. Give up my trident, ask Apollo to bind my lips from speaking lies for a period of time. Something to actually put our grievances aside, rather than try to protect the son you were blaming. That didn’t help. It actually made things a lot worse.”

Zeus blinked in surprise. Then, he burst out laughing. “Yeah, alright. Point taken and received.” He paused, a frown on his face. “Hey, Hades.”

Hades hummed.

“Sorry about breaking the oath and then not bothering to tell you until she was already at quest age and doing stuff that we had agreed we didn’t want done all together. I should have bothered with at least a heads up.”

Apollo rubbed at his eyes. He stared at Dionysus for a second. “You’re an asshole. I wanted to wallow in anger.”

“We’ve done enough of that for fucking millennia.”

Apollo sucked in a breath. He blew out. “You’re lucky I like you.”

Percy watched cautiously. He was ready to intervene, but honestly, his hope was that this was the best they could make it be while talking about this.

“Uncle, you have my apologies for not making it clear that the oracle was messaging you from me. I should have ensured that someone was aware that when she speaks to gods, she does so at my behest or not at all."

Hades shook his head. “There is nothing to forgive.”

“My brother appears to think otherwise.”

Apollo’s eyes tracked over to Ares. “I..”

Ares cut him off with a raised hand. “Do me a favor and don’t.”

Dionysus frowned. “He played a role.”

“No, he didn’t.” Ares’ eyes were hard. “None of my siblings were kept out of my plans because I didn’t trust them or whatever it was that you said in your rant. I kept you out of my plans so that if dad got wiser about it, he couldn’t hurt you alongside me.”

Apollo stared at Ares. “Would you have come to me? Had you not been concerned about what father would do to me?”

“Yes.” Ares rubbed at his eyes. “I mean you weren’t my first stop. I would have gone to Hephaestus first. Despite all the obvious problems with our relationship, he is the one of you I’m closest to. And then, Dionysus would have come before you because well, he was kind of my catalyst.”

Apollo snorted. “You’re an idiot.”

“Oh?”

“I’m the only one who could probably go toe to toe with dad and come out unscathed. I am the god of truth, enough so that I’d be the only one fully capable of lying and getting away with it.” Apollo rolled his eyes though. “Seriously, we’re good.”

Dionysus had a grin on his face, and Percy mirrored it. Everyone was finally thinking about the whole system of trouble that was constantly present in this family. They weren’t just making up new and old excuses. They were thinking.

Percy cleared his throat. “With that, I think that we’re good until the next session.”

Apollo hopped off his throne. Before anyone could think about why, he darted forward to give Hades a quick hug before ending up hanging off of Ares’ arm.

Ares made to speak, then thought better of it. He just shook his head in amusement.

Percy waited as the gods had their moments clearing out the throne room. Until he realized that Dionysus was left with him. He tilted his head to the side in a silent question.

“Things are better now than they were.”

Percy nodded. “Yes, at the start of this, Zeus never would have uttered an apology. Nor would have Hades or my father. They’re all working on it.”

“They’re working on it because of you,” Dionysus pointed out. “I was able to get angry and rant at Apollo today. I didn’t have to worry that anyone was going to take sides when I did so, because I trusted that you would stop them.”

Percy shrugged. “Just doing what I was asked.”

“No,” Dionysus corrected softly. “You’re doing what is needed.”

Percy blinked up at the god. “Why are you saying this?”

“One, I wanted to say thank you. Even if this all goes to hell now, we all know that we are capable of more, and we know that because of what you did.”

“And?” Percy was now fully aware that the gods rarely had only one reason before doing anything.

“Two, I wanted to know whether you knew that you were doing it.”

“Doing what?”

Dionysus’ eyes were sympathetic as he shook his head. “I don’t believe that this is one I should tell you, little cousin. Too much riding on whatever this is.”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Alright, well then, I’m going to try to get a good meal and some sleep that isn’t filled with divinity for a change. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You always do.”

Chapter Text

Percy woke up clutching his chest. The dreams had taken him by surprise tonight. For the last several, nothing that normally plagued the demigod’s sleep had been present. His sleep this time, though, had been nothing close to pleasant. He kept remembering the pit. The way that night had come to speak to him in a form that was nothing close to human, and probably should have burned his skin off. The way that Akhlys had started to pray and beg for mercy, and the fact that it was Annabeth who was won over by those pretty words and not him. The way that he wanted nothing more than to beat the pit down for standing between him and his goals.

He dragged himself up and out of the bed. His movements were jerky. His footsteps were heavy as he followed his mental map to a place to make food. He was pretty sure eyes were on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look for which ones, because if it were any of the ones that haunted his dreams, he wanted no part of it.

“Percy,” Zeus said, his voice not as thundering as it usually was at a time like this.

“Uncle,” Percy replied. He took a sip of the orange juice he had poured and let the liquid help slip him into a more positive headspace. He turned to look at Zeus afterwards.

“You are unwell.”

Percy flapped a hand in the air. “I am a demigod. I fought in two titan wars, one of which was also the giant war. And last night was a bad night for sleep to find me. I’ll be fine.”

Poseidon stared at his son for a moment. “I had no idea that nightmares still plagued you.”

Athena tilted her head to the side. “My blessing of Annabeth, no one offered you the same?”

“No, my lady.”

Athena frowned. She stepped forward. “Trust me?”

“Of course, cousin.” Percy no longer felt any sort of distrust for the gods that were part of the family. They might do crazy things at times, and they weren’t the most well adjusted people in the universe, but they wouldn’t deliberately hurt him without cause. They would hesitate and want to do better than that.

Athena’s hand brushed across his forehead, much the same as she had done for Annabeth at the end of the battle of giants. Only, this time the frown did not lift from her face.

“He said no,” she muttered.

“Hypnos denied you,” Hera questioned.

Hades glanced over a furrow in his brow. “Does he not still owe you many times over for the help that you gave him?”

Percy could hear the gods speaking, but he was no longer listening. He could feel a laugh in the back of his head. A laugh that he hadn’t heard in so long and yet frequently in these nightmares.

“Does the pretty goddess of wisdom think that her favors with him outweigh his fear and obligation to me?”

“Lady Nyx,” Percy thought.

“Hello, little godling. Will you send the gods a message for me?”

Percy didn’t say anything. He knew better than to deny her anything, and yet still knew better than to promise her anything either.

“Remind them that you are touched by things older than them. Remind them that you are here because none of us claimed you for good, but that you are ours as well as theirs. You will be haunted by Tartarus until you die. You will hear me until I decide that messing with you is no longer fun.”

Nyx’s laughter continued. “Remind them that you have seen us in not a humanoid form and lived.”

She was gone from his head, and the gods were looking at him. They looked at Percy like they had never seen him before. Like they hadn’t had conversation after conversation about how he was a part of this family. He touched his forehead and realized that he had a fresh sheen of sweat across his brow.

Percy laid his head down gently. “Hypnos will not answer your request, Athena.”

“Why?”

“Because there are forces at play that are larger than the favor that you are owed. You are asking him to block out Tartarus and Nyx.”

The names drew attention to him that he normally skirted away from and tried valiantly to keep far away from himself, but when their attention had been on him for long enough for the nightmares to last, he knew that the names wouldn’t cause more issues. He sighed. “Lady Nyx has a message.”

Zeus crossed his arms over his chest. “She has not stepped foot into the land of the living in quite some time.”

“Not as a human persona, but her domain touches them often,” Hades corrected.

Zeus inclined his head. An agreement between brothers that once would have been a fight.

“She wants you to know that I am touched by those that are older than you. She wanted me to tell you that I’ve seen her in a non-human form and still yet live. And that her and Tartarus won’t leave me alone until they are ready to leave me alone or until I have died and found peace away from their reach.”

Poseidon moved suddenly to Percy’s side. “Son, you will be at peace eventually.”

Percy laughed. He leaned against his father, now close enough to him to do so. “I hope so.”

Zeus pursed his lips. “Why would she want to send that message now?”

“Probably because Athena just attempted to yank me away from her, potentially to stir up trouble,” Percy answered. Only, he didn’t think either of those were the best answers. Nyx came when she thought that something interesting was about to happen. Which, oh shit, he was about to get them to talk about the oath, and if he had his way with how this therapy session was going to go, he would need to convince them to speak to the River Styx about how to get rid of the debts floating around her surface.

Athena’s eyes caught on him. “You figured something out.”

Percy’s mouth was agape. “Umm, it’s therapy time.”

Athena frowned. “No, tell me why Nyx is willing to exert pressure on my friend. Tell me why today is important enough for her presence and interference.”

“Today’s session,” Percy snapped. “Which is not something I’m sharing in this room with everyone in here, because that will cause a fight to break out in not therapy. And I’m barely controlling the fights into a productive mess in therapy.”

Zeus considered that for a moment. “Everyone, leave us.”

Gods hesitated, but when they saw the expression on the face of the king of gods, they eventually all left. Zeus’ eyes were soft when they landed on Percy. “Nephew, why is she curious?”

Percy swallowed. “We need to talk about the oath.”

“Oh.”

“And talking about the oath, includes talking about the consequences for breaking it. Consequences that are still floating around as debts to the Lady Styx with my survival. Maybe with Thalia’s. The lady might have decided that being so far apart from you was enough to rid the debt, I’m unsure.”

Zeus let out a shallow breath of air.

“Nyx is curious what I will do.” The name caused shivers to run down his arms, but he ignored them. She wasn’t going to hurt him right now. She wanted him functioning to ask the questions in therapy and win her answers.

“What will you do?”

Percy closed his eyes for a second. “I am going to allow several people to speak. I will ask you to tell everyone what prompted your desire to take the oath. I will ask you how you asked Uncle Hades and father. I will move on to why each of them agreed to take the oath.”

“And then?”

“Then, we’re going to talk about the emotions of everyone when two of you fuckers decided to break those oaths, losing trust in more than just your word. Then, we’ll talk how debts are collected from Lady Styx.”

Zeus flinched. “We all know how they’re collected, Percy.”

“No, I don’t think you do. Only one of us, uncle, has ever swam in her rivers.”

Zeus swallowed harshly. “Hardly the only demigod.”

“The only one alive,” Percy retorted quickly. Where once he would have been somewhat scared of his uncle’s reaction to that much sass, he now trusted that his presence here was desired enough that this would not be what broke his uncle’s vow not to harm him again.

Zeus inclined his head just barely.

“And for all that we shall talk about how the Lady Styx collects her debts, we will also likely need to call on her.”

“Why?”

“To find out how to truly break that oath you made. Did it end in her waters once the prophecy was finished and the reason all of you took the oath is gone? Does it end when she says its done? We both know that eventually either you or father will break the oath again, and even if you’ve become okay with each other and no longer hate one another for the broken promise, there is every chance that the Lady Styx will still demand payment, so you’ll have to work it out with her on what needs to be done.”

Zeus blinked. “You plan on having us remove an oath we swore on her waters. She does not allow such things lightly.”

Percy stared at his uncle. “The alternative is for you and father to continue pissing her off every few decades, and she will slowly be increasing the toll for doing so each time. Can you promise to actually hold true to your oath?”

“No.”

“Then, this is the best way to move forward,” Percy pointed out.

“And the lady of the night is curious how this will end up, because as far as I'm aware, none of us have ever tried to barter with the Lady Styx regarding an oath sworn in her name.”

Percy nodded. “That’s my best bet.”

Zeus jerked his head into a nod. “Alright, that makes sense in a way.”

Percy shot him a genuine smile. “Onwards, Uncle.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. “You are forever going to be reminding me that I gave you full permission to be a member of this family, aren’t you, brat?”

Percy laughed. It was carefree and wild, and for a second the damn weight of the pit and Nyx’s attention faded away from him. “Oh, the second that you agreed to Auntie Hestia’s mad plan of doing family therapy, you were resigned to this fate.”

“That’s right. You did start that first meeting by calling me uncle to my face.”

Percy winked. “It seemed important to drag those feelings up immediately to avoid them becoming prickly at a later time.”

“Maniac,” Zeus said fondly. He wrapped a hand around Percy’s shoulder as they walked to the throne room.

Percy walked in, and nearly bowed down under the weight of eyes. Shit, he was wrong when he said that Nyx was curious. It felt like every deity that could have a stake in this was currently looking in on him.

Zeus noted his pause and stopped with him. “Percy?”

“Sorry, uncle. Can you not feel the weight of what’s watching us?”

“It happens on occasion. I’ve gotten used to the fact they pop up at times.”

“Ah.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy. “I forget sometimes that you are not accustomed to this way of life. They cannot harm you here.”

Percy flashed a forgiving smile towards his uncle. “No worries. It’s still just a lot for a young soul like me.”

“Fair enough.”

Percy walked up to his podium and waited. He watched as the gods and goddesses noted his presence and his stiff stance. They all immediately settled down and to their positions to allow him access to all of their attention once more.

This time, it was him that needed to suck in a breath of air and calm himself. This day could make or break everything. Every day from this moment forward could. They weren’t dealing with petty behaviors of the recent years or the wars that drove them tighter, but everything that could have fractioned them over several millennia. And somehow he was supposed to be the one driving sense and sensibility in this scenario.

“Hello, aunts, uncles, father, step-mother, brother and cousins.”

“Percy,” his father’s voice rumbled into the void of silence. There was now a nervousness in all these supreme beings. A nervousness that Percy had the ability to cause with his position among them.

“Today, we need to talk about a serious topic. We’re going to talk about the oath that was sworn in the aftermath of the second world war. We are going to talk about the oath taken to subvert a prophecy. We are talking about the oath that makes my existence forbidden, the oath that haunts my every step, that forced me here on a quest.”

Several of the deities slumped into their chairs. They were not the ones that were going to be on blast.

“I request that everyone pay attention to the order that I would like this conversation to go, because I suspect that this will bring up several issues that have been barely passed by before.”

Nods followed his proclamation. No one was willing to speak against him.

“We are going to go in reverse order. Those who were directly impacted by them swearing this oath get to speak first. Apollo, Hera, Amphitrite, that means you. Then, we will hear from each of the three members of this oath why they went into this mess. Only after that will we talk about the consequences that you have faced and what you would like to do with the oath still sitting in the Styx’s waters.”

A wave of flames rippled under his skin. He knew that she had heard him. Names were important and today more than ever, they were going to be the reason he was able to speak on this subject.

“We understand, Percy,” Zeus announced.

Apollo’s gaze darted to Percy. “Umm, me, Perce?”

“Are you not the god of prophecy? Are you not the god they attempted to subvert when they went against the fates?”

He swallowed. “That feels like something the fates deal with more than me.”

“Because it is, but you are far from immune to these decisions. Speak.” Percy could hear the command thrumming in his voice. He could feel the way that he was the primary presence and how he wasn’t the only one at the same time. He was a spokesperson for more than just him.

Apollo swallowed harshly. “Father, uncles…..” He glanced futilely towards his siblings, but none of them were here to speak, not yet. “Father, uncles,” he said stronger. “You cannot subvert the fates. All you will ever do is make matters worse. Prophecies do not go unfulfilled. The fates do not go ignored. You cannot just will your way out of a problem.”

“I can sure as shit try when the fate of us all is on the line,” Zeus said flatly.

Apollo shook his head. “No, you can’t. I told you then, and I will tell you now. All you did was ensure that a broken oath was hanging over your head. You would never have lasted. A child would be born. A child would carry this prophecy. We can all thank our lucky stars that it was Percy it landed on.”

“Thalia told me once, when I asked her,” Percy intervened, “that part of the reason she became a huntress was because if this prophecy had fallen in her lap, she would not have made the same decision she did. She would have doomed you all.”

Artemis’ eyes narrowed in his direction. “She is loyal. She is nothing like the traitor Luke was.”

“She is loyal to you, my lady.” Percy closed his eyes. “But she hates Olympus and all that it stands for. She hates that children are being sent to fight battles made for immortal adults. She hates the way they stand above and judge us. If she had been the one to stand between Grandfather and Olympus, Olympus would have fallen because she could never have given all of herself to win the fight.”

“And you could?” Hermes questioned. “We were not kind to you either. An argument could be made that we were more unkind to you than we were to her.”

“Fatal flaw,” Percy retorted.

Several people stared at him in shock. They seemed to forget often that his fatal flaw included many of them as well as the mortals in camp halfblood and camp Jupiter. He loved more than just his mother now, and that could be seen in every decision that he made.

Percy nodded to Apollo to encourage him to keep going. He had intervened because he had information that the rest of them did not, but he had no fight in this argument. What was done to him had already been sealed by the fates. His footing in this had long been determined.

Apollo acknowledged the request to begin speaking. “Like I said, we are lucky it landed on Percy. The fates could have pinned it on Thalia, or Bianca or even little Nico.” His eyes glazed over for a second. “None of those would have been good for our survival. Most of them would not have chosen us, or if they had, would have demanded much more than Percy did at the conclusion of this. When you chose to subvert fate, you threw all of us into a high risk situation. And not a single one of you thought to actually check in with all of us before it was too late to take it back from the river.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy and then he turned his attention towards Apollo. “My son, you were present when the decision was mentioned.”

“There is a difference between being told something is happening and advising against it only to be ignored, and actively being a part of the decision making process.” Apollo covered his head and let out a muffled scream. Then, he uncovered his face. “Dad, I am the one who holds domain over these things. The least you could do is consult me before making a scheme that will possibly hurt you and the others.”

“That is true,” Zeus offered. “Perhaps, I should have asked you. Perhaps, I should have gone to the fates themselves to see whether or not I could have devised a plan with them. Only at the time, I trusted so few people and I certainly wanted no one to know the weaknesses that were trailing behind me.”

Percy nodded. Proud of his uncle for speaking on that subject here, even with the presence of several more gods than usual watching. They were not, Percy thought, able to see everything, but they were watching and waiting to see what energies would end up here.

“Amphitrite,” Percy said softly, guiding her into speaking.

Amphitrite blinked. “Poseidon and I have different rules from our marriage. I do not begrudge him his affairs with those that bring about demigods or monsters. It is a part of his call. To be angered at that would be to dislike the god that I married. I love him, and I do not just love parts of him.”

Poseidon smiled to his wife.

“However, this oath was a mistake. It was perhaps one of the stupidest things I have ever known my husband to do. The Lady Styx always exacts payment. The fates have proven to the sea before that our immortality is not so vast as to never be snatched away. He invited her presence and revenge into our family the moment that oath was sworn. He never could have kept it. No matter how much he wanted to protect Olympus. No matter how much he wished to honor his promise to his brothers. The sea, it doesn’t do well with any full containment, and he attempted to restrain it.”

Poseidon winced. “I was not perhaps thinking the most clearly about the impacts of this.”

Amphitrite snorted. “You should have spoken to me before making such a powerful oath. It is my realm too, my family, that will be at the hands of the fates when you make such choices."

Percy felt the winds shift. They were not visible, he knew. But the fates were paying attention. What they did here would determine how the fates would react to further attempts to squash the weaves they make. Holy shit, more pressure put on his shoulders. He’s surprised he hasn’t folded from the weight of the world being pressed down on him.

Poseidon nodded to his wife. “I will do so in the future.”

“I know, you’ve told me before. We did not need therapy for our marital fights.” She glanced at Percy. “Is that enough?”

“I believe so. Hera?”

Hera turned to stare at Percy. “Are you aware what you are asking me to speak on?”

“Yes.”

“I did not care about his oath.” The ground shuddered. The winds picked up speed. Hera frowned at Olympus’ tremors. “Subverting the fates was useless. The idea of him keeping his dick from being wet in a mortal woman, laughable. He has never done so before, not even for the oaths of marriage he made for his sister. Why would this be any different? I was more shocked the river even allowed the oath to be cast. Surely, no one truly believe them. Surely, everyone knew when the words were said that they were lies. Perhaps, I am mistaken, but you, Percy and your cousins, were doomed the moment that Zeus said the oath. The river was always going to exact a price, the fates always going to get their way, and Olympus was always on the precipice of doom.”

Zeus turned to his wife. “And you did not think that wise to share with Olympus’ king.”

“Olympus’ king rarely listens to advice from his wife.” Hera held her head up high. “You do not like me. You might still love me, but if this is what your love looks like and feels like, then it is a love that I do not want.”

Zeus fell backwards into his throne, his jaw open.

“Ever since I started taking my own revenge for the oaths you break, you stopped treating me as an equal. You might not treat me as a subject, but you certainly do not treat me as a queen. I ended up asking one of our brothers for the assurance that you couldn't just speak without any of us having a say. I did not go to you about this pathetic attempt to make another oath that you’d never keep, because there was no purpose. You do not care about your oaths. You do not care about who or what is hurt. You do what you wish. You wished for them to swear an oath so you could claim to be doing something about the incoming doom of Olympus. You did nothing."

Hades cleared his throat. “Sister..”

“Shut up.”

Percy tilted his head to the side. Infidelity problems aside, overthrow problems buried, and trust issues pushed away, her issue was as Queen of Olympus. “Aunt Hera,” he called. Him, she did not speak against. "What would you have suggested he do in place of the oath?”

“An agreement to wait for ten, maybe twenty years before any of them fathered children. The two of Hades that were already alive, would need to be stopped from reaching 16. Easy enough. Neither were close enough to ascension for us to easily get that, but the girl always could have gone to Artemis earlier than she did. The boy was young, we could have been working on building up his skills to make him closer to ascension. Failing that if it did not work, we could have done precisely what was done and send him to a place that could not age him until it was time. It was needlessly made an impossible task.”

“That wouldn’t have changed the prophecy,” Zeus finally spoke.

Hera stared at him in bewilderment. “Neither did what you chose. There was no way to change the prophecy. It was spoken by the oracle. The fates had placed it into the weave. Nothing and no one could have changed it. We could have controlled it better, though. We could have ensured that Percy wasn’t so thrown by the prophecy that the choice became what it was. Father was always going to try. We were always going to fight. It didn’t have to be so hard.”

Zeus stared at his wife. "I thought you agreed that the great prophecy was a problem.”

“It was. It meant father was back to being an abusive meddling prick. It didn’t mean that we should piss off just about everyone.”

Zeus gaped at her.

“I certainly didn’t intend for you to invoke Lady Styx’s wrath on your damn bastards alongside mine. That was the height of stupidity. At least you can appeal to me. At least you can barter with me. I am cruel to them, but I respect your laws.”

Hera turned away from Zeus. She instead looked towards Hades. “I was in fact relying on you to be the voice of reason at that meeting.”

He snorted. “I am the one that could actually keep the oath being asked of me.”

“Yes, and the fact you knew that meant you should have stopped your brothers from being bloody fucking morons.”

Hades frowned. “That is not my job.”

“Job?” Hera threw her hands into the air. “You’re the eldest of the brothers. So, yeah, Hades, you’re supposed to bloody stop them when they’re being idiots. Yeah, they were cruel to you a few times. News flash, we aren’t good people. None of us are. You aren’t so above us that you’ve never been cruel before in your life.”

Hades went to respond, then he paused. “You’re right.”

“What?”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have helped them do something that I knew would hurt everyone in a desire to get even. That wasn’t a smart action.”

“You did what?” Poseidon interrupted.

Percy shrugged. “Unless, you have anything else, Auntie, it would appear that Uncle Hades has decided to move on to the other side of this issue.”

Hera waved it on. “Let him justify his stupidity. As long as my husband knows that I would have told him off had he bothered to speak to me before doing the idiotic action.”

“Heard,” Zeus grumbled. His eyes were locked on Hades.

Hades huffed in annoyance. “Listen, there were levels to why I said yes to that damn oath.”

“

There were?” Zeus questioned.

“Oh, for the love of…” Hades blew out a stream of air. “Okay, we had literally just watched the world do a war with all of our children as figureheads and then that prophecy was read. You made it clear that even if we didn’t comply with the oath, you were going to make it impossible for one of our children to make it to 16.”

“Yes,” Zeus said.

“I said yes to buy time for Nico and Bianca.” His eyes cut over to Percy. “I said yes because I knew that eventually it would fail because of one of you two, and then you would feel the same pain. You would realize how hurtful it was to say either do this and kill your children or I will kill your children. You would realize that the prophecy was bad, but we could have guided our children. We could have helped. But no, you heard danger and decided to cower. You wanted to hurt me, so I was willing to hurt you back. I was a bit of an eye for an eye mood at the time. So, I said nothing. I did not point out that Poseidon takes oaths about as well as he takes a literal jail cell. I did not point out that you couldn’t control yourself from making bastards even for your wife, so why the living hell you thought you could do so for an oath is insanity. I just… I let you do the stupid thing.”

Percy rubbed his brow. “So you had no desire to see that the outcome of the prophecy was averted.”

Hades frowned. “The Moira spend most of their time in my realm. They tend to show up to rant to me rather than the king of gods. Why given my limited success in convincing my siblings of anything, I have no clue.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Zeus questioned.

Hades flipped over a hand in a gesture of pure exasperation. “Brother, I knew full well this oath would be broken. The fates always win in the end. They are below you in the order of gods, but their domain transcends yours. Always. Literally always. They said a demigod of one of us would reach 16. They said they would choose to save or raze Olympus. That was unquestionable. Nothing was going to change that. And I do truly mean nothing.”

Zeus blinked. “And rather than speak to me, you chose what?”

“The oath meant little to me.” He turned a questioning eye towards Persephone. She gave him a cautious nod. “My marriage is starkly different, as we both love the ones that we choose to take into our marriage. While Persephone has been a touch, unsettled at first with Nico and once with Bianca, that was because I did not tell her I had hidden them, there was some anger there. Communication as usual was the fault, and we fully discussed it. We came to terms with it.”

“We were alright closing our marriage bed once more,” Persephone said softly. “And even if we weren’t, and we chose to bed them, I can easily control life well enough to ensure a mortal would not end up pregnant.”

Demeter gaped. “You, what?”

“It is a part of our domain. Unusual for us to touch, sure, but an aspect of it all the same.”

Demeter shook her head. “Not mine, daughter. I have never had any control over the seeds of life that are not plant based.”

Hades snorted. “That would be because no children perfectly replicate their parents. They have small differences, and she is more apart from you and closer to her father than you’ve ever wanted to know.”

There was a snarl from Demeter, and Percy flicked his wrist. Both of them turned shocked to face him when they had water dripping down onto their heads. He glared at them. “A different day’s problems.”

Hades sucked in a breath. “Of course, Percy. My apologies.”

There was silence in the room. Zeus huffed. “That answered nothing, also.”

“Did it not?”

“No. Why did you not speak to me? Why on earth would you think it was a better idea to just let this happen the way it did?”

“At the time, I had zero trust in you.”

Zeus closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he let out a sigh. “Why?”

“I was not on your council. I was not welcome to give my thoughts at any time, and we had literally just watched a war of our children grow out of control. My thoughts and abilities to convince you, I felt were at an all time low, and I didn’t wish to fight again.”

Poseidon raised his hand and waited for both his brothers to turn to him this time. “Pardon the interruption but this felt important. What do you mean again? We hadn’t truly fought in ages, and while neither of us were fond of your child in that war, nor were we overt in helping and fighting.”

“We’ve been bickering since I was not allowed here.” Hades paused. “Or my welcome was so unclear that I felt disallowed from the place. You, Poseidon, were more present in inviting me to attend events in your court but refused to barter with Zeus for the same. It felt unequal most of the time. You add in the recent war, and I just didn’t want to deal with it.”

“You risked the wrath of the fates because you didn’t want to argue?” Poseidon asked, almost double checking to see if he were missing some large point. Something that would explain what the fuck he had just heard.

Percy, too, was curious for the answer. If that was genuinely the only reason, that felt, strange for his uncle. His uncle who hated turning on his word. His uncle who had always honored promises and been kind to him. From what he had heard, been kind to his siblings.

Hades blinked. “I wasn’t risking anything. The fates made it clear that this would be happening regardless of my decision, and I made plans to ensure that I did not join the rest of you in breaking my oath on the river.”

Percy face palmed. Of course, there was the point. When it became clear that neither his father, nor Zeus had any plan for speaking again, Percy spoke instead. “Uncle, have you considered that you did risk things by choosing this path?”

“I have not.”

Percy nodded. “You risked your brothers and their children. You risked Olympus and possibly the underworld depending on how your father felt in the end. You risked yourself even because Kronos had hurt you before, and likely would again should he gain the power to do so.”

Hades froze. He closed his eyes and took in a deep, sharp breath. “You’re right, Percy.”

“I know.”

He turned to Zeus. “I chose this because I saw it as having little to no consequence for me, regardless of whether that turned out to be true.” He sat up straighter. “Now, one of you say why you agreed to this farce.”

Poseidon ran a hand down his face. “It seemed smart.”

Everyone turned to stare at Poseidon.

“What? Olympus was not in the correct place to survive a war. Olympus was not going to survive this mess at the time. The children most likely to succeed to 16 were one of Hades’ children that were absolute menaces. I had no desire at the time to go find a mortal woman. Zeus was the only real risk if this oath was taken, and I truly believed him to be honorable to an oath, he brought up.”

Athena groaned. “That’s not how it works, Uncle.”

“It could be,” he said. There was a tremor under his throne. “The art of prophecy was not always Apollo’s. I know more than any other than him do the way that the fates work.”

Apollo furrowed his brow. “You cannot change a prophecy.”

Poseidon snorted. “Yes, you can.”

“What?” Shouts were heard over all of the gods.

Poseidon raised his hand to silence them. “The words always have multiple meanings. I’ll be honest, I watched waiting for one of Demeter’s children to finally prove themselves. I watched for decades. That’s who the fates would have chosen had we kept to the oath. We did nothing but stave off the initial charges of this war.”

Demeter stared at Poseidon. “What?”

“Of the eldest gods, four of us have children. While everyone was busy looking at me and my brothers because we are flashy with our demigod children making them heroes, you too are of the same generation. You, too, have children that fit these parameters.”

Demeter’s jaw dropped.

“Had Kronos not gotten a hook in Luke because of Thalia, he would have succeeded eventually against a demigod that had a grudge. If I had no children, if Zeus had no children, and Hades kept his locked away out of fear, a child of the eldest gods would still be chosen. It would have been one of yours.”

Poseidon took in the shock on everyone’s faces. He crossed his arms. “It’s not like I intended to be played for a fool. I took the oath with every intention of helping my brother keep this from happening for a time. And I was not the one who broke the oath first.”

Zeus winced. “My turn?”

Percy nodded. He hadn’t ever considered the fact that Katie Gardner could have held the prophecy. He should have gone to her for help. Damn, if only people in camp were smart enough to have seen this earlier, and he would have been able to use this information better.

Zeus looked askance. “I just wanted time.”

“Why?” Hades asked. “Surely, you were not so worried that the child would choose to destroy Olympus.”

“Percy?”

His head shot up at the pained tone in his uncle’s voice. “Yes?”

“Why could my daughter not turn 16?”

“She would have burned Olympus to the ground. Luke would have talked her to the other side.”

“How close did he come to getting you?”

Percy raised an eyebrow. In all that time that had passed since his grandfather had walked earth, no one had really asked that. Annabeth knew, she had been there. He cast a glance over to Dionysus, who was not meeting his eyes. He sighed. “Had Ares been correct about his intentions, he would have won.”

Ares twisted his head to stare at Percy. “What?”

“He lost me because he was willing to sacrifice innocents. That’s the only reason I chose Olympus. I didn’t care for my uncle because all I knew of him was cruelty. But I did know what Kronos was doing would kill fellow campers, and how dare he?”

Zeus nodded. “I’ll be honest, my rules regarding being separate from our children are vital to surviving in an ever expanding world with multiple pantheons. They absolutely cause our children to suffer though. I did not place money on a demigod choosing Olympus. I’m not sure they should.”

Several gods sat up straight and began to start clambering for attention, but Percy whistled sharply causing everyone to fall silent again. He stared at Zeus. “That’s for another session.”

“I know, but its important to note that I did not believe that a demigod child would choose my rule.”

“It is.” Percy closed his eyes for a second. “So, let’s recap for a second. Uncle Hades took the oath because he saw no downsides to doing so and it would avoid a fight.”

Hades gave Percy a brief inclination of his head. “That is the simplest way to phrase it, but yes.”

“Dad took the oath because he thought it would help Zeus and the fates would choose one of Demeter’s to fulfill the oath once that became a major concern.”

Poseidon shrugged but nodded. “That’s about right.”

“And Uncle Zeus, you suggested the oath and asked for everyone to do this because you were of the opinion that your rule was controversial enough that demigods wouldn’t come for you when your rule was challenged.”

“Yes, Percy.”

“Good. At least that means none of you were actively thinking the worst of each other and assuming that you would be fighting each other for the glory or to topple Olympus. That’s honestly impressive given the history of these therapy sessions.”

Percy got some laughter at that joke. He was glad that he could still get everyone to relax at these sessions with jokes and humor. He had been concerned that they were going to fight and bicker the whole way through, but they were genuinely trying.

“Next up, how did you feel when the oath was first broken? That would be when Uncle Zeus had Thalia, not Dad and me, yet.”

Hades glanced over at Poseidon. “Do you wish to start?”

“It’ll go straight into the me having Percy conversation, so how about you start?”

“Alright. Don’t quite understand how the two connect, but sure.” Hades stared at Zeus. “This was a dumb oath, one that I took primarily to avoid having to fight with you. You pushed me into taking this oath. You were willing to kill my children, did kill my lover, and for what? An oath that you couldn’t even keep. I was pissed. Like rage to the point of no longer caring about my distance from the rest of you. I sent monsters to kill her with no thought for the fact that was a living breathing child because I wanted so desperately to hurt you back.”

Zeus blinked. “Yeah, well, at the time, I thought that we’d make it. When I forced you into that oath, I thought that nothing could get worse and I could abstain from mortal women.”

“Why did that break?”

“A fight,” Hera answered. “I had been upset after Dionysus’ punishment. Not because of his crimes or the impact of his punishment, mind you. But Zeus had turned on his own child for a woman, and one that was not me. I was made to suffer each time that I hurt one of his precious children, but here he was hurting them himself for some other fucking woman.”

“Thalia wasn’t conceived shortly after my punishment,” Dionysus pointed out.

“It was not a small fight,” Zeus conceded. “We went back and forth on things for years. Smashed vases, crumbled marble, and so many sparring sessions that I think most of the population here on the mountain top got used to us absolutely wrecking each other.”

Hera rolled her eyes. “You went out for a mortal woman, the night I told you that I refused to sleep with you while you were still ignoring the hypocrisy.”

Zeus groaned. “I am aware. You kicked me out of our marital bed as well, saying that you had no intention of allowing me to sleep with you, sex or no, while I was being such a dick. Maybe I wanted affection.”

“Didn’t stop you from accepting her wiles when they were offered, did it?”

Hades stared at his brother for a moment. “Maybe next time your wife kicks you out, the best scenario isn’t leaving for the mortal realm.”

“Where should I go?”

“You could come to my realm,” Hades said blandly. “I know that we fight often, but you are always welcome among my court. You would have a soft bed, and a lack of mortal women to further offend your wife with.”

“Immortal ones are hardly better,” Hera muttered.

“Yes, but we aren’t here to discuss that yet,” Hades retorted. “We’re talking about the oath. I didn’t know about your fight with Hera. From my perspective, you just broke your own damn oath with no reason and no regard for us.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Zeus met his gaze head on. “I’ll offer amends if you’d like if there’s something you’d like me to do. Even if it is just beg for your forgiveness on my knees again.”

Hades let out a bright chuckle on that front. “I think we can skip that today, brother. It’s not like I don’t know that your marriage is a broken facade. And it isn’t like I haven’t already gotten even a thousand times over for this.”

Zeus’ lips twitched in amusement. “Really?”

Hades glanced towards Poseidon, then heaved a sigh. “Truly, I’m no longer angry. I was. Once I was wrathful and vengeful and willing to go to the grave to ensure you suffered. Now, I’m just amused that we let it get so bad that this is how we dealt with our family problems, when in reality, it would have been so much easier to just talk to each other. Love each other. Be a family.”

Zeus cast a hopeful glance over to Poseidon.

“I was hurt. I felt that you had betrayed me personally. I didn’t think about the River Styx and her reckoning coming for you. I didn’t think about anything really.” He blinked back tears. “I was upset and the ocean was not calming. I think that the sailors on the open sea at the time were panicked. Amphitrite told me to go cool off.”

Amphitrite scoffed. “I told you to burn off energy in literally any means that would result in the seas calming and for Kymopoleia not to be the child you most emulated at the the time.”

Poseidon turned to his wife with a loving longing in his eyes. “Would you tell me that this did not accomplish just that?”

“I would tell you not to try to shift any of the stupidity of this action onto me, husband dear.”

Poseidon laughed. It was booming and loud. “Much danger has been accomplished by this, but I would not change it for all of the world. It gave me, my darling son.”

“What?” Hades questioned.

“I went to the seashores. I was riding as a horse for quite some time. It seemed to calm me more than anything else, even if I was still broiling in my rage. Then, I saw a woman. She was standing on the beach. She paid attention to the water’s moods and she was kind to the sea creatures. I approached her in a human form. Oh, how I fell for that woman. She knew who I was by the time that we slept together and when she fell pregnant, she did not hesitate for a moment.”

“Percy’s mother?” Zeus whispered.

“Oh, yes. Sally Jackson, a queen among mortal women. I would have made her a queen in the sea if she had wanted that life.”

“She doesn’t,” Percy replied quickly. “She wants a mortal life and a mortal death. She has no desire to be dragged into immortal policies anymore than I have already done.”

“Smart,” Athena commented.

Poseidon looked towards Hades. “You took it out on a child, and I could not bring myself to do so, especially not given how desperate my brother was in his pleas for her safety. Instead, I tried to find peace. I found it by having a child of my own, breaking the oath again. I am sorry, brother. That was not fair to you.”

Hades grimaced. “How did I know?”

Persephone laughed. She tilted her head to the side. “You are close to your brother, Hades. You always knew that he would break the oath in a moment of emotion. Given Percy’s birth being so close to when you found out about Thalia, it was not hard to put together the pieces.”

“You knew!”

Hades shrugged. “Your child did not face much of my anger. He certainly learned not to trifle with my things given I thought him a thief, but I did not attempt to harm him overtly in my anger for you.”

Percy snorted in amusement. “You did send a fury to attack me before I even knew what a demigod was.”

“I was unaware of your ignorance. It’s not like Poseidon has ever done well keeping himself from checking up on his children before. Hardly my fault, I did not yet know the lengths to which your mother would go to keep you safe from harm.”

Poseidon stared at Hades. “Am I forgiven too?”

“There is very little to forgive in your case, but yes. For what did harm me about this, I forgive you.”

Hera clapped. “Wonderful, now that we’ve solved this and you’re no longer angry at each other, let us leave this in the past.”

“Not so fast,” Percy interjected. “They have fixed this oath with each other, but the consequences and retributions still hang over them.”

Hades turned to Percy. “There is nothing to be done about that. No one can get out of a deal already struck with the Lady Styx.”

“Have any of you ever tried?” Percy retorted back just as fast. “The worst that she can say is no, and your brothers will continue to suffer for their choices. Or you could attempt to help. It’s up to you. You are under no obligation to offer them this aid, but you could. If you chose to.”

Zeus held up his hand to stop the absolute madness that erupted from his words. “If you wish for us to try to barter with the lady of the river, then we are willing to try Percy. But you must recognize that there is every chance that she will not demand things that are possible for us to give. She is not of the family.”

Amphitrite looked up at that. Her eyes considerate as she gazed at him. “Many are closer related than you often note, Zeus. She is my sister.”

“Pardon?”

“There is a reason why I make no oaths on the river. She is my sister, it would feel strange to ask her to watch over my word,” Amphitrite said.

Percy closed his eyes and tried to remember whether Annabeth or Chiron had ever told him that before. He couldn’t recall a time when Amphitrite had been a major focus on their lectures. Maybe he should ask his brother to give him a crash course on the ocean deities at some point. It probably spoke volumes that he didn’t actually know them well enough to have seen this coming.

“What is your opinion then? Will your sister listen to us?”

Amphitrite shrugged her shoulders. “She was once fond of you and your rule. That is after all why she sided with you and not the titans in the first war and the second.”

Hades grumbled something. “That’s assuming we can even get her to appear. She may not come.”

Zeus rolled his eyes. “Lady Styx, we, the Olympian council, request your presence.”

“Seconded,” Poseidon said with a grumble.

Hades glanced between them and the lack of any presence in the throne room. “Lady Styx, please, we have been allies often, and our oaths still lay in your waters. Will you not speak with us?”

Percy knew suddenly that he was the one that smelled the flames of her river waters. He was the only one that was feeling any presence. He was the one that she was paying attention to at the time like this. “Lady Styx,” he spoke, as the council turned to stare at him. “Please, come.”

The scent filled the room, and a human form formed. Her hair a deep red that resembled the flames of her river, but her eyes were a bright gold, the same color as the waters. She flashed a smile at Percy. “Little champion, you called?”

Zeus blinked.

Percy moved on instinct, when she said the title. His sword was out barely in time to stop the dagger from reaching Hera’s throat as he landed in front of her throne. He panted in response. “Really?”

“She took you from me. She had no claim on you that trumped mine.”

Zeus stood, towering over the throne room. “You would attack the queen in the throne room of Olympus.”

“No. I knew the boy would save her. He is, after all, so very loyal to those that he cares for.”

Hera gaped.

Percy supposed that the love he felt for her was rather new. He had been furious and unwilling to set it aside. The way that he had stood up to Poseidon struck many as a part of his therapy mission and not something that he did out of compassion.

“Besides,” Styx continued as if she had not just sent all of the gods into chaos, “I have already evened that debt between us. My champion for hers.”

Apollo’s eyes went wide. “It was you who sent those monsters.”

“Yes, it was.”

Percy cleared his throat. “My lady, we called you here for a different purpose.”

“No, you didn’t. It is all connected, Perseus.”

The name hit him like a freight train. He barely remained on his feet from the force of that name hitting him from the goddess. The family had called him affectionate names, but he was not family of Lady Styx, he was something else. “My lady.”

Styx turned to Zeus. “You wish to know about the oath you swore. The three brothers, the three idiots, none who managed to follow the oath correctly. Even you, Hades, who does not break the rules as spoken, skirts around them.”

Hades bit his cheek. “Yes, that one.”

“Before I could lift it, the debts would have to be even. You would need to have a child.”

“Assume that can be taken care of,” Persephone requested softly.

Styx raised an eyebrow at the goddess of the underworld, but inclined her head. “I would want recompense for the fact that I am wiping a debt of yours from the universe.”

Zeus nodded. “What would you ask for?”

Styx smiled, only the teeth that shown in the throne room, gleamed with an unnatural light. Something about the smile said that nothing was good. “The boy will once more submerge himself in my waters. He can do so after he finishes this quest of yours, but he will be in the waters once more, soon.”

Eyes turned to Poseidon and Percy. Half and half, it appeared. No one knew where to look.

Poseidon was staring directly at his son. He didn’t plead. He didn’t offer up an opinion, he just continued to stare as if that would help Percy make a choice.

“Of course,” Percy said. He was unsurprised.

She nodded sharply. “And for the love of all that Olympus stands for, start picking up your debts for good. There are so many broken promises that float on my river. You will tell the immortals that they are to come make recompense to me. My revenge will continue until they come, and I no longer care for evening the score without any apology.”

Zeus licked his lips. “You cannot request death.”

Styx waved a hand. “That’s fine. Death is often too final for a good punishment anyway.”

“Done.”

“And done. I will lift the debt once a child of Hades has been conceived under the oath and thus falls under the domain of consequences, and Perseus has once more been in my waters.” She moved rapidly and her hand was wrapped around Percy’s throat.

He felt nails of fire digging into his skin, barely not summoning blood to drip from the pressure. He gasped and looked into the eyes of a burning goddess.

“You will come, Perseus Jackson.”

“Yes,” he choked out.

“And you will not again abandon your oath to me,” she demanded. Her grip relaxed ever so slightly, and the other gods were moving towards them, but the world was moving so slowly.

“I did not do so of my own free will. I am still yours.”

“Good. Fix this mess of a ruling class and then come to me.”

She was gone. Percy collapsed to his knees. Gods, he had not been prepared for this. He had seen a dagger before it was throne. He had known his importance to her, but to be part of her demands to the gods, that was beyond surprising.

Hera reached him first. Her hands helped him get back to his feet. “What just happened?”

“I believe that the Lady Styx is still rather peeved with you for wiping her blessing with me,” Percy explained.

“Not that, nephew,” Zeus growled. “What did she do to you?”

“Surely you saw and heard.”

“We saw her waters encase both of you, and then nothing,” Poseidon clarified.

Amphitrite sighed. “She was merely ensuring that her champion recalled the fact that he had made bargains before and while someone else had freed him, she did not. She was calling him home.”

Percy met his step-mother’s eyes. “That’s one way to phrase what happened.”

She shrugged. “My sister has always been quick to rage. You did stop her blade from being true. She had reason to doubt you.”

Percy rolled his eyes. He was getting rather sick of the tendency for random people to assume that he was willing to break his oaths. He was just fighting to survive.

Amphitrite stepped forward. Her hand brushed against his throat and the soreness faded some. “Perhaps, Hades, I might ask to find my way to your realm sometime soon to speak to my sisters in the underworld.”

Hades turned to her. “You are welcome in my realm as I am welcome in yours.”

“Should we talk about the elephant in the room?” Demeter questioned. “The goddess demanded that Hades break his oath. He has never done so before, and he’s unlikely to do so now. My daughter might have given us the directions needed to be taken after the fact, but it does nothing to get all of you on equal level.”

Hades groaned. “Demeter, please.”

“What? Don’t want your issues to be aired on public blast in front of this family?”

“It’s not true, mother,” Persephone corrected. “My husband does his absolute best to never break oaths, but this is no longer a matter of keeping his word. The fates will continue punishing multiple family members if this oath is not broken, so we shall break the oath.”

“So, we find Hades a woman, and we call it a day.”

Hades snorted. “I refuse to sleep with just a random woman, and having the time to go to modern earth to find a connection with someone just will not be in the cards,” he explained to Zeus.

Poseidon frowned. “That is a problem.”

Persephone cleared her throat. “We could try the other option.”

Hades covered his face. “That would require both Poseidon and his kid to be okay with it.”

“Huh?” Percy was completely bewildered by this. He couldn’t think of a single reason why Hades would need his attention during such a conversation. There was little that he had to do with the gods hooking up with mortals. Actually, scratch that, he’d vastly prefer there was nothing that he had to do with the gods hooking up with mortals and the fact that it would appear someone intended to make that less than true was horrifying.

Hades cleared his throat delicately. “You see…Uhhh…No, I don’t know how to phrase this.”

Persephone laughed. The carefree noise filled the room, as her smile became more and more genuine. “Hades can’t sleep with people without an emotional attachment to them.”

“Okay…” Poseidon nodded slowly. “I could see that. He has the least children out of all of us, and when he does have children, the mortals are always quite unique.”

“There’s exactly one mortal right now that hits both of our qualifications for being a good partner and a good mortal parent to a demigod child that we know, which would decrease the amount of wandering Hades would have to do. Not to say that isn’t possible. It just would likely take a couple decades for him to find someone, and that would rather defeat the purpose of us trying to clear up the oath in a quick manner.”

Confusion was still etched on both Percy and Poseidon’s faces, but Athena perked up. “What was it that Poseidon always called her? A goddess among mortal women.”

Hades flushed. A pink rosy color filling his cheeks. “Nico talks about her all the time,” he defended before his brother got the thought in his head that Hades had gone looking at his brother’s mortal.

Percy blinked. Now, his mom, made sense on why Hades was looking at him. He was expecting to feel disgust or some form of urge to immediately deny him with no hesitation. Only those initial feelings never came, instead he kind of understood. After all, his mother was known for being kind and caring to all demigods, no care in the world about what was supposed to be the problems that each god had. She cared for Annabeth. She made cookies for Lester. She hugged Nico.

If anything, Percy was a bit surprised no one had ever stepped on Poseidon’s toes before to get to his mom. There was only a tiny problem. “She did marry Paul, and he’s a saint to her and me and everything in between.”

Hades turned to stare at Percy. “I’ve been in my share of threesomes before. I do not intend to convince her to leave her husband for me, so much as seduce both of them, presuming that neither you or Poseidon intend to hunt me to the ends of the earth for doing so.”

Poseidon waved a hand. “It would not be the first time that I’ve shared a mortal woman with one of my brothers, although it would be the first time that I shared one with you,” he admitted.

Hades gulped, then nodded. “Thank you.”

“You made compelling points for why this should work,” Poseidon said, brushing off the gratitude once more.

Hades turned his gaze back to Percy. “And you?”

Percy shrugged. “It’s not me you need to convince. If you can talk Paul and my mom into having another forbidden child, then that will be enough.”

“And the child?”

“Will be my cousin and my sibling, and rest assured, even if mom can’t hide them from the monsters for as long, she won’t have to. I know how to fight well enough.”

“Really?”

Percy nodded. “Actually, in general, if any of you have children that you want a guard to in order to get them to camp because someone has targeted them, let me know. I can get a kid to a camp a hell of a lot easier than a satyr can.”

Dionysus covered his face and laughed. “That is their literal purpose within camp.”

“Should be to rebuild nature as Grover as the new lord of the wild is trying to do. There’s more pressing matters before them. And again, I’m a hell of a lot more capable. Most of the older campers are. Send someone who can fight to save them, send someone who knows how to pray and make it stick.”

Zeus nodded once. “We will keep that in mind for possible quests for the campers.”

Percy stood up. “Well, with the oath now having a set end date, and the tasks that Lady Styx put before us easy to accomplish, this session has been a resounding success.”

Poseidon following him in standing. “My son, her major task involved you, you should not have to further carry the weight of our mistakes on your shoulders.”

Percy smiled. For once, his father was taking the correct message from something. He was realizing that the burdens placed on Percy weren’t fair, and that someone should have done something. “Dad, this one I took on myself long ago. She was right when she said that Juno had no right to strip me of those chains. I have no issues going back under her waters. In fact, I’m not confident, I haven’t come close already.”

“Really?” Hades questioned.

“Pain is something I am frustratingly used to and have no issues with facing.” Percy turned to Zeus. “Although before everyone disappears for the evening, I will say what next session is going to be.”

Ares and Zeus both froze. The two of them know that Percy has rarely warned more than one person ahead of time about a session. The amount of issues that possibly have all of them connected to each other was a minuscule number compared to the rest and terrifying to consider.

“We need to talk about the rule to keep you from interfering. What it has done to each of you, your domains, and your children,” Percy said.

Zeus growled. “Careful, nephew.”

Percy inclined his head in a show of respect. “I promise I will try to lead this session as well as I can for not having been here when the rule was made.”

“We’ll help fill in gaps,” Athena offered.

Zeus bit his tongue and then turned away.

Percy was lightened by that reaction. He had honestly been afraid that Zeus would have more to say before they could handle leaving the throne room, knowing the next time, his rulership was going to be questioned. And Percy knew it would be questioned, there was no future in which that didn’t happen given that the rule itself was draining on everyone. The rule needed to be overturned, now how to get Zeus to that conclusion without it feeling like a rebellion, and how to acknowledge that the reasons he made it were sound, that would be his next great challenge of therapy.

Chapter Text

Percy tapped his foot against the ground in the morning. This was going to be a rough session, not only was he going to have to be a lot more hands on trying to stop any of the gods from going in directions that wouldn’t be of any use to the overall situation, he was also going to be talking about issues that were far above the mortal level. Oh, and this particular topic was going to upset Uncle Zeus to the point of wanting to throw around lightning and shutting everyone up.

He was surprised when Zeus found him at the river’s edge. His uncle plopped down next to him and placed his feet into the stream as he leaned back.

Percy took a second to see whether anything else was going to be said. When no words came, he decided to press his luck. He angled himself ahead of time, then pressed into Zeus’ chest for a hug.

One of Zeus’ arms came up to hold him tight in that hug. “I’m sorry,” the god whispered softly.

Percy tucked further into his uncle’s body and closed his eyes. “What for?” He had a gut feeling it was for snapping at the end of the last meeting, but before he could adequately try to talk to his uncle about that, he needed to know for sure.

“I shouldn’t have cautioned you after literally dragging you up here to talk about the hard shit that the family has been burying for literal centuries.”

Percy could say several things here. He could point out that he shouldn’t have. He could try to talk with his uncle about how this kind of reaction is actually what’s leading to some of the pain that the others are feeling. Or he could respond as Percy. “It’s alright. I figured you might be defensive, which is why I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“What’s with you and forgiving us for our slights against you?”

“I don’t want to control you,” Percy admitted softly. “The more that I come to understand what being a god is, the less I want to do something that constrains you. There are times when each of you knows better than I do on an issue, actually most of them really. I’m trying to lead you through understanding your emotions and responding to each other better, but that also means you get to have whatever emotions you have. I trusted you not to smite me, hurt me in ways that I couldn’t recover from, and antagonize me in that meeting. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Zeus furrowed his brow. “I hope you know you’ve become a vital member of this family.”

Percy couldn’t bring himself to speak right away. Because, yeah, he was starting to get that. Most demigods if they found themselves free on Olympus for a few moments of peace would have been avoided by immortals unless there was some task or quest. He barely had a moment to himself without a sibling, cousin, or uncle coming to check on him or just exist nearby with. He had attended family dinners and sparred with the god and goddess of war. He was no longer a normal demigod if he ever was.

“Uncle Zeus, I…” Percy trailed off for a second trying to think of what to say. Today wasn’t going to be fun, but it was also cementing something. He could feel it in his bones that today was going to change everything, and he no longer had any fear. “Will I be welcome here?”

“What do you mean?”

“After I finish being your therapist, and everyone goes back to being gods that aren’t in their human forms for a decent part of the day dealing with family therapy. Will I be welcome here?”

“Always,” Zeus swore lightly. “Olympus’ doors will always be open for you. I doubt there will ever be a day where Hermes is not willing to come get you or one of the rest of us if he’s busy. You’re one of us now, Percy.”

Percy nodded. That had been his assumption as well. He had woven himself tightly among the family by being the person they could turn to when they needed a listener. By being the person who stood in front of Zeus and was not afraid.

Zeus paused for a beat. “Percy, I fear there will be long-lasting consequences of you taking this quest.”

“Me too, uncle. Me too.” Percy stood slowly. He held up a hand for Zeus even though the man was a god and almost certainly needed no assistance getting up off the ground. It was the principle of doing so, which was why Zeus took his hand too. “Anything I need to try to avoid in today’s session?”

“Not that I am already aware of.”

Percy nodded sharply. “I’ll see you shortly.” He turned and walked towards the throne room. He wanted the extra time to continue to think about the session today. The law regarding interference was on Aunt Hestia’s list, and he understood why. It cut off the family from half of their connections to others.

Apollo, Hermes, and some of the others, they had more kids alive at random times than others, and not all of them were made for great acts of heroes, but they still deserved to have a parent who came around. The minor gods definitely needed more time with their children, parts of them that they allowed out. Still, Zeus was right too. The mist was a way to ensure that mortals didn’t actually start fully freaking out again, but the mist had its limits. If gods were around all the time and interfering things would get messy quickly.

That begged the bigger question in Percy’s head. One, he had asked once, long ago. He had been told that was bigger than him, so he had shuffled around it. Now, he was the therapist of gods, if there was some line for being big enough to ask whatever the hell he wanted, they had hit it already. Why the hell did they let themselves fade into obscurity?

He stepped into the throne room, and he didn’t flinch from the overwhelming amount of power radiating off the gods and goddesses. The human forms that they usually donned when talking with demigods or mortals were much less confined than they once were in his presence. He made his way to his own pillar in the center.

Once, he was there, he made a point not to sit down. He would need to speak first. He would need to guide this session into not becoming a blaming everyone for something.

Zeus made a rumble of thunder to stop the side conversations and cede the floor over to Percy to lead. He inclined his head, a gentle reminder to Percy that his uncle was on his side for fixing things.

“Today, we are going to talk about the law regarding interference, but that doesn’t start with Zeus forbidding you to contact your children. Nor does it begin with any of the wars that have happened. It starts with when you guys started no longer being the gods that people worshipped on the daily and why it is that was allowed.”

Hades’ eyes widened. “You’re not pulling your punches today, nephew. These were dark times.”

Apollo scoffed. “It wasn’t nearly as difficult as we like to remember it as. The Christians were strong, and they had popularity, but all of the means we had to try to make them remember us could be blamed on their One God, and not us.”

Athena nodded. “And they were. Poseidon sent tidal waves that drowned out cities, but they were considered the acts of that God. I recall wars started in my name, in Ares’ name, that were ended under the edict of the Church.”

“In the end, power comes from faith, and while we still had those who prayed in private behind closed windows, we were no longer the ones that most acts were attributed too. It was safer for our survival to allow ourselves to fade, to act more towards our domains and respond to those that did pray than to try to convince them to turn back to us,” Ares explained.

Hades didn’t look at any of his family as he stared downwards. “The younger gods were not as aware of how close we all came to destruction during those times.”

Amphitrite rolled her eyes. “In Olympus and the underworld, perhaps, but under the sea, we made sure all knew what was going on.”

“What?” Zeus questioned.

Triton heaved a sigh. “Did you think father was the only one to send the storms, the waves, the hurricanes towards them? Did you think that he was capable of the amount of destruction the sea kicked up? No. He had his whole family, the minor gods and goddesses of the sea were there too. Aphrodite even came back to the sea for a time. We put up a fight. It just wasn’t enough to convince enough people.”

“Fishers knew better,” Aphrodite recalled. “They would still sacrifice a piece of their catch for us at the end of a trip to say thanks for us not sinking their ships. We kept enough prayers to ensure that none of us would fade.”

“It hit those with the most power the hardest,” Poseidon said. “I was out of commission quickly and for nearly a century afterwards. I could drag myself to council meetings, but I could not have fought any enemies at that time. I would have gone down.”

Demeter glanced towards him. “You weren’t alone in that. I stayed in my gardens and relished the harvests that I failed. Only I didn’t do enough. No harvests were sacrificed in my name. It took me several more years than you to recover with the smaller amount of prayers.”

Hestia averted her eyes. “I had your prayers.”

“What?”

“I didn’t suffer through that period of time. Mostly because of the fact that all of you were praying to me. Asking me to help watch out for members of this family, to tie Olympus together. The council didn’t falter entirely, because I was feeding it.”

Zeus blinked. “We kept you alive.”

Hestia smiled at him. “There’s a reason that our family problems were causing me to fade, brother. The mortals don’t pray to me for families much anymore, less so than any of you have, because I did not tie myself to mortal prayers. I rely on the prayers of fellow immortals. Whether this is smart or stupid, I suppose no longer matters. What does matter is that I did this long ago.”

Zeus nodded. “I think it was ingenious, sister. It kept us all more stable than had you not.” He drummed his fingers against his arms. “I can’t say that this was the easiest time for me, but it felt much the same as it did when Hera and Poseidon trapped me to force me to agree to the terms for this council. I had survived once, so I did not worry much. I kept the children away from everything as much as I could. I didn’t want them dwelling on the pain, nothing good ever comes from that.”

Artemis stared at her father for a moment. Then, she doubled over and laughed. “The one time you decided to be a father and none of us ever knew it.”

Apollo’s lips twitched in amusement. He raised a small toast to Zeus. “Thanks, dad.”

“Always.”

Ares snickered. “Maybe not always. But you sure do try.”

Zeus conceded that point with a shrug. He was far from the perfect father, but he was doing significantly better than others did in their pantheon. He didn’t eat them, nor did he hurt them purposefully.

Hera sighed. “I knew I should have talked to you more during that time, husband.”

“What?”

“Olympus’ power was shaking. The kingdom should have fallen but between me and Hestia, we spent an overwhelming amount of time ensuring that it did not.”

“You?” Hephaestus asked with awe.

“Family is still a part of my domain, as is Olympus. That is where gods were placing their prayers. Even those not in the family. Hestia was holding your prayers. I held the rest. They prayed their queen and king would stabilize the home of gods, that the pantheon would not fade. I spent so many days in the throne room, holding the cracks together by sheer will alone. I held vigil so many times, I can’t even recall the number for minor deities who did fade during this time, whose name was forgotten entirely.”

Hermes rolled his eyes. “Yet you would not come for Pan’s.”

Hera stood up to her full height. Her eyes were burning in rage. “You do not get to say that to me, not about my holding vigil back then. You are right, I did not come to Pan’s. I let you mourn a son alone. Hate me for that if you wish. But you also cannot claim that you did shit to get me there. You asked your father to come, as your father. You never prayed for us to come as Olympus to mourn the fallen. I kept an ear out for that prayer, because much as I hate your presence among my council, I have not and will not dismiss my duties as queen. Duties that I have long upheld.”

Zeus blinked.

Percy rubbed his eyes. “Auntie, can we please try to not go down this path today? Your punishments for his affair children need their own session.”

Hera turned. She stared at Percy for a long minute. The silence growing in the room. “Fine.”

Hermes dug his nails into his own thighs. “I prayed, Queen Hera.”

“Did you?”

Zeus nodded. “He did. He just never prayed to you.”

“More’s the pity.”

Poseidon held up a hand to forestall more conversation down that road. “You were the one patching cracks. I always figured it had been Zeus.”

“That bastard was too busy ensuring none of his children hurt,” Hera chided softly. “I held Olympus, he held his children.”

Ares blinked. “Dad chose us over Olympus.”

“Don’t know,” Hera admitted. “I was here to pick up the slack, so I don’t know whether he would have turned tail and left you to suffer to save the rest of the pantheon or not. I just know that for whatever it's worth, he did flock to you first.”

Poseidon snorted. “I’ve never been more grateful that my children were a bit stronger than that, and never needed that level of coddling. If they hadn’t had my back, I would have fell so far down.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “You’re also a wuss, the second anything actually lands a hit on you.”

“Offended,” Poseidon said. But there was a laughter in his eyes that told his brother that he had not crossed any genuine lines and was safe to continue teasing if he wished.

Hades amusement died at a glare from his wife. “The underworld didn’t really respond naturally. We had less dead that showed up at our doors, but the lines were still stretching so far back. So long in fact that even with the diminished number of souls choosing this form of judgement, we are still never without one at the river’s bank.”

Persephone nodded. “We just didn’t feel quite as overwhelmed with the dead. Our prayers come mostly from those already at death’s door or further. The dead were still there.”

“The dead never changed domains once they were in the Underworld. It is pretty clear to those souls that this was at least an option.”

Percy nodded. “So the ocean and Olympus nearly crumbled but not the underworld. Why then did you say it was horrifying, Uncle Hades?”

“I was trying my best to help my siblings through their struggles. It was not simple, and I watched them stumble, and I knew that I could not save them.” He swallowed. “I couldn’t save them.”

Zeus stared at Hades for a moment. “It wasn’t on you to save us.”

“I don’t want to be the only one of the family that remains one day,” Hades admitted softly.

Persephone leaned over her own throne to put her head on his shoulders. “You won’t be. You’ll have me, our children, and the dead.”

“Closer to alone than I’d like.”

“I know,” she whispered.

Demeter turned away from the loving expression, but for the first time in these sessions, she didn’t bicker at them for showing that affection. She drilled her fingers instead. “So, we understand how we fell from the most powerful deities in Mediterranean Europe, what now?”

“How did that lead to the law, Uncle Zeus?”

Zeus blinked. “The more interference we gave, the more that the mist had to overcorrect for humans to continue to understand and have faith. If we just acted, and they found us to be monsters, well, we wouldn’t survive.”

Percy nodded along.

“But, the more we don’t interfere, the more our children and the naiads and others stop praying to us as those who save them. The prayers are mandatory but vague,” Apollo pointed out.

“Speak,” Zeus asked him.

“I was there as one of them. The prayers offered at meal times, they’re barely anything. The ones that the seven give, they’re full of disdain. The ones that other children give, sometimes they pray to their parents, begging them to break the laws. Some of the children pray for quests, some way to gain attention so they can ask for the interference to be broken. Right now, we’re outsiders of our own faith.”

“What of the risks?”

“Make it clear,” Poseidon said softly. “We interfere because of prayers. We interfere with prayers. If they don’t pray, we don’t come.”

Ares nodded. “Not just our own pantheon either. If they pray to us as mortals, we go.”

“Mom prays,” Percy offered.

“Maria did too,” Hades added.

Zeus nodded. “The law of interference changed. We do not interfere with quests, lives, or prophecies unless we are called upon to do so by prayer.”

Athena inclined her head. “It might take a while before this becomes clear to the mortals and demigods.”

Dionysus waved his hand. “I will make an announcement.”

“Interference,” Ariadne warned.

Percy’s lips twitched in amusement. “Dionysus, I ask for your favor in return for the wine offered.”

Dionysus laughed carefree and wild. “Do you now, Percy?”

“Will you tell the campers about the change to the law?”

Dionysus snapped. “You know, I think that’s a great boon to give you.”

Zeus rubbed his temples. “I would have just allowed it this time, Dionysus.”

“No need,” Dionysus replied. “Percy will play with the rules. He’ll be the leader.”

“And the Romans still do it all the time, minus the seven.”

The gods nodded to each other. “And so, it has been decided,” Hera decreed. “Husband, you’ll have to make a wider pantheon announcement to the minor gods and goddesses.”

Before, they could leave, Apollo and Zeus froze. The energy in the throne room had changed. There was a presence there that was always welcome and yet rarely felt.

Percy had felt them before. He still remembered the way that he had looked out the bus window. He remembered the panic in Grover’s tone and the jokes he made before he knew what it meant that they had appeared before him and shown him the future, just a small part of the future, but still a line of them.

“The fates are here,” Apollo whispered.

“Who sees them?” Zeus called out.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the others call out negatives one by one. The rest of the ocean gods said no, Hades and Persephone, the Olympian council, no one was seeing them. A gentle hand landed on his shoulder, and he could feel Dionysus there beyond him and standing next to him for support him if he needed that help.

He opened his eyes, and there the three elderly women were. They were standing at the base of his podium. He nodded shortly, just enough that he knew that Dionysus knew the truth and would help silence the others, so he could focus. He needed his wits about him, if he was going to see what the fates were wanting him to see.

A thick strand of the weave was held out. It had so many ties to other strings. Somehow more so than the last time, he knew that this was his string. There were so many similarities between this one and the string that had turned out to be Luke’s. The parallels between them were on clear display to Percy today as he stood there looking at the fates.

One of the Moira met his eyes straight on, and he could no longer look away or close his eyes. They were locked in a gaze that would only end when they disappeared, message received.

Another held up a pot of a boiling liquid. A liquid with a golden tint, and it barely took another second for Percy to recognize ichor. The blood of the gods, something that he should not have control of. Something that he could feel as deeply in his bones as he could the rivers of Olympus. He had never understood Annabeth telling him there were some things he wasn’t meant to control before.

The final member of the Moira took his string in her hands, and she submerged it into the boiling ichor. When she pulled it back up, the string glowed with an unnatural light. A light that clearly said to Percy what he had long been afraid of. No matter what he had said to Zeus in the throne room all those years ago. No matter how much he was scared of what would come. He was going to ascend. Ichor was woven into his life strand. Nothing would change that.

The fates were gone. The message had been passed to the intended person. The magic in the room faded.

Percy covered his face with his hands for a second, hunched over. He didn’t want to think about what this meant. He didn’t want to contend with what this would mean for him. He just wanted peace.

“Son,” Poseidon called, “they were here for you.”

“Oh, yes.” Percy’s laughter bubbled over. “Second time, they’ve grabbed my attention and mine alone with the strings of fates in their hands.”

“Second?” Zeus questioned.

“The first time was during the lightning thief quest. Or I should say, shortly after you knew the quest would be issued. I didn’t know I was a demigod at the time, or that they were the fates. Thought they were a bunch of weird grandmas, and didn’t understand why my heart leaped in my chest when they cut a string in my vision.”

Shouts filled the throne room. Percy shut them all up with a pulse of energy into the throne room. “It wasn’t mine. It was Luke’s. The two of us, we’re similar. So very similar. One of us was always going to die in the first titan war, whichever of us became Kronos’ host, and the fates had decreed it right then, that I would not fall for grandfather’s manipulations.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know.” Lie. He hoped Apollo would let that slide just this once because while he knew the answer, he didn’t have the words to try to explain it. He couldn’t make sense of the fact that even as his uncles had accused him of various crimes, he had known he wouldn’t abandon the family. He didn’t have the energy to explain that grandfather had always been worse because he’d promise to be better and never live up to those expectations, where at least Zeus could be bargained with. He could be offered things that he’d then try really hard to help with. That had to be worth something. It just had to.

“This time?” Zeus requested more information.

Percy smiled at his uncle. “Looks like my question before this session to you is going to be irrelevant.”

“They cut your string,” Zeus mumbled. His eyes closing in grief.

“No, Uncle. They dipped it in ichor. I will ascend before I die. The fates have decreed it.” Percy could feel the hold those words took in the room. It wasn't the same as an oath on the river Styx. However, the fates were holding him to this message all the same. They knew what he intended now, and they would be on his ass about it for the rest of time if he didn’t change anything.

“Oh.”

Dionysus’ hand clamped further down on his shoulder. “We should talk, cousin.”

“Yeah, alright.” With that, the session was called to an end, and Dionysus led him directly out of the hallway and away from the quarters that he had seen before. He was led to a room with trees and vines all across it. A bed large enough for five in the center. Dionysus pushes Percy to sit on the edge of the bed, while he takes a seat in one of the branches of a tree.

Percy stared at the other god for a moment, then he sighed. “Does it hurt?”

“No more than being a demigod usually ends up hurting people.”

“How do you handle it?”

Dionysus shrugged. “The few of us that have ascended, we all did it differently. I am probably the closest to you, in the sense that I started changing my blood on my own and then the gods offered me a place here on Olympus.”

“I…I think I’ve been slowly cracking my mortality.”

“Yeah, so do I.” Dionysus met Percy’s gaze. “I suspected that you were going to ascend on your own back when you had the Lady Styx’s blessing. Most demigods even with that curse could not have beat Hades back at the gates to his own realm. Nor gone head to head with someone with Kronos mostly possessing them. You did both. It got worse in the second quest. Because well, your arrival to Camp Jupiter was insane. Several demigods thought you were a god in disguise and not even a good disguise. Then, when you told us what you did in Tartarus, and how you’ve handled this quest. Percy, you haven’t been fully mortal for quite some time now.”

Percy shook his head. “I could die.”

“I’m not sure that you could convince a god to take you to Uncle’s realm currently. I’m not sure that you would manage to do anything other than reform.”

Dionysus swung down and gripped Percy’s chin to pull it up. “The fates came to tell you this. You won’t die. I don’t know what all is going to come for us in the next few sessions or the rest of the world, but I do know that you’re joining us in immortality. You will be a god, Perseus.”

It had been a while since any of the gods had called him by name, and now Percy could understand why. “Is there a rush of power that floods you when someone says your name?”

“It does. You will be Perseus, a god of something. Probably you’ll have some of your father’s domains, and who knows what else. When you fully ascend, we’ll call Apollo to get the list of your epithets.”

Percy rubbed at his face. “I didn’t want this, Dionysus.”

“I don’t think you get a choice.”

Ariadne stepped into the room slowly. “Not anymore. He’s had several choices to turn back during these meetings. He could have postponed this fate or deflected it, before today. Today though, you accomplished changing the whole pantheon. Zeus’ announcement just went through. He named you as being the leading voice in convincing him of the need for change. Minor gods and immortal beings know your name, and they are ecstatic for what changes you’ll bring.”

“Prayer,” Percy concluded.

“Not quite that yet. Or at least nothing that is formally prayer where you can hear them, but its getting closer to that. You’re what they’re calling for.” She smiled at him. “Welcome to the family, Percy.”

“I’ve been a part of this family for a while.”

“Not like this,” she said. “Your father is barely holding off throwing a party. Your uncles are more relaxed than I’ve seen them before, and most of the cousins are trying to give you space to come to terms with what this means.”

“What does this mean?”

Dionysus’ eyes shimmered bright purple. “It means whatever you want it to mean. You get to decide what this means for you, and what it means for the rest of us as part of the pantheon. You get to shape the world, Percy. Mold it to your image. While doing your best not to piss off anyone who might harm the immortal you. It would be a pain to have to come save you.”

“Thanks, Dionysus.” Percy stood. “I think I need a few hours to myself to process this.”

“Aye, aye. I’ll make sure everyone leaves you be.”

Chapter Text

Percy dug out the folded piece of paper that he hadn’t let anyone else touch in all the time that they’d been working on the gods various issues, he hadn’t really needed to pull it out. He had a plan and it had worked well. But, with the law against interference out of the way, he was entering territory of shit that he was unaffected by and not even around for the inciting acts of. He knew where some sessions were going to fall, because he was slotting them for the end. They’d be the make or break moments of some of the most strained family lines. Zeus and Hera’s marriage would be the last session, because if after everything else, he couldn’t get them to work with each other, he was going to have to suggest they stop trying entirely.

He didn’t want to say that divorce might be the best solution, because he wasn’t actually sure whether Aunt Hera would survive that. But, it would be a hell of a lot better than them trying to patch a marriage that neither of them still wanted to put in the work to fix, or a marriage that neither of them could give the other what they wanted. Hence, he needed to place that on a back burner.

Similarly, the session on Aunt Hera and the children that were created by women Zeus wasn’t married to had to come close to the end. There was literally no way that didn’t involve screams, tears, and a shit load of problems, and there was not a world where that could be today. Especially, because Hera wasn’t all that limited in how she did shit.

Right after that session would need to be what she did to her own flesh and blood children, also known as, the time she kicked Hephaestus off of a mountain and helped worsen his injuries for all of eternity. Percy didn’t even know how to broach that subject. He wasn’t sure how Hephaestus wanted to take it either. He could vaguely feel the god’s presence now when he thought the name. His cousin had a lot of explaining to do on that one, since it seemed that most of the family had no idea that was in the wheel house of possible. Then, after that, he could drag out Zeus and Hera’s marriage, so the kids wouldn’t be a huge part of the conversation anymore, or maybe they’d be the deal breaker. Who knows how the gods were going to react to the therapy sessions. Any predictions that he could have made regarding this were fucking insane.

Hephaestus and Aphrodite really needed a session dedicated to their marriage too. The infidelity was a large problem. The fact that Aphrodite didn’t seem to know that she was next in line for the position of Queen of Olympus probably also needed to be addressed, along with how the two of them even got together in the first place given hat neither of them seemed to anticipate this marriage being the end result of whatever mechanisms they had been working on. That was a can of worms, and so not something he wanted to deal with right away. So, crossed off the list it was.

That left on his little list, the following topics.

- Poseidon choosing to absolutely go apeshit on other gods and heroes when one of his monstrous children attack a different person and then get slaughtered, and all other times when his children are harmed.

- Athena letting her children get absolutely murdered for no reason in a repeated quest that would still be unfulfilled to this day, if Percy hadn’t intervened with the rest of the seven.

- Metis’ unfair and quite frankly horrifying death and fading events

- Demeter and Hades fight over Persephone that seems to be remarkably void of any communication with Persephone

- The death of Pallas, also known as the only reason the heir to the throne of the sea was demanded at these meetings, despite his overall usefulness during certain conversations.

Similar to his reasoning for the others, he was not yet touching Pallas, Persephone, or Metis with a five foot pole. He’d have to eventually, and by eventually, he more or less means in the next few sessions, but still he’d give himself time. He blinked harshly.

That left either his father or Athena to target today. Target wasn’t exactly a fair term to use either, he needed them to see the unfairness of their actions and agree to do better. Whichever one he chose, also definitely needed to prelude the other as they were tied to actions surrounding non-godly children. Fuck, maybe that meant he did need to the other fights lower than his original plan. He could do Athena as the problem child for using demigods, something that has just come up repeatedly in the concerns of the oath of interference and the damn whole situation with prophecies. He could jump from there to the frankly overreaction of his father in comparison to Athena’s apathy. Then, they could jump to Pallas. Then, they’d deal with Persephone. That could easily tie into the other cousin marriage to get Aphrodite and Hephaestus time to handle their shit. That would then be a simple process to be like, we need to talk about other problems within marriage. Which would be Hera, your step children, holy shit. Leap from that too, as much as everyone loves to talk about how she treats the bastards, she is not winning mother of the year awards from Hephaestus either. Then, finally they could deal with Metis and Zeus’ problems with fear and his responses to those that are supposed to be his most trusted with that, and likely Hera’s fears. Which would conclude with their marriage.

Shit, Percy stared at his list like it was burning him. First, his inner thoughts were etched onto the paper. He had done that without a pen. He had done that by thought alone, a lot like it was a divine power, only he could stretch his father’s domains quite far, and he did. He expanded the ever living shit out of them sometimes, but this was a whole different level. This wasn’t his father’s domain at all.

Second, he had just created a plan. Not like the last time, where he just said ‘chronological order, here we come’. No, this was a solid plan. This wasn’t a battle strategy, this wasn’t heat of the moment. This was well thought out therapy planning.

Percy stood. He rushed out of the room. He needed Apollo. He wasn’t fully ascended but there were some aspects of his domains that he knew Apollo could already see. The ones that he was using to push towards ascension as they all spoke. That was what he needed. He needed to know whether he was the god of therapy.

He rushed towards anyone that might be able to point him towards Apollo, and almost froze. He hadn’t really spoken to Artemis often during these sessions, but there she was in the training area, bow drawn and Athena next to her. He approached slower than he had run.

Artemis clocked him almost immediately. “Did you have need of one of us?”

“Your twin,” Percy replied.

“He’s not on Olympus. He took his chariot out this morning as we were relatively positive you’d need some time and space to handle this development.”

Athena cleared her throats. “We’ve stabilized, if you would like to process these emotions with the camps. I’m sure I can call Hermes here.”

“My sisters together and calling, I’d be a fool to ignore you.” Hermes wrapped an arm around Athena’s shoulders. “Aim for a moving target, Artie. A flat target is nothing for you unless over 500 meters away from you.”

Percy had a response to Artemis and Athena, but with Hermes here, he could just ask a different favor. “Actually, Hermes, could you pop me into Apollo’s chariot?”

“He won’t want to be in his human form,” Artemis cautioned him. “Better to either wait for him to return or pray to him and see if he’s willing to send a shade.”

Percy stared at her. “Do you think his divinity would hurt me?”

Artemis loosened her own form. Her skin started glowing the soft shimmer of the moon. Her body faded out of his view. He could still see the form if he focused but the image in front of him was more and more every second.

Percy did not flinch in the face of her form. He met the gaze of the other gods. “Apollo,” he asked softly.

Hermes gripped his arm tight. “I swear, you are the most troublesome cousin I could have gotten, and I’d much prefer life from before you were aware my affections extended to you.”

Percy snorted. “Liar. I made things more fun.”

Hermes and Percy soared into the sky. Wings on the back of Hermes ankles and kept them in the air, as he located the chariot’s speed across the sky. He dropped Percy into the passenger seat and flashed out, more than willing to let his brother have his prophecy.

The light that was gentle from Artemis was anything but from Apollo. Percy’s eyes closed, and he wasn’t in pain from the divinity. He just waited for Apollo to speak. He may have been the one that needed his cousin, but he could tell that this ride of morning was important. He relaxed into the seat trusting that Apollo would keep him safe in the sky, no matter what they encountered.

A nudge to his shoulder woke him from a peaceful nap. The sunspot never moved, and the gentle heat had been a nice touch. They were no longer in the chariot, but lounging on an island beach. “Don’t worry,” Apollo announced. “The sun is still moving, and the two of us will be back on the chariot after this conversation. You’re stuck with me now until I rejoin Olympus. I don’t want to worry about Hermes popping into my chariot twice this morning.”

“Fine by me.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “You did not show up during this just to say nothing. I may not know exactly what you sought me out for, but we were all prepared for a breakdown.”

“I need you to check something for me.”

Apollo clapped his hands. “At least you’re being smarter this time than asking Ares to cut you open to see how you bleed.”

“I don’t want to see my blood,” Percy admitted. He knew that the color would be alarming. The hints of gold that had been seen before were likely to be stronger than the red by this point, and that would give him a complex right now.

Apollo blinked. “Okay…”

“Can you see the domains of a bludgeoning god?”

“Ah, no. Well, at least not all of them. I could see wine as one of Dionysus’, and I think I was able to tell that he’d be important to nature because Pan was already shifting in his domain, but I talked to Poseidon, he doesn’t feel any deep shifts.”

Percy winced. He knew that his father would feel it eventually, but the things that Percy typically used of his domains when he pushed the limits, weren’t ones that he typically played with on a daily basis. No, he had always pushed the boundaries of what could be possible. He shook his head softly. “Could you check mine? What you see I mean?”

“It doesn’t work like that before you’re a god. If you gave me a direction, I could try, but I couldn’t even promise that.”

Percy averted his eyes. He didn’t want to see the god’s pitying look. “I just…I need to know, Apollo, but is therapy one of my domains?”

Apollo stared at him for several seconds. “That is not one of your father’s domains.”

“No.”

“That’s not even a domain that I’m certain our pantheon has ever had specifically.”

“I know.”

Apollo nodded once. “Give me a moment.” His eyes began to glow a deep yellow color as he looked Percy over. He looked closely at various parts of Percy. He blinked and his eyes were back to normal. “I don’t even know how to begin to describe what I just saw.”

“Don’t,” Percy warned. “Some of the things that I’m sure you just saw are likely to cause me a whole new world of panic. Just tell me about therapy. Tell me if I’m right that at least one domain I’m pushing at the boundaries for is completely unconnected from my father.”

“You know the answer already,” Apollo pointed out. His hand touched Percy’s shoulder, and they were back in the sky, traveling above the globe.

“I need to hear it said, please, cousin.”

“Yes. Upon your ascension you will be Perseus, god of therapy. Although that will be far from the only domain under your belt.”

Percy nodded. “I suspected that much.” He leaned his head over the edge of the chariot. “I’m going to just space out, if you don’t mind.”

“Is there anything else that you need?”

“To not have fully committed to ascension because I agreed to save Aunt Hestia and couldn’t give up once I saw how dedicated all of you would be to therapy,” he quipped. That would be impossible now though.

Apollo snorted. “You surprised us all when you stayed.”

“I think you surprised me when I didn’t die that first session.”

“How are you feeling?” Apollo teased.

“It was important.”

Apollo laughed. “It was, and it set a different tone than anything that had dug into the problems immediately. You forced us to consider the fact that each of us had a different set of traumas regarding everything. You forced us to be okay with the fact that each of us had those differences. You didn’t even fight back against Zeus.”

“His emotions were valid,” Percy said.

“The Percy without any backing of therapy wouldn’t have said that. He would have been railing against the system that allowed this to happen. He would have been angry that Zeus had the audacity to stand in front of his victims and play the victim card. You had to put that aside to help him.”

Percy snorted. “I wanted to punch him still at that point. I just knew that wouldn’t help and would only increase the chances of me getting smited.”

Apollo set a hand down on Percy’s leg. “Still.”

Percy didn’t say anything back. He knew that Apollo was at least partially right. The younger version of himself would not have stood there like that. The Percy from before tartarus would not have allowed all of them to speak. He would have chosen the people who were impacted for each session. But he remembered the way that Nyx had been helpful. He remembered how Tartarus had given him a curtesy that he wouldn’t have given any other demigod, and how much peace that had given him once he survived. He needed everyone to know that they were heard.

Which was going to be the real problem with today’s session, because this could become an attack against Athena. The way that he had originally written it had been an attack. It did need discussed. It did need to be addressed, because somewhere in him, he knew that Athena had a side to this, and the other gods would need to know about the kinds of quests that they could expect from the goddess of wisdom.

The chariot docked on Olympus. Apollo’s hand tightened on his leg, and Percy came back to the present. He stopped thinking about the rest of the session. He saw his father waiting for them. He waved.

Poseidon waved back. “Apollo, you haven’t been using your mortal form.”

“I was warned, dad, I chose to go anyway.”

Poseidon reared back. “Percy, that was incredibly dangerous.”

“Not nearly so much as the danger of being left alone with my thoughts. Come on, we’ve got a therapy session to get to.”

Artemis sighed. “No chariot ride for me today.”

Percy glanced at her. “If you need to call a recess.”

“I’m teasing my brother, nothing more.” She leaned her head on her brother’s shoulder.

Percy had to deal with his father being overprotective right behind him this time. Apparently allowing himself to be within the divine energy of one of the council was not something that his dad had prepared for. Honestly, he’s not sure whether Poseidon has realized the changes that will come to their relationship as he continues his ascension. However, he was willing to allow the closeness for the moment, it hurt nothing.

In his thoughts, he focused towards Zeus. “Uncle Zeus, it is time for the next session.”

Within moments, his father was joined by his uncle. His uncle fell into step easily. “I am surprised to see you ready so quickly.”

“I’ve got a job to do,” Percy replied. “Stopping is not a good option, and well, better to not focus on the panic I feel. Plenty of time for that once the official ascension happens, until then, I just know that the fates fully intend on making me live through that."

Zeus clasped him on the shoulder. “A good way to look at it, nephew.”

Percy took his seat and waited for the rest of everyone to get settled in. He allowed small conversations, and the way that they were all relaxed and prepared for the day’s session. He had given this a decent bit of thought on the chariot ride. “I want to preface this conversation, by saying this is not at all a normal session, it will be clear why we need to discuss this at the end, and not a second before, but the start cannot be the target conversation because that will lead us down an unfortunate road for understanding each other. I’m asking you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

“We trust you, Percy.” Hestia gave him a smile as she said those words. There was a glow underneath her skin that had been missing for all the time that he had known her, and it was a welcome sight.

“Alright, then, in any order you feel like, I would like you to tell me what quests are to you.”

“Like demigod quests?” Zeus clarified.

Percy nodded once.

Zeus blinked. “Well, I suppose there are two kinds of quest in my eyes. There are quests that are undertaken because of something I want done either by one of my own heroes or by anyone with the ability. Things like cleaning up a monster infestation or retrieving my stolen bolt. Then there are quests that are undertaken in my name under the guise of Olympus. Great prophecies, while given by Apollo’s prophet, are often associated as quests that I have given permission for, that have my blessing to continue.”

Apollo clucked his tongue. “I suppose, I don’t really consider the prophecies to be quests. Those are more like elite missions that will impact demigod and god alike, and are more just what they are. The results often acquire boons and attention much like a quest would, but they’re pre-determined. Nothing is going to really change those from happening. Our permission doesn’t matter. Our emotions, opinions, nothing touches them.”

“So what are quests to you?” Triton asked, an open look of interest on his face.

Apollo snapped his fingers. “Something that I could do, but don’t want to. Sometimes I need to refreshen the chariot. Sometimes I need to talk to other gods in a fashion that could be considered bartering, and I disdain having to admit that I need them for something. Sending the demigods on a quest, is like chore dispersal.”

Poseidon rubbed at his temples. “Yes, I suppose that’s a relatively accurate way of putting it. I know that you, my son, have really only seen me as a quest giver of rather drastic requirements. You know, avoid the sea and Olympus going to war to find the stolen bolt, but most of the time, my quests are much less damaging. It’s go clean up a river that has been polluted or send this envoy with safety through Oceanus’ territory.”

Amphitrite tilted her head to the side. “My quests are a bit different than those though. As your wife, your queen, I do not have the freedom I once do. It is hard for me to talk to many of my siblings, and close to impossible for me to talk with my parents due to the restrictions and problems within tensions of the oceans. I assign tasks for actions that I could not take myself without risking war. A birthday gift for a sibling. A greeting for my father. A peace offering to my mother. Small gestures that if I did them would be considered grounds for new actions on a court wide basis, but that by demigod are largely ignored and gracefully allowed.”

Triton bit his lip. “I haven’t given many quests in my lifetime. I think the few times that I have, it was mostly to get one of dad’s demigods in trouble because it would give me a good feeling having put them in their place. Orchestrating some near traumatizing event.”

“Near traumatizing?” Athena pondered.

Triton’s eyes flashed when she spoke directly to him, but still he did not back down, nor did either him or Amphitrite stand up in anger to start hurling insults or attacks. Progress was gradual, surely, but they were making good steps in the right direction. “I mean, I always ensure that whatever nonsense I set up won’t kill them, and usually shouldn’t end in debilitating pain. I’m nearby so if something does go wrong, I can step in. I bring them to an underwater healer if needs must. I call dad if I absolutely lose control over the situation. You know, near traumatizing.”

Athena flushed, a dark pink.

Artemis noted that immediately. “My quests are often hunts. You hunt with me and mine to possibly receive the gift of being offered to join my huntresses. My girls are often rewarded for having completed a successful hunt. Sometimes, I need someone to come find me after I’ve taken on the burden of a sky, but I’d argue that was more prophecy than quest.”

After speaking, she turned bodily in her throne. “Sister, I’m curious to know why you asked about the near traumatizing statement, and why it is that you are now flustered.”

Athena twitched in her seat. Her hands were jittery as she hesitated to speak.

Percy knew then, that Athena now understood the point of this line of conversation. None of the others were going to say that there was a death trap in the making. None of the gods were going to tell her that outside of prophecies they sent demigods out to die. Minus perhaps, Hera. But even Hera gave out optional quests when they were deadly. Hercules hadn’t been forced to undergo the dangerous quests he went on, but was offered them in return for Hera being willing to overlook his bastard status to be raised a god.

Ares cleared his throat. “I usually use the demigod brats either to give my kids a nice fight to earn some brownie points with me or sometimes I’ll choose one of my cousin brats to run a favor for me when Hephaestus pulls some shit because I’m fucking his wife or if one of my uncles has my shit and I don’t feel like making with the mushy family feelings stuff or hell if I think something they’ll do will impress Aphrodite, you know.”

Aphrodite turned to stare at him. “You use the demigods to do what?”

“Get out of trouble, impress people including me, and on occasion dodge emotions like its damage,” Ares replied. He shrugged. “The fact you, sea brat, did manage to successfully retrieve my shield is like a solid part of why I didn’t smite you on that beach when you nicked my ankle. Cursed you instead, because what the hell kid, I was a god and you were a 12 year old punk, but you know didn’t just blast you out of the damn ocean.”

“Had nothing to do with the fact he was right next to the ocean and I was literally watching for him,” Poseidon muttered.

Ares flashed Poseidon a finger gun. “That too. I can have layers to my logic. Seriously, Uncle P, tell me honestly you didn’t think your kid was dead when he challenged me like that.”

Poseidon couldn’t say anything, because well, that was a ridiculous thing that he had done. Something that was quite frankly a bit insane, and perhaps not at all reasonable for him to have done in response to learning Ares was in cahoots with their grandfather.

Hephaestus grimaced. “I mean… I’m not much better, Aphrodite. I usually send demigods on quests for materials for the newest invention I want. Collecting my own materials, especially with the bad back and bad leg takes like several months to a year. Send a demigod and I usually cut out several months all together of labor. Useful shits, they are.”

Athena’s eyes were bulging at this point.

Aphrodite waved her hands. “Well, I mean, I guess. You’re both kind of staying true to your domains. I just…I was hoping for something more fun. I send people out on quests to mess with humans. I have given out cupids arrows for them to lead a couple to an alter. I’ve directed them to change that bachelor’s show that’s going on. At least in the modern era, those are my quests. They’re fun and while they could get the demigods into trouble, it’s not like I want to send them out to fight monsters.”

“Really?” Poseidon asked.

“I mean, sometimes they have to fight. They have the scent, I don’t see the need to make life worse for them, you know? They have a rough time of it once they’r out on the quest to avoid monsters, no need to target them for more fights, just let them do something that will aid my domain and call that a good enough day.”

Apollo let out a short chuckle. “Always knew you were a sweetheart, Aphrodite.”

“Shut it,” she ordered.

Apollo gave her a mocking salute in response.

Hermes glanced over at the rest of his siblings then sighed. “I have like hundreds of tasks in any given day. Sometimes, I don’t want to do all of them. Sometimes the snakes in my staff are having a hell of a time and don’t want to do one of the packages. Times like those, I just whisk up a quest with the package or message to be done. Never the important ones from Olympus or even anything that is directly associated with my name, but the smaller ones can be out sourced to demigods in need of a nice and easy quest.”

Hades groaned. “You are all making me sound like a monster, because my quests usually do involve a fair amount of danger. I really only give a quest when it becomes a matter of retrieving something from the world of the dead back to the realm of the dead. And that involves finding an entrance to the underworld and not getting trapped there, and also that is where most of the monsters make their bed, so it can be really important to deal with.”

Demeter glanced at her brother. She rolled her eyes. “This is why no one wants to include you in quest making, brother.”

“And here I thought it was because I wasn’t here to be included.”

Demeter’s lips twitched almost as if she was trying to hold in her amusement at that sentence. “Anyway, to answer you, Percy, I give quests rarely. While I am not one of the big three, my children are often among those with the strongest scents. They can be in grave danger when they are not at the camp and protected by the walls. When I do, however, they tend to be to destroy some of the industrial grade farms that mess with natural harvests. Sometimes it is to sabotage the crops of an organization that has done me dirty in some way. Nice simple quests, something that even those that are unwise would be unable to easily mess up.”

Hestia licked her lips. “I believe that this is the first quest I have ever given.”

Zeus opened his mouth to retort, then froze. “You might be right, Hestia.”

She nodded. “So, my quests are life and death, but not to the demigod. I don’t intervene in the natural processes unless I’m dying and need help.”

“Good gracious, Aunt Hestia, try to leave some room for the rest of us,” Dionysus called out. He struck up a pose on his throne, with one hand hooked under his chin, and the other holding one of his legs bent up to his chest. “I haven’t given a quest since my imprisonment because I refuse to both look after the brats all the time, and still have to come up with stupid quests for them to accomplish. However, before that, I party. When I party, there are incidents. The demigods are sent to clean up, patch up or otherwise ease the burden of those incidents. Simple, piece of cake, often does end up battling a few monsters, because well my parties get wild.” He spread his lips open to show his teeth that were pointed just a little more than should be natural.

Ariadne chuckled at her husband’s expression. She glanced towards Zeus. “Before these therapy sessions, I would not have considered myself a goddess of enough note to ever offer a quest, let alone give one similar to those that you are all proclaiming needed in these circumstances.”

“And now?” Zeus asked, curious on whether her answer had changed.

She considered that question for a moment. Her hand rested on her lap and fiddled with her skirt. “I suppose I would likely give quests that would help restore the labyrinth or perhaps aid in the clean up of one of my husbands messes.”

Hera titled her head to the side. “Similar to my quests then, as almost all of them have to do with cleaning up something that Zeus has done.”

“Oi,” Zeus protested. “At least some of them have just been for the torture of demigods.”

Hera raised an eyebrow. “My quests for Jason, Piper, and Leo were all connected to the fact that you had chosen not to tell either camp about each other or the fact that we were no longer able to stop ourselves from switching forms or the upcoming prophecy that might kill the pantheon, the demigods included. Percy was also for that reason. Is that not one of your messes?”

“And what do you call Heracules?”

Hera titled her head to the side. “He wished for godhood despite the fact that he knew I had no wish for him to become a more prominent portion of our lives. I gave him challenges that would either ensure that he lived a mortal heroic death, or he would earn my blessing to become a god. Are you proposing that my desire to not include him wasn’t a result of your infidelity?”

“Wife.”

Hera shook her head. “I admit, at times, they verge more on my role as queen of Olympus and the gods, than Ariadne’s ever will, but even then, it is usually because of a decision that you made, not an active choice on my part. I follow the will of the council more than you do on that note.”

“You’d better,” Poseidon muttered. “Given all that the two of us had to do in order to create one.”

Hera’s lips twitched. “There is that.”

Persephone rolled her eyes. “I will say, that those are depressing answers, and I hope Amphitrite will back me up on that one.”

Amphitrite glanced up. “Ariadne’s is unsurprising, she’s still gaining her footing as a goddess. You and I can spread her wings later. Hera is who she has always been, faulting her for being what she has always been does no good.”

“She could do things herself rather than waiting for Zeus to make a mess of it,” Persephone pointed out.

Hera huffed. “Could, but I have no desire to. I don’t particularly care for demigods. I mean, they are under my protection as members of the pantheon, and I spend a decent amount of time and energy on ensuring they won’t all die. However, I don’t want to reward them. I don’t want to craft ways for them to please me. I want their godly parents to be better and preferably them to understand their place in the world.”

Ares blinked. “Mother, surely you can’t hate them all.”

“I just said I didn’t.”

“It sounded a lot like that,” Persephone argued.

Hera turned her head to force Percy to take note of her again. He stared at his aunt for a long moment, trying to gauge what she wasn’t saying but was clearly trying to portray to him. “Ah,” he said softly.

“It is not a matter for today, for starters. But also, have you considered that Hera does not need to be fond of demigods?”

“What?”

“I mean, she does need to stop punishing demigods for the slights that their parents do, preferably, for my sanity, please. But, that doesn’t require her to suddenly like them. She has champions very rarely. From what I recall of the older parts of our pantheon, from before the time of this council, she would be most like Nyx. She has champions, and other than that, she is removed. She has no children. She has a cabin that sits empty.”

“It shouldn’t,” Hera whispered. “The cabin should not be empty. Hermes may be the god of travelers, but that is not where the unclaimed children should be while they wait for the gods to claim them. Regardless of what reasons there might be to be waiting on the claiming given our oath to you, and the need to claim them sooner, those children aren’t Hermes responsibility.”

Hermes shrugged. “But they are. They have been under my protection for so long that at this point there are times when I miss which ones are my children and which ones are just praying to me like a parent for a semi-constant need for help.”

Hera waved her hand. “They should be in my cabin. I am their queen. They are under my protection always, regardless of parent if they are part of our domain. I do not know when the decision was made to send them to you, but it is annoying.”

Dionysus blinked. “Before my time, even. I just assumed that was as you wanted it.”

“No,” she said.

Dionysus nodded once. “I’ll fix that.”

Zeus frowned. “You don’t have to return, Dionysus.”

“Yes, I really do. If I leave with no warning, at least some of the brats will assume that there is mortal peril afoot. One or more of them will try to demand answers of gods, and probably someone will get dead. As I like to avoid that, I will likely spend 2-3 months getting everything resolved after this therapy to fix those problems.”

“Thank you,” Hera interjected before Zeus could say anything. “Now, Persephone, if you don’t like my quests, why don’t you tell us about yours?”

“It depends on the time of year,” she answered. “During the spring and summer when I am away from my realm, I typically assign quests that involve sacrifice. Sometimes, I want them to send someone else to the realm on my behalf. Sometimes, I want them to send things to the underworld. In the winter and the fall, I send quests like my husband does. Occasionally, we even allow souls to make a bargain with us.”

“Oh, Orpheus,” Hades sighed. “I did so want him to win.”

Percy recalled how his high school had talked about that myth. He remembered some of the essays and the videos that they watched regarding that story line. He glanced up at his uncle, confusion written across his face. “An Orpheus who never turned around, is an Orpheus who never made it all the way to you to bargain for her return. They were never going to win that quest, it was impossible.”

Persephone nodded. “Death can’t be beat, Percy. Death occasionally has an interest in a story. Sometimes, death has compassion for the mourners and the loss and the grief. But, we give a chance that is impossible, because death can’t be won against. There’s no way for us to return a soul to the land of the living for nothing, no matter how much we sometimes see the need for mercy.”

Hades glanced towards his wife, a gentle smile on his face. “Sometimes, you give quests to the demigods in the underworld that didn’t make it to Elysium for a chance for you to take them to where they can be reborn.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, my wife.”

Her nose twitched slightly in amusement and fondness. “Well, sometimes, my duties require a useful servant.”

Demeter stared at her daughter. “You can bring them without them having qualified for Elysium?”

“Of course, I can.” Persephone glanced towards all the rest of the gods who were staring at them. “I am my own goddess. I am queen of the underworld. What Hades can do, I can accomplish.”

Artemis clapped. “Wonderful, now that literally everyone else has spoken, sister, why the fuck have you remained silent this whole time.”

“I don’t want to answer this question,” Athena replied.

“Too bad,” Percy called out.

Her glare was lightened by the fact that Percy now knew she wouldn’t hurt him. Once upon a time, he would have been nervous having a goddess giving him a stare of pure anger. Now, this washed over him with little nerves.

“Daughter,” Zeus cautioned, “whatever it is that plagues you about this topic, we can handle together. We have faced worse odds.”

Athena paused. “My quests are to prove their worth through any means necessary.”

“What do you mean?” Hera questioned. “Prove their worth for what?”

“To be my children,” Athena answered softly. “I want them to prove worthy of being granted the honor of being a child of one of the virgin gods, I want them to prove they were worth the effort of reproduction.”

Zeus stared at Athena in wonder, meanwhile Triton buried his head in his hands with a deep groan. “Daughter, surely, you send them on quests outside of proving themselves to be worthy.”

Percy took pity on the way that Athena was cowering in the face of the attention. He understood that this was not what she had anticipated. A few of them having been upset, she saw coming. For no one else to say something along these lines was shocking to her. She was anticipating a path that was never going to appear. “Do you want me to elaborate on what I know?”

Athena shook her head. “This is my responsibility, and what you know is only a fraction of the truth.”

“What did you do?” Dionysus said harshly. “I know your children are often terrified senseless of you, but I thought it was because they had enough brains to know that a bad mood could leave them smited. Tell me that’s all this was. Tell me that I shouldn’t have been standing in front of your children to protect them from you.”

Athena’s face flushed. “I…I can’t tell you that.”

Percy titled his head to the side to consider his cousin. For all intents and purposes, none of the victims were here. Yet, he knew the full story more so than anyone else. “Tell them where the quest led. The one that you gave your children, one after another. Tell them how it ended for most of the children you sent. And tell them what you did to ensure that they knew the start of the quest.”

Athena’s arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes darted over to Zeus and then to Triton.

“You’re scared of what we’re going to say,” Triton whispered. “What did you do, Athena?”

“The quest was to find my Parthenos.”

“Your Parthenos,” Hades repeated. “The one that the romans stole. The one that Arachne decided to protect. The one she dragged into Tartarus to ensure you would never be able to come retrieve it. That Parthenos?”

Athena ducked her head, but she nodded all the same. “Yes, uncle.”

Triton groaned. His hands covered his face. “Your children?”

Athena bit her lip. “I haven’t finished answering Percy’s question.”

“For fuck’s sake, there’s more?”

The tightness around Athena’s eyes showed that she was starting to understand that her decisions had been shit and were likely to be the focus of the family’s efforts to dismantle problems for the day. “You know that I sent them to Tartarus now. What you probably don’t know, but Dionysus might suspect, is that I cursed all of them. From the day they are born until they day they finish the quest, they are to be terrified of spiders. I wanted them to think critically about Arachne. I want them to consider her as the target for their fear. Few ever put the pieces together without my nudging them with the quest, but it is constant for all my children.”

Triton bashed his head against the stone in his seat. “For the love of all things, Athena, I raised you better than to curse children.”

Athena froze, as did Zeus and Poseidon. For all that they had skirted around the fact in previous meetings, and as much as Percy was confident this would come up in its own section, this was the first time, of his own choice, Triton had reminded everyone on this council that he was the one who raised her. He was the one that had guided her at first.

She looked away. “Yes, well, you did abandon me. And then everything went wrong and one of my domains was stripped from my other form, and I was angry. The closest thing I had to a role model for my anger was Hera.”

Hera gaped for a second. “This was because of what they did to Minerva.”

“Yes,” Athena screamed. “I am a goddess of war. My domain should not have been given to Bellona. It was mine. It should have been Minerva’s. But it wasn’t. It was stripped from me, and the statues that promised me that were taken and placed in a realm I could not go to to retrieve them. I would have them back. I was a virgin goddess, but I found a way to have children. Demigods of my own that I could send on quests. I wanted my revenge.”

Her eyes were wild as they turned to Percy. “And that was their purpose, their reason for me gifting them with life. I brought them into this world to be the hand of my revenge. Yes, they died in droves. Bones piling up. But I won. I got my revenge, my Parthenos is once more in the lands of the living, and no one shall soon forget that I am a goddess of war.”

“No one ever was,” Poseidon said dryly. “The sea couldn’t forget even if it wanted to.”

Athena’s body curled in on itself. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t rely on the sea, could I?”

“Did you even try?” Triton asked.

“What?”

Triton stood and paced the damn floor. “Without getting too fucking involved in a different discussion, let’s just focus on this one. I did raise you, daughter of Zeus. It was my arms that caught you when you stumbled. It was my protection that settled against your skin for so many years. So tell me, when your domains were stripped of one of your forms and revenge filled your heart, why not reach out to your father?”

Athena raised her eyes. “You know the answer.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“Because until these therapy sessions, I was under the impression that if I came anywhere the ocean or its temples, that I would be blasted from the face of the earth. I was under the illusion that my life would be the cost. My revenge being done on my scales was nothing compared to the fear I felt of you.”

Triton reared back. He opened his mouth then shut it. “Fuck you, Athena. You knew better than to send your children to their deaths. You knew better than to ask them to brave Tartarus for your fucking pride.”

Athena stared at Triton. “I made mistakes, but this was not unreasonable.”

“Yes, it was,” Zeus said suddenly. Eyes turned to him as he had been mostly silent through this conversation thus far. “None of my children have ever been sent there. Even in the most harrowing of times, I have never considered that to be a reasonable punishment for the crimes.”

Athena considered him for a moment. “I know that, father. I also never gave this quest as a punishment. This was many things but never a punishment.”

She swallowed harshly under everyone’s attention. “And regardless, this quest was fulfilled. It will never be required again and all ended as it should.”

Percy considered his cousin. She was often cold and distanced, but she wasn’t just cruel. Her words screamed cruelty though. Then, the realization hit him. “None of you can see into the pit, can you?”

Hades shook his head. “The pit is a power into itself. We have no control of his domain, and he has not granted us sight for several millennia.”

Percy sucked in a breath. He hated dwelling on what had happened when they walked the pit. From what he knew of when Nico had gone in either time, he had nothing like the personally designed tortures that had greeted him. However, he was the only one who knew how this looked. “Athena, it didn’t end like you think.”

“Yes, well I know that the quest to close the doors of death kind of overlapped with the ending of my Parthenos quest.”

Percy inclined his head. “Do you know what the first thing we saw in Tartarus was?” The normal shaking feeling that consumed him when talking about the pit was suspiciously absent. Instead, he felt strength in speaking.

“No one could,” Athena replied.

“We saw the bones of your children. They were piled on top of each other. Arachne’s prized trophies of the fallen. Heaps upon heaps, child on top of child.”

Eyes filled with horror wee staring at Percy as he spoke. No one was interrupting him, likely all of them recognizing the struggle he was facing to get these words out of his mouth. He gulped. “You consider Annabeth to be your pride and joy, in part because of this quest.”

“Yes, that is far from the only thing that she has done to deserve praise, but you are correct, her success in this plays a large role.”

“Especially because of how many children you thought ready for this quest who failed miserably to return?”

“Your point?” She demanded to know.

“Annabeth was no different than your other children. Her body should have joined the dead. Annabeth did not retrieve your parthenos.”

“What? She handed it to me herself. Only her hands had touched it, I could tell.”

Percy stared at Athena. “None of your children could survive entry to the pit, Athena. Annabeth would have died in those web tracks like all of your children because the pit is a cruel place with no quarter. You, a goddess, would struggle with the injuries that a fall would cause. A mostly mortal demigod could never survive.”

“But the girl does live,” Hera pointed out.

“Because I chose to fall with her. I had her gripped in my hand, and I could not pull us both up, so I fell beside her. I called to the rivers of the underworld to come save us. The water stopped us from dying upon the rocks. I put my back to the flames so that Annabeth had a chance to survive, knowing that I have survived those waters before and would likely need to again,” Percy said, his voice cracking and raw as he spoke. “Annabeth would not have lived without a son of Poseidon who had already cracked mortality next to her. No child of Athena would have succeeded alone. Zeus’ children, my father’s children, Uncle Hades children, and Aunt Persephone’s children are the only ones who could, and even then only if they were stretching the bounds of what their powers should be.”

Athena’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “No.”

Percy nodded. “Yes. This quest wasn’t some difficult test, this was impossible.”

Athena furrowed her brows. “Then what was I meant to do?”

“Ask for the assistance you clearly required,” Poseidon suggested.

“Requested a new parthenos be built in your honor that made an even stronger emphasis on your domains of war,” Zeus added.

Ares’ bared his teeth. “Gone to war next to me and reminded the Romans how poorly they mixed our myths.”

“Used the wisdom you are famed for to consider why the first three questers never came home, and sent a demigod that could actually survive the quest you were giving,” Hera muttered damningly.

Athena closed her eyes. She wilted back into her throne. “Yes, I should have done that, at a minimum.”

Triton snorted in amusement.

Several heads turned to him.

Triton held a hand up in a gesture for peace. “That’s just… you’re so similar to how you were when you were younger. Any time any of us would ever try to engage with you regarding how you could have gone about something better. Your first instinct is to deny doing anything wrong, then defend why you chose the wrong action anyway, and then finally you’d wilt when you realized there were better choices in front of you.”

Athena blinked. “I try hard to not dwell on those memories.”

“Same,” he said blandly. “Hard not to, when you’re being critiqued by everyone, and you still sound like my tiny daughter when she decided that the best option for how to handle a missing dress was to grab her most trusted maid and run an undercover mission to find the dress rather than seeing whether the clothing services had the dress.”

“Or your grandmother who in fact took it to give it a bit more flair for the upcoming ceremony,” Amphitrite added. She stared at Athena. “You were young when you left the sea. Not a child, but young. You had just unlocked your other domain. One, I believe that you might have taken from my husband.”

Poseidon’s lips twitched. “I have no idea what you mean, dear wife. I certainly didn’t see one of my older form’s domains lying around with Ares barely touching it as he was still so young and gift it to one of my granddaughters. That doesn’t sound like me, at all.”

“What?” Ares asked baffled.

Zeus stared at Poseidon. “And you didn’t give it to the other granddaughter?”

“The other granddaughter had no interest in sparring or weapons. She was likely to get peaceful waters, possibly something to do with sailors shared with me. She was gentle and people pleasing. Giving her battle strategy would have been nothing short of a disaster.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “We’re getting a bit close to a different session.”

Triton waved a hand. “Only if we talk about when she actually did unlock the domain. Father started the process of letting her have that domain ages before then. Back when he saw her handle his trident for the first time.”

“I forgot that I had stolen his holy symbol,” Athena murmured.

“Stolen, no, Athena. You are very clever, but that young version of you could not have stolen my trident. I was curious what you’d do in the sparring lessons if you had a weapon of the sea versus the spear you usually carried. I left it laying around. No one other than family would have dared to touch it, so I considered it low risk.”

Athena rubbed at her eyes. “So, what you’re saying is that I’m still like my younger self.”

“What I’m asking is how did the gods here in Olympus push you after you left the sea when you did things like this?” Amphitrite corrected gently. “You are so much like the girl we used to know, surprisingly so given that none of Zeus’ other children seem to have the same traits that we push for under the sea.”

Zeus furrowed his brow. “Why would I have raised her? She was an adult when she came to us. Her domains activated. She needed protection from the wrath of the sea due to the unfortunate circumstances of her domain’s activation, but other than that, she was just welcomed back to the council as one of my children. She was shown her bedroom in the palace. She has never done anything that I would consider to be a problem, or at least not one I noticed at the time. I do acknowledge perhaps, this would have counted had I known about it at the first few instances.”

Amphitrite stared at Zeus for a long time. Her gaze full of judgement and disdain. “Do you even parent your children?”

Hera scoffed. “No, the women parent the fucking brood of children he had. I raised Hephaestus and Ares, much as he tried to stop me from raising Hephaestus after the mountain incident. Leta raised the twins for much of their early years, although Zeus took an affectionate role in Apollo’s rearing when he just kept collecting domains like they were prized trophies when he was younger. Maia raised Hermes, which is likely why he has such a trickster epithet as the woman was never all that prepared to raise a son of the king of gods, and rarely ever criticized an action he took. She assumed if he went too far, Zeus would intervene. Fat chance. The child he likely raised the most was Dionysus, because I killed his mortal mother. But even that he did from afar given at the time, most of Dionysus would have burnt to a crisp in the full presence of his father.”

Heads turned to Hera.

She paused. “Oh, right. Aphrodite was also a primarily Zeus raised baby, but she spent a lot of time in the sea too. Poseidon, I believe you helped rear her, and for that matter, I often interceded as well, as she wasn’t conceived by an affair, but some random chance.”

Apollo tilted his head to the side. “You paid attention to how all of us were raised?”

“Of course, I did. I don’t like most of you, but you are my husband’s brood, and you were always going to wind up here on this council given that he was a trend when it comes to his children.”

“You are enough about us to have specific theories on why we turned out the way we did,” Artemis added.

“Again, of course, I do. It wouldn’t do for Zeus to appear uninformed should the issue ever come up. And I’ve whispered more facts about random things like that in his ears over the years than there are minutes in a gathering, so I strive to always be able to come up with information about you children when it is requested. Fun childhood stories about each of you, in case there are times where reminiscence is called for. Anecdotes for the arrival of your domains or for diverting attention to them.”

Hermes covered his face. “Holy shit, you do care for us.”

Hera raised her eyes to the sky. “I would not say that, child.”

“But I would,” he quipped.

Triton waved his hand. “Back to the topic at hand, please. Athena wasn’t ready to just be released to her domains. She had no training with them. No knowledge of how best applied they were to the mortal world. No knowledge of what her powers would do on the mortal world. Not to mention when she decided to have children while remaining a virgin goddess, surely one of you talked with her about what demigods were like and how they handled situations.”

Hera shook her head. “I have no quarrel with Athena, but I did not consider her mine to raise, and most of my understanding of demigods comes from Zeus’ illicit behaviors. I do not make a habit of comprehending them.”

Zeus groaned. “Uhhh, I forgot.”

Poseidon growled under his breath. “How do you forget something like that?”

“Well, we were shifting forms a lot during those days. The romans and the greeks were at war, our forms were still getting used to the fact that we were one or both at random times of day. The fact she decided to start having children in a way that did not involve sex was like not on my radar.”

Hades face palmed. “And her mother couldn’t help her, because someone decided to behave like father.”

“I faced consequences for that,” Zeus defended immediately. “And…”

“Shut up,” Percy said. “We’re talking about that later.”

Zeus snapped his mouth shut. “But yes, to your point, her mother was unavailable.”

Amphitrite sighed. The noise shut all of the people up. She turned to Athena. “You are going to make this right, because for some forsaken reason your father was incompetent and in our anger, we were unable to cover for him.”

She nodded once. “How though?”

“We shall go through the proper channels of the underworld after the therapy sessions have been concluded, ensure that all of them were placed in Elysium after their demise. If they were not, you will pay whatever fee Persephone or Hades places in order to grant them a second life.”

Hades blinked. “I could waive the fees.”

“You will not,” Amphitrite replied. “She made the mistake, she will pay for the way home for all of those children.”

Percy cleared his throat. “Some of them may come back heavily traumatized. You will have to guide them more so than other children.”

Triton snorted. “We’ll be helping, no need to worry about that, Percy.”

Athena inclined her head. “Of course.”

“And for the love of all holy things, for the next like decade, if you’re going to give a quest to a demigod, you will have it cleared with one of us. Me, Poseidon, Triton, or any of my other full blooded children.”

“Any?”

“Even Kym would have known not to give those demigods a mission that led them to the brink of Tartarus, Athena.”

Athena’s cheeks colored in a faint blush. “Oh.”

“Be as destructive as you like,” Amphitrite explained. “The fates are the only ones who know how the world has survived as many children of the sea that have been born. I do not care how cruel the quest is. I do not care how it will effect the world. I care that the quest is not so impossible that we are wasting talent and life.”

Zeus blinked. “She could come to me. Now that I know the problem, I am more than capable of helping handle it.”

Amphitrite shook her head. “Your chance has come and gone, brother. For now, I will handle this. After a decade has passed, it’s her call again whether to run this by anyone. You can be asked then. Or I suppose, if she wishes for a second opinion to the sea. But someone from the sea will okay her quests.”

“It’s fine, dad,” Athena interjected. “I assume then, I will not be drowned the moment I step into the sea to ask about a quest.”

“According to my husband’s awful decisions regarding you, you were already going to be granted a night in your old bedrooms. This is simply a more extended welcome. I will not blast you out of the sea after telling you to come to us.”

Triton inclined his head. “I, too, shall temper my anger when you are here for this purpose. We were once the ones who guided you, and shall be again.”

Percy waited a beat to see whether anyone else had anything to say. He hadn’t quite anticipated this conversation veering so strongly into what had happened with Pallas and the fact that Athena appeared to have two different sets of families within this pantheon, and one had once more intervened when it became clear she needed it during this session. “Alright, well, I believe that is today’s session solved.”

“Did you place this on the list?” Hestia asked softly.

“Hmm?”

“The topic, it’s not one of mine.”

“No, nor was Ares’ stealing the lightning bolt, but it was a problem that I found and decided needed to be definitively addressed.”

Zeus paused. “May I ask why?”

“Because while you can be cruel and harsh, none of you are really known for giving truly impossible quests, or at least based on your knowledge impossible. The lightning thief quest you gave me father, uncles, was a little outside the realm of normally possible, but then most of you did assume that I had the bolt the whole time, so it balances out. Athena’s quests weren’t doing that, the risk of death wasn’t possible, it was guaranteed. The family, while not overtly close with demigods, doesn’t usually believe they are nothing, so it seemed strange and likely something that needed directly discussed.”

Athena shifts her gaze for a second. “Yes, well, you are quite right about the fact it needed to be discussed, if only because I had no idea I was being different than what the rest of the family normally does.”

Hestia glanced towards Percy. “When did you know this had to be discussed?”

“I wrote it down the night that after you gave me the quest and your list.”

Apollo snorted. “And you needed me to check that you were gaining a domain in therapy? No, you just wanted to confirmation of something.”

Poseidon froze. “A domain in what?”

“Therapy. I wasn’t aware that was in any of your epithets, uncle, but Percy certainly got quite a lot of that domain.” Percy could tell that Apollo was covering for him in case he needed it, and he relaxed for approximately one second.

Dionysus cleared his throat pointedly. “That would be because, Apollo, Poseidon doesn’t have that domain. It falls under mine tangentially and I believe Hera’s more often.”

Hera closed her eyes. “Oh, yes, I hadn’t reached for that in quite some time. It’s been mostly waiting for a power to reach up and grab the mantle.”

“Oh.”

“That would be why I wanted your confirmation, cousin.” Percy glared daggers at the god who decided to make that clear. Apollo had at least tried to help him cover. Dionysus seemed to feel no regret for the role he played. He hadn’t quite been ready for everyone to know that he was branching away from his father’s domains. He hadn’t been ready to fully deal with that himself.

Zeus snorted. “Of course you stole that domain.” He wrapped an arm around Percy effectively blocking him off from the others. “Come, you, me and Hera can talk about that domain a bit.”

Hera was suddenly on his other side. “I would be happy to help.”

Percy didn’t cast a glance backwards at the others as they guided him away from the crowd, he needed the break.

Chapter Text

Hera had branched off from Zeus at some point, only it was her arm around his waist that was guiding Percy. She took him to a wing of the palace that he hadn’t explored yet. Further down than Hermes’ room from the night where he had asked for both Percy and Zeus. Through double doors to one of the fanciest rooms that he had ever stepped in, gold covered many of the features. A large canopy bed was in the center. Works in progress with various threads covered the floor.

“Aunt,” he whispered.

Hera glided into the room, tugging him with her. “You don’t have to speak. We don’t have to talk about an old mantle of mine if you do not wish, it just seemed a good enough excuse to give the others to remove you from the throne room when several gods seemed to be inclined to talk your ear off about something or another.”

“I believe they wanted to speak to me about the fact I picked up one of your mantles, something that my father, even in his oldest form did not ever have.”

“Yes,” she said simply.

Percy blinked. “I don’t know how I did it, auntie. I really don’t.”

She snorted indelicately. “Few ever do. It’s not like Athena truly knew when she picked up one of Poseidon’s instead of Zeus’ for war. It’s not the same, mind you, as at least that was deliberately designed by Poseidon, and yours was not designed by me.”

“I don’t think I’ve always had it.”

“No, I suspect you got it around the third therapy session.”

“Why?”

“You chose to forgive all of us, all of our actions against you, as long as we were here in this therapy trying to be better for the sake of family. That is an incredibly selfless thing to do. Also, at great personal risk, you defended the rules of this therapy session. Your father was going to lash out at me, for generally smart reasons, and you decided that was not an acceptable choice.”

Percy nodded slowly. “How did I do it?”

Hera picked up his arm and ran a nail down one of his veins. “We, perhaps, were a bit forward when we agreed that you would be safe from harm. Zeus more or less gave you the boost needed to get to a minor godhood but without handing you a mantle, then we requested that you do nearly the impossible and to do so you had to pick up a mantle.”

“You think I’ve ascended, then?”

Hera shook her head. “Your stubbornness keeps you human for the moment. Eventually you will face a choice that makes this impossible, but it is not likely to happen in these therapy sessions.”

Percy’s tension decreases. “Any chance the others are going to forget that this was brought up?”

Hera gave him a look that both called him an idiot for asking and told him that she pitied him for the conversations that were sure to follow. She sat down on her cushioned bed. “You have until the next session at least,” she said. “No one, not even my husband, can enter these rooms without my permission, and you will be safe in here with me. I find that I do not have many questions surrounding this like the others.”

“Really?”

Hera shrugged her shoulders with practiced elegance of someone who is used to being uncommitted to a decision or action. “Percy, for all that you are a demigod, you have always been something strange to us. You should not have been able to retrieve Zeus’ bolt. That was meant to be an impossible task set before you.” She paused to collect herself. “The fiasco with the camp and Thalia’s poisoned tree was not a situation any perceived a solution to, let alone saved the way you did. My father was not meant to be beat my a demigod, Olympus should not have been saved the way it was, and the earth mother likely should have won. You do impossible things all of the time. Picking up a mantle that was unused even from a distance relative of your father is not the first nor the last impossible feat you will accomplish. Besides, it wasn’t entirely without my permission.”

Percy stared at her. “You gave it to me.”

“The fates likely allowed my consent to be implied. I acquiesced to you leading the family therapy. I took your role as our therapist seriously. That was enough.”

“Oh.” He was quiet. “I’m tired, Aunt Hera. Therapy is draining enough, but the talk about my domains and ascension is always heavy too.”

“Then rest. You shall be quite safe here. I shall turn away those at the doors.”

“You can just ask them to respect my rest, and if they wish to enter with those restrictions they can.”

Hera raised an eyebrow. “I will use my discretion then. Come now, lay on the bed.”

Percy followed her orders. He took off his shoes before he crawled onto the soft blankets. Softer by far than anything he had felt before, even his own blankets in his room that were carefully made with him in mind had nothing on these. His eyes closed, and as he drifted off, he could feel a soft hand in his hair, stroking his head and offering him peace. “Can you sing, auntie?”

A soft lullaby fills the room. Percy couldn’t quite be sure if she was summoning music or singing, but he found that he didn’t care all that much one way or another. Sleep had taken him.

Hera kept up the gentle song through the night, while she picked up one of her yarns and needles. She could use with a project, and well, she’s starting to see that she needn’t be quite so formal all of the time with the family. She cared not for time. She knew with her sheets, her song, and her presence, the boy could sleep for quite some time. This bothered her little. The family would stand to wait for him to be fully awake.

A knock came upon her door, some time later. Her project nearing completion. She would likely bring it to therapy. A new shawl knitted with full intentions of family. A choice to be made in her opinion, on who would wear it. Her normal targets, her new nephew, or someone even more surprising.

A fragment of herself stood from the bed, while most of her stayed on the bed, humming and singing while her hands continued their work. She cracked open the door to see her husband. “Hello, he is sleeping.”

“It has been 12 hours, is he well?”

“He is at peace. Here in my room with my presence comforting him, there are few powers that could reach his dreams here and fewer still who want to expend the energy that would be necessary to stop his sleep.”

Zeus glanced into the room, past the fragment speaking with him. “You are knitting.”

“Indeed.”

“And singing.”

Hera did not bother responding to that one. He could hear just as well as Percy. The song soothed those that were children and those that were in the pains of childbirth. As was part of her domains, it was an old song. One that she rarely had cause to sing anymore, yet she was singing here today.

Zeus swallowed. “May I sit with you while we await him awakening?”

“I’m up, uncle.” Percy stirred on the bed. He didn’t displace the comfortable blanket draped over him, or lift his head from where it had been guided to Hera’s lap. He blinked his eyes slowly.

Zeus smiled. “Hello, you gave everyone quite the shock yesterday, nephew.”

Percy groaned. “I’m not talking about it.”

“Good because Hephaestus went on a whole rant after the two of you split off yesterday about respecting your boundaries. We will all know how it happened once you fully ascend and your domains fully settle. Right now, things are still in motion, and we are not likely to understand until the fates arrive to settle you.”

Percy’s lips twitched in amusement. He knew at least one of his cousins would have stood up for him, but he didn’t actually think that it would be Hephaestus who decided that they were done doing shit. Dionysus, perhaps, or his father. But, Hephaestus standing up for his boundaries and mental health was interesting.

Zeus reached out and smoothed back some of Percy’s hair. “Did you need more time before today’s session?”

“No.”

Hera set aside her project for the moment. She rose from her spot on the bed. She gently rang a bell and a plate of food appeared summoned to the room. She passed it over to Percy. “Eat first, dear one. It would be a shame if you were to be unfed at the meeting.”

Percy was quick to agree to those points. He ate the food gratefully. His uncle and aunt talking in hushed tones over him. He had nothing to fear in these rooms even his own future.

By the time that the food was gone, Hera helped him stand. “Zeus, I do have a question for you before we leave,” she announced.

Zeus blinked in surprise. “Yes.”

“The Summer solstice is almost upon us.”

“Indeed. I suppose we should take a break from therapy to host the event as all of the immortal creatures are expecting. It would be quite something to cancel such an honored event.”

Hera hummed. “I do not think we should host it.”

“What?”

“We have changed the laws, but so many are going to be confused by this. So many are going to be baffled and expecting tricks. So, let one of the camps host. The gods of Olympus will attend the Summer solstice at the camp.”

“Camp Jupiter would likely be the better one to choose. For all that camp halfblood is my other home, they are not very organized for an event such as this on short notice. The other camp will have a ceremony prepared that will properly honor all of you,” Percy suggested.

Zeus tilted his head to the side. “This would make you happy?”

Hera nodded. “It would.”

“And you believe it would be a benefit for the pantheon?”

“Of course. I would not be suggesting this at such a heavy time, if it were not something that I believed to be of great importance.” Hera settled her head on Zeus’ shoulder. “We cannot continue as we have been. That was your reasoning for why you repealed your own mandate. I think that this is a good place to start interactions with the demigods. We will still be somewhat separate, but they will all be there. No one will be left out, and no one will have to transverse to Olympus this year. More neutral for the other two kings and queens in our pantheon.”

“Indeed.” Zeus hummed. “Very well, I shall see what the family says at the conclusion of this therapy session. If we are all in agreement or at least if no one is in major disagreement, we shall send word to all parties of the new decision.”

“Send Mars to tell the praetors of New Rome, himself. That way they are fully aware of the significance of the request,” Percy tacked on.

Zeus stared at Percy in amusement. “Of course. A wise suggestion.”

Percy flushed. “It’s just that, this is a stark departure from the normal. If one of the Olympians does not go, there is a chance they will believe it a trick.”

Zeus nodded. “That does make sense, you are correct.”

Percy bit his lip. “Then why are you looking at me like I’ve done something unexpected?”

Hera rolled her eyes. “My dear, very few would dare to continue adding on requests to the King after he has already agreed to do something remarkable.”

“Oh.”

Zeus shrugged his shoulders. “Do as you’d like, Percy. Add suggestions or remarks to me any day. I shall do my best to honor them.”

“Thanks, Uncle.”

With that, all three of them started making their way towards the throne room to start the next session of therapy. Only, they were stopped by Triton. He smiled towards Zeus and Hera. “Uncle, Aunt, would you mind terribly if I stole my brother away for a short time?”

“Triton, we are not going to allow you to interrogate him after spending this much energy ensuring that no one could do so.”

“Good, then it’s a very good thing that I have no intentions to speak to him about his domains.”

Percy walked forward. “It’s alright. Get the others there, and I’ll be in as soon as possible.” He locked arms with Triton and led them to the outside river shores where he had found Zeus during the therapy session where he had run off.

Triton waited until they were decently far from the throne room. “I want to ask you something, and I would appreciate you being honest with me.”

“Of course, Triton.”

“Would you forgive her?”

Percy sucked in a breath. He had wondered whether Athena had been the purpose of this meeting. Yesterday had been eye opening for those relationships. Even Amphitrite had bent in regards to Athena then under the weight of what was happening. “I do not know, Triton. I really don’t.”

“Really?”

“I don’t quite understand your relationship, Triton. Some days, you act like her protector. When we were in a spar, you saw fear in her eyes, and you called the battle in her name, and she offered no objection. Your word was law to her. Other days, you act like a stranger. You do not know her, nor does she know you. I don’t know. If she’s truly your daughter, I don’t see how you could stand to not forgive her. If she’s Zeus’ daughter, and you feel like she was a burden placed on you that cost you a daughter, I don’t see how you could ever forgive what came from those decisions.”

Triton closed his eyes. “I raised her as mine. She should be mine.”

“And yet?”

“When everything happened, I should have been her call. Instead, it was Zeus she called for. Zeus that she hid behind. I don’t know how to consider her my daughter any longer.”

Percy nodded. “Wait for the day we talk about what happened, and ask her about it, Triton. Ask her as many questions as you’d like. Be as upset and angry as you’d like. And then make a decision. I can’t make it for you.”

Triton raised his brow. “You could. You speak with authority, and all of the council listens. If you told me that you thought one option was better for me, I would listen for what you had to say.”

Percy laughed. “I am trying, I acknowledge that. However, I haven’t told a one of them what to do with their emotions. Only that they need to address them.”

Triton nodded. “Would I be dishonoring Pallas if I forgive her murderer?”

“Her killer, and no.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Murder requires intent. Athena did not intend to kill her sister. She unlocked a domain and horrible atrocities occurred. But she did not go into the training session intending to hurt Pallas, let alone kill her.”

Triton pursed his lips. “Thank you, brother. I shall ponder your words.”

Triton’s hand rushed over the stream for a second. “What are we talking about in therapy today?”

“Dad.”

“Oh no.”

“We’ve just handled Athena’s down right awful tendency to view literal children as pawns in a game. Now, we need to handle the fact that dad tends to view all of his children as precious gems who can do no wrong, no matter what.”

“This is going to be interesting. You know dad’s protective streak is all that’s kept you alive, on several different occasions, right?”

“Oh, trust me, I know. Still, Aunt Hestia is right, we need to talk about it. He’s gone after heroes and other children of gods for daring to hurt his children whom attacked first. He can’t keep doing that, Triton.”

Triton raised his eyes to the sky. “Alright, then let us go to the council meeting, see how this goes.”

Percy couldn’t help but snort. He agreed in principle that this meeting would be a mess. No matter how he tried to keep the balance, there was very little way to bring up this problem without it being an attack on his father and the crazy ass decision makings his father had made over the years.

He made his way to his normal podium. He waited for everyone to settle down in their thrones. “Yesterday, we made progress on how Athena treated demigod children of hers. Now, I’m afraid we must talk about another parenting strategy.”

Ares frowned. “Percy, I know that we often talk about Zeus’ parenting. But I think after my session, we’ve all mostly come to understand him, even forgive him.”

“Which is why Zeus is not the target of today’s session.”

“Are we talking about mother?” Hephaestus asked a quiet head tilt.

Hera froze in her throne. Her eyes carefully found Percy’s. A silent question of whether he would truly send her into this conversation with no warning after the time they had spent together. He gave a slight shake of his head, barely able to be perceived.

“While a necessary conversation, it is one that is intimately tied with conversations that I do not believe would be constructive quite yet.”

Hephaestus nodded. “I figured, but then who do we need to talk about?”

“Poseidon,” Hades said. “We need to talk about the father of monsters who refuses to abandon a child even when they have committed atrocities. Atrocities against family, no less.”

Percy inclined his head. “Yes. We need to talk about his defenses. Specifically when they are warranted and just good parenting, and when they should be abandoned to the mercy of others.”

Poseidon frowned. “I don’t believe that my children do actions that I deem worthy of my abandonment often.”

“Perhaps not often, but surely sometimes,” Zeus said. “Or are you saying you have no problem with the fact some of your children have quite literally capsized boats with my children on them with no provocation?”

Poseidon frowned. “No, of course not. But I mostly ensure when that happens, your children don’t face the consequences of being lost at sea. They get to dry land whole again.”

“And their revenges?” Zeus questioned.

“My children don’t deserve to die and land in Tartarus, Zeus.”

Hades winced. “Brother….”

“I know why my monstrous children can’t end up in the fields of asphodel or Elysium. I understand that, but surely none of you can look at me and call me wrong for not wanting my children to land in the pit, where no one can reach them, and the harsh nature brings closer and closer to being true evil every day. You can’t,” Poseidon pleaded.

Hera looked away first from his eyes. She couldn’t bare to stare at him. “Poseidon, they cannot go elsewhere. What would you have us do? Let them come back immediately. Let them hunt.”

“Most of my children who die never hunted a soul that you would consider inappropriate. Most of my children have never attacked a demigod, especially not unprovoked. Most of my children who landed in Tartarus were not meant to.”

An evil laugh built in the back of Percy’s head. The presence would be unsettling to him if he had not started expecting it when the gods said the name repeatedly. Unfortunately today was practically a golden invitation for Tartarus to invade his mind. As again, unfortunate trends in Poseidon’s children did tend to result in the pit getting even more assistance for more monsters.

Persephone cocked her head to the side. “You do not want the innocent in the pit.”

“No,” Poseidon agreed.

“And they cannot go where mortal souls are.”

Poseidon’s eyes shined with unshed tears. “Please, Persephone.”

“Hush,” she commanded. “Do you agree?”

“Yes, I know they can’t go there.” His eyes were now squeezed shut, as if someone had sucker punched the living days out of him and he no longer had the will to keep them peeled open.

Persephone nodded. “Very well. They will be judged as other souls are.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “And those that need to reform and aren’t going to be sentenced to the pit?”

“We made exceptions for your daughters. I am sure that we can do so for his children. They can work in the palace and among the realms for us, as do many immortals of the underworld.”

Hades ran his tongue over his teeth. “That might just work.”

Poseidon stared at them. “My children wouldn’t have to suffer.”

“Unduly,” Persephone cautioned him. “And I suppose if you have children that you feel strongly for regardless of horrible crimes, you could petition us to do something regarding that too. I would recommend not doing that often.”

Hades snorted. “Come as you please, brother. We can discuss your emotions as you wish, and we will bend when we believe that it is important.”

Persephone rolled her eyes, but she did not disagree with her husband. Instead, she gazed at Poseidon. “Was that truly your only concern about the children? Did you not think to come to us before rather than consistently being a little bitch about it to literally every hero ever?”

“It’s not like the two of you are known for your compromises on the rules of the underworld.”

Hades startled at that. “I do not let you take mortals out of the realm, but I am rather lax when it comes to anything else.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean,” Hades gestured towards Percy. “The brat of yours has walked through my realm more times than any normal demigod, and he still breathes, because I have never took him from you.” He glanced over at Athena. “Yours too, although she did it less often.”

Poseidon stared at Hades.

Hades continued, ignoring the fact that everyone was now looking at him like he had just said something truly shocking. “Hell, your demigod children have been known to make open bargains with me. I let Orpheus try to bring back Eurydice. I mean he failed, and I’m not actually sure whether he ever could have actually succeeded, but I let him try. He made his way all the way to me to beg, so I let him try. That’s what I fucking do.”

Poseidon blinked. “I didn’t know, no. I thought these were rules that only applied to the immortal children.”

Persephone rolled her eyes. “I’m the one who deals with them. Hades deals with the mortal souls.”

“What?”

“The immortal deaths. Had you come to ask about immortal deaths, you wouldn’t be talking to your brother, you’d be talking to me. The rules we make, they’re rather equal across such boundaries. They all end up in our realm in the end.”

“You see Pallas?”

“You see Pan?”

Triton and Hermes spoke together at once.

Persephone shook her hand out in front of her. “We don’t see them. The realm of dead for immortals isn’t exactly accessible to immortals that aren’t dead. I have dominion over them as part of my domain. I lead them to the correct path, and I let them know they’re dead. But I don’t precisely still see them.”

Percy watched carefully as Persephone admitted that. This could easily bleed into the session needed for her, Demeter, and Hades to deal with the issues that her coming into domains caused. Instead, he watched Persephone turn back to Poseidon. “You can come see your children. You can barter for them if you’d like. You are always welcome in our realm.”

Hades nodded aside his wife. “You need not protect them in this realm if they have done the unforgivable to another hero. You do not need to fight family member after family member.”

Poseidon inclined his head. “Fine. In return, none of you shall send your children on quests to slay one of my children for the sheer reason that they are a monster.”

Hera flinched. “Poseidon.”

“Just agree, Hera. Let’s not get into why the fuck you choose to punish me and Hades alongside Zeus every time he decides to be unfaithful bastard.”

Hera paused. She glanced at her brother, and finally seemed to see that Poseidon was attempting in his own way to give her an out. Where she did not have to justify and apologize for all the things that she did. She could just let him be. “Agreed.”

Poseidon nodded. “Very well. I shall not stop my children from being punished by one of you or by other heroes when they deserve it.”

Zeus applauded his brother. “Wonderful. A short session, this was.”

Ariadne glanced towards her husband, twisted her face up. “No offense, father, but we are not done.”

“We aren’t.” Zeus frowned. He didn’t make any move towards silencing her.

“His monstrous children are not the only ones that commit horrible acts. His demigod children are occasionally known for their cruelty, and disregard for even the divine.”

“That’s a dangerous path,” Poseidon warned. “After all, there are many on this council who would have once said that of Percy.”

Percy bit his own tongue. He did not particularly want to shame his father for the protections that had kept him alive over this many years, however, there were instances where he had probably gone too far and deserved for the divine wrath. Most notably when he insulted gods to their face.

“No, he hasn’t. Or at least, while some gods and goddesses might have encouraged you to revoke your protections, he never crossed the line of cruelty,” Dionysus corrected. “Unlike Theseus. Theseus who deliberately harassed, kidnapped and betrayed mortal women. Theseus who had the audacity to attempt the kidnapping of Persephone. Theseus who should have found himself unsafe in the waters. Theseus who should have faced off against multiple gods.”

Persephone smirked. “You did not think his eternal punishment was good enough?”

“He didn’t stay.”

“Ask Hera about that one. I have no idea why she meddled with him.”

Hera glanced up in shock. “Uh, you don’t want the answer to that.”

“Does it boil down to wanting to hurt me and Dionysus for the audacity to have born bastard?” Ariadne questioned.

Hera ducked her head in a nod. “Yes.”

“He retained Poseidon’s protections though. He died by mortal hands.”

Poseidon frowned. “I did not further punish him for his acts against Persephone because I was rather confident that between her and my brother, he had more than learned his lesson. If I recall correctly Heracles and Hera both demanded that he apologize before that task could be completed as well. And in the end, I did not save him despite him making it to the water where most of my demigod children would have found themselves safe from harm.”

Hera nodded. “Yes, well, even I wasn’t about to let the man go from the underworld without properly acknowledging that to attempt to kidnap a goddess was insane, and also that they were not to be awarded Zeus’ daughters just by virtue of being heroes and big three children. He was arrogant. He needed to be brought down.”

“No shit,” Poseidon said. “There was a reason he didn’t exactly have a warm welcome in Atlantis or anywhere for that matter.”

He held up his hand before either Dionysus and Ariadne could continue speaking. “Did either of you ever consider asking?”

“What?”

“Dionysus had you wished him punished for what he did to your bride, I would have likely agreed. Everyone knows that son and I had no love lost. He was a dick. My child, sure. I would likely have done a quest to attempt to return him from the underworld eventually myself as again, I do not wish my children to be locked away in another realm, but unpunished for him was not an option.”

“You would have allowed me revenge?”

Poseidon blinked. “Yes, of course.”

Ariadne laughed. “Yes, I suppose, the niece that you gifted rooms to without telling her, would also be the niece you would allow privileges to without ever making it clear to her. I think you council members forget how bloody terrifying it is to even consider speaking with you, let alone ask for permissions that seem impossible.”

Triton snorted. “Told you, you’re scary.”

Poseidon frowned. “I know that I am often protective to an extreme degree from some of your perspectives, but scary. Come now, the only person who has ever had to worry about their presence in the water is Athena.”

“The rest of us stopped around then, uncle,” Hephaestus explained. “She is our sibling and honestly the person who the rest of us would feel as the closest you’d ever come to protecting one of dad’s kids.”

Poseidon blinked. “Okay. In case, somehow, this became unclear after what I admitted to doing for Thalia. Any of you could call out for my help and where I could aid you, I would. Ariadne, you could have asked for Theseus’ head. I would have vacated what minimally remained of my protections. Dionysus, this holds for you as well.”

Hera sighed. “So what are the limits as you see them? When can we expect you to violently defend your heroes and when will you allow us to get our revenge upon them?”

Amphitrite glanced over to her husband and saw the confusion on his face. “You are the limits.”

“What?”

“If his children cause you harm, then he will not defend them against your punishments. Exceptions might exist, if the harm is imagined,” she glared at Zeus during that one. “If the punishments are not proportional to the act done.” Amphitrite sighed as her gaze turned to Hera at that. “Or if you were the aggressor to whatever shit came to happen.”

“Hypothetically, let’s say I was to punish one of his whelps for humiliating my kids,” Ares questioned.

“As long as you weren’t dooming them to death, sure.”

Zeus nodded. “So your monsters will no longer be able to summon your wrath when they are the ones to start the fight. And your heroes shall be allowed to face our wrath as long as we’re being reasonable.”

Poseidon offered a small shrug. “That seems about right.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy. “Is there anything else regarding his version of parenting that requires family consideration of the full family?”

Percy glanced towards the rest of the council. “Does anyone else have anything to say?”

Demeter hesitantly raised her hand. She had been oddly quiet for this session. Usually, she spoke more. She waited until Percy and Poseidon had both seen her hand raised, before she started to speak. “What about the children that are both yours and not?”

“What?”

Demeter’s eyes tracked over to Persephone. “What about the children that you were once the father of but are no longer? What about the fact that the older versions of ourselves while often hidden, often buried, do still have some purchase in our souls?”

“If you mean what are my intentions regarding Persephone? Not all that much. She is of course welcome in my realm as all of my brother’s children are. She is welcome doubly so as the wife of my brother. From my understanding of their family dinners, much as I rarely attend, I am welcome in their realm.”

“Does she have your protection?”

“As almost all of you do, sister.”

Persephone sighed. “Mom, if you’re asking him to go against Hades, because you once more wish to start up the old argument on whose fault it was that I left your realm, just don’t.”

“Well, it’s worth knowing before we get to that session.”

“Are you asking me to treat her like my daughter during that session?”

Zeus growled. “She’s my daughter, not yours.”

“Desponia was mine,” Poseidon replied. “As was Arion.” He glanced over to Demeter. “I have not bothered with the older titles in some time. But, during these sessions we have treated our Roman counterparts with similar respect to our greek ones. The actions they take are actions that we must address. So, while I am not claiming Persephone. If there comes a time when I should stake claim to Desponia, I shall.”

Persephone winced. “You might have to.”

Poseidon’s eyes widened. “Well I wasn’t quite expecting you to be on board with that, but if you say so.”

“You’ll put the pieces together rather quickly, uncle.” She frowned. “Brother?”

“Brother,” Poseidon confirmed. “You have said more than once that you feel your marriage to Hades is the higher claim that you operate on in these meetings and in our family, rather than the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. As such, you have every right to call me brother.”

“It’s also why I ignore the fact you were born a bastard,” Hera offered softly. “You are his wife in my eyes before my husband’s bastard.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Artemis blurted out.

Hera shook her head. “It seemed like an easy way to grant at least one of his bastards a pass. The same way completing a shit load of quests earned Heracles that immunity.”

Percy thought about stopping the conversation since it was veering into the territory of other problems that weren’t today’s issues, but no one seemed as angry as they had when they started. Poseidon was offering Persephone use of a title that she was unfamiliar with using, and Hera was for once actually admitting that she did on occasion try to shield the children from her wrath. She felt it necessary, but when she could come up with an excuse, she did shield them.

Artemis blinked. “Well fuck me, it’s not like I could accomplish that manner of escapism, if I fucking tried.”

“Because of the whole virgin goddess epithet?”

“And the fact men bloody terrify me. We literally talked in this meeting about how a male demigod of Poseidon’s thought himself worthy to steal the bride of Hades from her fucking domain. I don’t trust men. They hurt, they lie, they steal. They kill, they maim, they torture.”

Apollo rubbed his temples. “Sister, please, your fucking deal with all men, is already a mess.”

Hera narrowed her eyes towards Artemis. “Have there never been men that you trust?”

“I trust Apollo,” she mumbled. She closed her eyes. “I’m learning to trust the rest of my brothers. It’s easier with Hephaestus than with Ares or Dionysus. Hermes is somewhere in between them. And I suppose, if we’re meaning mortal men, I trust Percy.”

Hera nodded. “Good, there’s that at least. Regardless, it’s not like I go out of my way to harm you children. Just when the occasion arises that I see a way to strike at my husband through you.”

Percy cleared his throat.

Hera inclined her head. “A different day’s discussion, but for the moment, please do know, Persephone, that I label you as my sister.”

Persephone smiled gently. “Thank you.”

Zeus glanced towards Percy. “If there was nothing else regarding Poseidon’s parenting, I thought perhaps we might move forward to a different conversation unrelated to therapy.”

Percy nodded his consent.

Poseidon frowned. “You want all of us here for whatever this conversation is.”

Zeus tilted his head to the side. “Yes. Have I not made it clear over the course of these discussions that for right now, the council is all of us and not the normal members as it would be chaotic indeed to constantly be switching that?”

Triton inclined his head. “You have, I believe my father was more checking to ensure this was something that you had thought of and fully intended.”

“It was.”

Hades cleared his throat. “What do you wish to discuss?”

“The solstice.”

Hades blinked. “The Summer Solstice is approaching, I assumed that we would pause therapy for the occasion.”

Percy glanced towards Hestia. “I agree that seems smart, given the perspectives of multiple others across Olympus and the other realms, we need to present them with the appearance that nothing has gone horribly wrong.”

“That’s fair. Percy, you are not required to stay with us as we pause for the preparations. If you would like to spend time at the camp, we will be fine,” Hestia offered.

Percy frowned. He didn’t love the idea of not being around his family, nor did the idea of spending time justifying what had happened last time he had entered the mortal one to several demigods. “Uncle,” he said softly.

“I told you, you will always be welcome in Olympus.”

Percy’s worries faded away. If he did want to return to the camps, he could ask Hermes for a ride. If he wanted to stay where he was, he would be safe to do so. There was nothing to be alarmed about.

Zeus coughed. “That’s not quite all.”

Hades paused. “Oh?”

“I would like us to present a united front to all of the rest of the immortal area of Olympus, especially as it relates to the fact the interference laws have been relaxed.”

“How?” Demeter questioned. “Given we have less than 4 days until the solstice, it will be difficult to plan a mass arrival of demigods, let alone anything that tells them they are more welcome.”

Hera tapped her own throne quartz to gain some more attention. “We don’t hold it here. The camps will hold it, my opinion is for Camp Jupiter with Camp halfblood invited and rather instructed to appear.”

Dionysus closed his eyes. “Hermes and I can go to Camp halfblood. We can easily ensure that one camp is ready for this.”

Ares raised a brow. “I can handle camp Jupiter and the instructions to hold the solstice.”

“Right? And the united front?” Apollo asked. He glanced over at Ares. “I will go with you. Two gods per camp.”

“Thank you,” Ares whispered. Despite the fact forgiveness had been offered, the two had been without a true bonding moment since that time. The fact that Apollo was willing to go with him was important.

“I want the full family there,” Zeus announced. “Poseidon, that involves all of your children. Can you convince Kymopoleia to attend?”

“Sure.” Poseidon glanced towards Amphitrite before shrugging. “It won’t be hard, as long as I don’t ask her to do too much in terms of limiting her nature. I assume that you’d rather the camp not be destroyed, so she’s like to needle you or Hades the whole night.”

Zeus flapped his hand. “Maybe that would be good. They would see me not respond with anger when confronted with the family.”

“Our children as well?” Persephone questioned.

“The furies would be welcome. I know you have often claimed that they feel uncomfortable in realms with the rest of them living, if they are not comfortable, that’s fine.”

Hades licked his lips. “A lie we told so they would not be insulted in your halls. If you are extending a genuine invitation, they will be there.”

“It is.”

“So, just to be clear,” Aphrodite interrupted, “we are cancelling therapy until the solstice. We are all going to show a united family to everyone, including all demigods, who are going to be allowed to see us and ask after us, and we are allowed to offer parenting while we are doing this.”

“Yes.” Hera stood. She brushed down her skirt. “I’ll need you and Hephaestus. Your children should be healed ahead of time, so they can have a few days. You will want to spend those days with them to ensure they aren’t overtly overwhelmed come the solstice.”

Aphrodite blinked at the sudden change. “Okay. Of course.”

Poseidon glanced towards Percy. “Would you like to stay in Atlantis for the preparations, Percy?”

Percy hadn’t thought of that option, and this would be a good way to handle showing a united family front, showing up with his family. “Yes. Mom?”

Amphitrite spun towards him. “Hmm?”

“Can you help me have an outfit fitting for a prince of Atlantis for this solstice?”

Amphitrite blinked. “This is a time crunch, but yes. Poseidon, I’m taking him. I’ll need all the time I can get.” Her hand clamped down on his arm, and they were gone.

Chapter Text

Percy has to admit that Amphitrite’s constant attention has been quite eye opening. She fussed over him almost as much as Sally had the first time he had managed to get home from a quest. She tried to match colors with both hers and Poseidon’s outfit, while coordinating with the rest of the family.

Rhode has been mostly relaxed in the family’s quarters.”I’ll be glad when you complete the therapy with the rest of the gods. I was not made to be in charge of Atlantis.”

“Don’t complain,” Kymopoleia demanded as she swept into the room. “We’re leaving for the solstice in like two hours, mom is on a war path, and dad was already feeling guilty for asking you to take the throne for as long as he has.”

“Well…”

“We both know therapy is helping. When was the last time, you saw Triton actually willingly take a break. He has not picked up a training regime in these four days. He has allowed mom to drag him to clothing fittings for more than the minimum amount of time.”

Rhode nodded to him.

Percy lounged on the couch. “Why is ruling difficult for you Rhode?”

“I’m not a fighter, Percy. I am the child of the beach. I prefer clear skies and fun times as the waves lap at an island. I do not love the idea of being in charge of a people that are often attacked. Mother’s father is always a threat on our horizon. There are other threats. I do not wish to be in charge during one of them and in possible trouble.”

Percy wrapped an arm around her. “You know that we are not gone from you, right?”

“What?”

“Call out to us if you’re under attack. We will come, sister. If you are concerned about us not having heard to us, pray to uncle Zeus. He’ll pause the therapy sessions.”

“He would,” Poseidon confirmed, stepping into the room, in the smooth suit that Amphitrite had made for him. He leans down to press kisses to the top of his daughters’ heads. “I’ve talked to a few of the cyclops, they say a few representatives will attend.”

“Wonderful,” Percy said.

Triton stepped into the room. He was fiddling with the seashells embroidered on his own suit. “Mother has really chosen to make huge statement with these outfits.” He glanced at Percy’s deep aqua suit with pearls in the same pattern. He took a seat on one of the couches. “Where is she?”

Amphitrite swept into the room. “Percy, dearest, you look divine. As do the rest of you. Are we ready to make an entrance to the camp?”

“The solstice event doesn’t start for a while.”

“Triton?”

Triton glanced up. “The camp is already bustling. Several nymphs have arrived, centaurs and satyrs as well. The demigods are mostly mingling. I believe the two hour mark is around when Zeus is supposed to have arrived and given a speech before the full celebrations begin.”

“Then, we shall arrive.” Amphitrite pressed herself into Poseidon’s arms. She tucked Percy in front of her. “Triton, on the right of your father, if you would. Girls, one of you on each of my side. Triton, place us in the center of the pavilion they’ve prepared.”

Triton snorted, but he took his spot as his mother had requested. He set a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder. “To the solstice, father?”

“I suppose so,” Poseidon guided each of his girls under his hands, where his arms were bracketing his wife and his daughters.

Percy closed his eyes and did not open them until the faint feeling of the camps beneath his feet could be seen. When he opened the eyes, he saw a huge area of Camp Jupiter cleared for the event. Banners, decorations, a punch bowl, and so many eyes on the Atlantic family.

Poseidon smiled to the praetors that had hosted the event. He inclined his head. “Greetings, camp Jupiter, we have come for the solstice celebrations.”

Rhode stepped away first. She headed towards the punch. Slowly after she had done so, the rest of the family splintered out into groups. Percy headed towards where he saw the remainder of the seven hanging out. Both Piper and Leo seemed exhausted.

Annabeth gaped at his outfit. “Percy, what?”

“I came with my family.” He gripped Leo’s shoulder. “I heard what was going to happen, man. How are you doing?”

“Hephaestus said that Calypso wasn’t good for me, and that what we had couldn’t be love.”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, someone who loved you wouldn’t require the things she did, but at least you’ve got your dad.”

“He said that once the therapy sessions were complete that he was going to get us a place that we could stay in here. He said he’d be taking me from the camp and help me get my head on straight.”

Percy gave him a grin. “Hey, that’s great.” He turned towards Piper. “How are you holding up?”

“None of it was real. Jason died still mostly thinking that we were good and amazing together, and not a single part of that was organic. We were forced together,” she whispered. “Mom came and helped me sort through all of my thoughts and memories. It was nice to have her attention.”

Percy’s smile remained. “Whether or not you were real doesn't matter to him now.”

“Really?”

“Elysium would have sorted him out and given him a happy ending.”

Annabeth stared at him. “When did you learn all of that?”

“Huh? I mean that’s just what Elysium does. That’s kind of what they promise.”

Piper offered him a thin smile. “I wish we had more time with each other and had figured this out while he was alive.”

Percy glanced towards the entrance where it truly was just the sea gods and some minor deities. “You’re not alone in wishing that, Piper.”

“Mom said that too.”

Annabeth cleared her throat. “But tell us about you, how is the quest going?”

“It’s going great. Playing therapist is a hard burden but all of the gods are respectful to what I am trying to do.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “Is that what you called what happened when Nico and I had to run into the water to avoid a certain someone’s wrath?”

Percy shrugged. “He didn’t hurt you. You have my dad’s protections now. Did you need more?”

Nico stared at Percy. “You’ve changed.”

Percy took a mocking bow. “That is usually guaranteed on any quest. Who you were when you left is not the you that returns afterwards.”

Nico tilted his head to the side. But he froze before he could even speak again. “Hazel?”

Hazel stood gaping.

Percy spun around, and he saw them. The furies were here, standing in a tight circle with each other with a small curtesy towards Frank as the praetor greeting people, so Hazel could come speak. He broke into a grin.

Triton was by his side in a second. “Percy, come. I would like to introduce you to your cousins.”

Nico blinked. “My sisters are here.”

Triton nodded. “At the direct invitation of the king of Olympus.” Then, he was dragging Percy along. In a hissed whisper, “don’t bring up what they did to you on Hades’ orders.”

“I forgave uncle Hades. I hold no ill will to his daughters.”

A small tremor in Triton stopped. He placed the two sons of the sea directly in front of the furies in a clear show of protection to the other participants. “Cousins,” he greeted warmly.

“You bring your half brother with you.”

“I bring my brother,” Triton corrected softly.

“Oh!” One of the furies let out a breath. “Well, I’ll expect you at some of the family dinners then, Perseus.”

“Percy to my family.”

“Percy,” the third sister murmured. “This is our first solstice. Will you save us each a dance?”

“Of course, cousins. Just let me do the first with my girlfriend.”

“Which is she?” His cousin asked excitedly, a hand landing on his shoulder.

Percy tilted his head towards Annabeth. “Actually, come meet her.”

Triton trailed with them to the group of demigods. He gracefully nodded his head to a few nymphs, but followed his cousins.

“Hey, guys,” Percy said.

Nico raised a hand to cover his eyes as several demigods gaped at him. “Hello, sisters.”

“Baby prince.” One of their eyes trailed to Hazel. “Daughter of the deep earth.”

Hazel flinched.

“You needn’t worry. Father has officially claimed you, now.”

Percy felt the change in presence. “Speaking of aunt and uncle.”

“It’s Summer,” Annabeth muttered in his ear. “Are they able to enter together?”

Percy blinked. “They are married.”

“She is not supposed to be in the underworld.”

“Exceptions were made,” the furies explained. “The king wished for the families to put up a united front. We could not do that without mother and father together.” They squeezed Percy’s arm as they headed out to see them.

Triton sighed. “Time to go bother our sisters in an effort to protect myself with the matchmaking schemes of mother.”

Percy smirked. “You could always see if you could convince Hermes and Dionysus to help you.”

Leo’s eyes went wide as the names settled around them and the way that Percy didn’t flinch in the face of that power.

“They would need to arrive first,” Triton muttered. “Trust those guys to need to make an entrance.”

“You mean like ours.”

Triton’s eye roll made Percy convinced that they were actually brothers. Even as he left, Percy could tell that if he made a sudden move, someone in the sea family would be next to him in seconds. He would not be alone tonight among the gods, he would be safe among the various creatures of the pantheon.

Annabeth slugged him harshly in the arm. “What the Underworld was that?”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “This is the first solstice my cousins have attended. Triton and I were making it clear to anyone who might have gotten it into their head that the furies were here to be barely tolerated that we were standing beside them. If you mean why they came over, they wanted to know which I was claiming as my girlfriend.”

Annabeth melted into his arms. “Still my seaweed brain.”

“And my kelp head,” came a voice behind them.

Percy twirled both of them to drag Thalia into a deep hug. “So glad to see you.”

Reyna was standing just behind Thalia. She smiled. “I heard that you’ve got a fancy new quest.”

Thalia’s brow furrowed. “You’re being safe, right?”

Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m as safe as I ever am. In fact, I am probably safer than I have ever been before.”

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something in contrast, but she never got to speak. The golden and silver light drew all the attention as the twin gods showed up together. Both looked ornate in the colors of the others celestial bodies. Artemis looked like she belonged in a golden gown, and glitter along her arms. Apollo’s suit was a silver and white combination that drew out his skin and eye color. The two of them marked the arrival of Olympians outside of Percy’s father.

A few short moments later, Artemis was present near their group of demigods. Thalia gave a short bow. “My lady?”

Artemis was staring at Percy though. “I would offer you something, cousin.”

Thalia’s eyes went wide as did Nico’s. While both of them could get away with occasionally reminding a few deities of their familial connections, they rarely heard a goddess refer to them with the same titles,

Percy nodded to her. “Of course. It is my honor.”

Artemis reached into one of the folds of her dress. From the gold fabric, she pulled a circuit of silver and moonstones. She placed it gently on Percy’s head, and he could tell automatically that it was no mere statement piece.

“Divinity shall always be able to see this circuit. None but myself or my twin can pull it from your scalp. You, alone, are a male hero that shall find my camp without effort. You can enter and stay among my huntresses as one of them. You may fall back on us and call on us as one of our own can. The mist will cover the circuit in situations where you should not be as well identified as the circuit shows.”

Percy’s hand trailed up to touch the circuit. “Artemis…” the words came out like a breath.

“I know.”

Percy’s lips twitched. “Don’t let my mother see this.”

“Why?”

“She spent an awfully long time on the matching looks that you’ve just permanently changed.”

“Amphitrite would hardly have a statement against this.”

“What about me?” Amphitrite asked as she shimmered into view. Her eyes caught on Percy’s new circuit. She trickled out a laugh. “Well, now this is a new development.”

“Hardly,” Artemis stated. “I have merely claimed my cousin as my favorite among mortal men.”

Apollo snorted.

Percy slugged him in the arm.

Annabeth’s nails dug into his arm, as the fear ratcheted up in the demigods present. “Percy,” she hissed.

Apollo glanced at the demigods, before raising his arm and draping it over Percy’s shoulder. He tugged Percy into him. “Can’t believe you have her circuit on your head, when we were obviously close first.”

Amphitrite winked at Artemis. “He hardly needed a trinket to get in your chariot.” She whisked Artemis off as Will gaped at his father.

Apollo waved to Will. “Hey, kiddo, how’s life?”

“Uh, good.”

Percy watched to see where Amphitrite ended up far away from them. He waited until he could see her engaging with nymphs before turning to Apollo. “I could use your help.”

Apollo’s eyes lit up. “Oh, tell me, what I can do for you, Percy?”

“My step mother has gotten it into her head that Triton needs to have a partner for the evening. He was planning on waiting for Hermes and Dionysus to ask for help covering him.”

“And you want me to take care of the problem?”

“Would you?”

Apollo hummed. “I suppose I could. The party could use some living up. Too many people seem to be expecting us to be normal.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to Percy’s cheek. “Will, tell your siblings that I’m here, and if they’d like to speak to me, tell them to send a quick prayer, and I’ll stop by on my rounds.”

“Wait,” Will called out. “I just…Uh…”

Apollo froze. “What’s up?”

Will glanced over at Piper and then Leo. “It’s just some of us recently had the memories returned, and I checked them out to make sure that nothing was damaged, but I couldn’t really see whether anything was wrong. And I was kind of hoping that you could?”

“I thought Hera was coming down to take care of it? She can heal too, not as much as I can, but she definitely would have been able to identify any lingering harms.”

Will’s eyes were downcast. “Would you check, please?”

Apollo sighed. “She wouldn’t have lied this time, kid.” However, he reached over to place a hand over Piper’s forehead. He closed his eyes and focused. “You’re fine.” He moved over to Leo. He winced upon seeing whatever. “He’s as healed as any physical ailments can be handled.”

“But I’m not okay?” Leo questioned.

Apollo glanced towards Percy. “Your headspace is kind of a landmine. You’ll be okay, eventually. Your dad’ll work with you. And I’ll stop by if you ever want me to,” he said to Leo. Then, he left.

Percy turned back to Annabeth to start talking to her, but she was staring across the room. He hadn’t felt any new divine energy enter.

“Are you going to see what your request caused?” She finally questioned.

Percy turned his eyes to see Apollo whispering in Triton’s ear. “I mean I trust all people involved, so I wasn’t too concerned about it.” Only, he was immediately proven slightly wrong as he most definitely wanted to be paying attention.

Apollo had grabbed the lapels of Triton’s suit, paying attention to not crush any of the seashells. Then, he locked their lips together to the attention of several of the nymphs around them, Poseidon, and all of the demigods. He pulled back, and took to an exaggerated bow. “Tell me, prince of the sea, won’t you be my date to this ball? I did show up with my sister.”

Triton shook his head as he laughed. “Yes, you dramatic bastard.” The smile on his face took all the scorn from that sentence.

“Were you matchmaking?” Will asked.

“No.”

Nico waved a hand at the gods. “Sorry for not believing you, but in case you weren’t clear on what just happened, Apollo and Triton have turned this summer solstice into a date!”

“I asked Apollo to solve the problem of Amphitrite matchmaking. I didn’t tell him how to do so.”

“So you’re the troublemaker that caused this,” Amphitrite settled her chin on his shoulder. “At least three nymphs have ran to the other room to sob. They’ve been entertaining the prospect of convincing him to consider a betrothal for ages.”

“I think this brings him more joy,” Percy replied.

“It does. I have no issues with this. Did he recruit you to help?”

“Perhaps.”

Amphitrite sighed. “I’m here to tell you that for my sake, I am hoping you’ll dance with at least me and your sisters this evening.”

“Of course, mom. I would be happy to.”

She stayed where she was. “Your father is bonding with Hades.”

“Is he now?”

“I’m bored. I had settled for matchmaking but you’ve taken away my target. And Poseidon forbid from trying to find you a match. Apparently you’ve found love.”

“Mom, meet Annabeth. The love of my life.” He gestured towards Annabeth.

She ducked into a curtesy. “Hi, Lady Amphitrite. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting each other before.”

“Ah, yes. The architect of Olympus. I recall my husband mentioning you before.”

Annabeth froze. “Uh, he did?”

“Of course. We discuss all of our children’s partners.” She glanced over at Triton who was now with the twins and ignoring the other people nearby. “We’ll have a new one after tonight. Not the end of the world, but certainly more interesting than what I thought I’d have.”

Kymopoleia arrived in a small bubble. She grabbed hold of her mom’s arm. “Sorry, Percy. Need her for a girl’s meeting with Rhode. Be safe.”

Frank stepped up to them in their little group. “I see Percy is back for less than a full hour and already has dragged most of you into various godly interactions.”

Will shrugged. “Side effect of hanging out with him.”

Annabeth snorted. “It used to be unwilling. He’s been the ultimate cause of most of them this time.”

Percy chuckled. “They’re getting better.”

“Are they?”

“They are,” Percy confirmed. Only to have the hairs on his arms stand up. He could feel the energy in the room. When he turned around, Dionysus had Ariadne in his arms in the center of the entrance area with Hermes standing shortly behind them. A glass of wine was in all three of their hands, with clear flamboyancy to everyone who had previously known his restrictions.

“What?” Will spat out as he set his punch aside.

Percy raised his hand in a half wave, as had Apollo on the other side of the room.

Hermes was there in less than a second. “Tell me everything. I demand the gossip. I wanted to arrive with people, and Ariadne could use the support given that this is one of the first times, she has deliberately arrived on the arm of an Olympian, but I can smell that something has happened.”

Annabeth tensed up. The two of them had only met a few times since Luke’s death, and none of them had been what she would call pleasant. He didn’t flat out refuse her mail or fail to answer prayers during their time in the pit, but she did have a healthy fear of the man who partially blamed her for the demise of his beloved son.

Percy stroked down her arm absentmindedly. A silent reassurance in his eyes that there was no danger here. Hermes was unlikely to say anything to her on this day, not with the discussions of Luke that they’d all had. Nor was it super likely that Hermes would choose to challenge him on the fact that he loved her, given that was also a rather heavy concern for the gods currently.

“I mean, the furies arrived and there was quite a bit of staring that accompanied that. Triton and I took care of that rather quickly afterwards. Uncle and Aunt and my father appear to be having some kind of in depth conversation that left my mother feeling bored. She turned to matchmaking. Triton had thought of perhaps asking you or Dionysus to buy him some peace from that.”

“I could do that.”

“No need,” Percy said with a grin. “I let Apollo handle it.”

“Oh, tell me he did something bold.”

“Like kiss my brother in front of all the present attendees and then ask him for leave to be his date for the evening.”

Hermes clapped. A grin spreading across his face as well. “Alright, well I’m off. I have a second favorite cousin to congratulate and a brother to tease.” He paused. “Oh, and save me a dance.”

“How many dances do you have lined up?” Reyna asked suddenly. “Your mom, Annabeth, your sisters.”

“Oh, once the dancing starts after Zeus’ speech, I doubt I will have another free moment all night. I’ll be on my feet and going through song after song.”

Annabeth frowned. “Are you sure you should be doing that much interaction with them even outside of the quest parameters, Percy? I know Hestia told you that she would keep you safe, but can she do that here?”

“I am safe, Annabeth.” Percy couldn’t quite bring himself to try to explain the new family dynamics to her or any of the rest of the assembled demigods. Zeus hadn’t actually made it clear where everything was going to fall on this, and Percy didn’t want to say something out of pocket. Not when everything had been going so well.”

None of the demigods looked all that convinced of what he was saying, but they weren’t going to interrogate them, when power surged in the room. For a second, Percy half expected to see Zeus and Hera’s entrance even though several of the council had yet to arrive, and they usually showed up last to kick start the rest of the event.

When he turned, he instead saw the sisters standing there in all of their glory. Their divinity contained just like all of the gods who were attending this event, but they were letting loose the same amount of power that Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Hera usually did. Hestia glowed a brighter light than she ever had at the campfire. Demeter had a calm, happy expression on her face.

“Wow,” Annabeth whispered. “That’s what Hestia is supposed to look like. That’s what she looks like with all of her power.”

“More of it,” Percy corrected. “We haven’t fully patched the family by any means.”

“But,” she gestured towards the goddesses who had just entered. “That’s so different.”

Percy shrugged. “We’re not done, but we’ve made progress. I know now that there is not a god among the council who does not love their family.”

Hestia swept through the room to find her brothers. She leaned into Poseidon’s side and was immediately welcomed by an open arm. Sheer proof of the changed relationships as before this solstice, the gods rarely showed open affection to their spouses let alone anyone else.

Demeter stalked towards her own children. She picked at some of their clothes, and placed her shawl across one of her younger daughter’s shoulders. She noticed Percy’s eyes on her and said nothing to them. Instead her head inclined towards the others, a silent approval of how the family was interacting presently.

Leo gaped. “I mean, I know its a solstice, and I’m a bit biased by the fact that Hephaestus was given leave to raise me, but the gods are actually fully interacting with us. Please tell me you’ve noticed that.”

Percy blinked. “Of course they have. Why would the solstice be held here in the camp if they were planning on staying aloof and away from you?”

Annabeth stared at him. “Because of the edict.”

Percy clamped his mouth shut. He had no idea how Zeus planned on bringing up the change of the edict with the other demigods, nor whether their parents had specific plans. He’d rather not step into anything because of this, so probably for the best that he remains silent. However, he also didn’t want them all frightened for the rest of the night. Having insider knowledge of the council was truly a bitch and a half. No wonder Lester sometimes wanted to pretend not to know anything of the gods.

He licked his lips. “They’re here. Zeus knows that all of you will be here. If he did not want them to interact with you, they would know.”

Dionysus glided into their space with very little care. A glass of wine held firmly in his hand. “Cousin, just interjecting myself to ensure that little miss Annabelle and Wilson and Leo are good as they are, or whether you need back up.”

Nico blinked at first, taken aback by the address.

Percy didn’t even pause. “We’re good, Dionysus. Although am I allowed a glass?”

Dionysus tilted his head back and laughed. A glass materialized out of the air and was placed in Percy’s hand. “Don’t overdo it.”

“Me, never.”

Annabeth rubbed her eyes. “What happened to his hundred year punishment?”

“Lifted,” Dionysus said in a sing-song voice. He sped away from them.

Percy rolled his eyes. “Dramatic bastard.”

Nico sighed. “You could try not to insult gods when they are in abundance at an event.”

“That wasn’t an insult.” Percy would know. He’s been careful to pay attention to what words the other demigods are using. If any of them said something, the gods weren’t going to be the first to react. If he did it, they would likely be safer. Also, it would be a good opportunity to prove a point to the gods that he’s on their side whether he’s in Olympus or not.

Power shifted once more in the air, and Percy turned around to see who was arriving. Aphrodite glimmered into view first. A beautiful dress capturing the allure of the sea and of the majesty of Olympus. Glitter sat across her eyelids and on her arms. A smile was on her face. With an arm around her, formed Hephaestus. His cane was a golden masterpiece, crafted with Aphrodite’s dress in mind, he formed the spitting image of a doting husband. His suit was heavy, full of gadgets and reminders that he was the first true born son of his father. No one could spot him and believe he was anything else but royal. Good, for the two of them to have arrived together even though their marriage was a way’s off from being able to be discussed. However, then, as if before anyone could bother holding onto the thought that this was different than what was expected, Ares came into view. A hand rested on Aphrodite’s hip, a claim for all those looking for one. He had donned a suit of black colors with hints of red being spotted. It should look dark, similar to Hades’ color scheme, but instead it shined with power. The three of them were moving as a unit.

Ares guided the three of them over. His eyes fell on Leo, and he inclined his head. “Son of Hephaestus, back from the grips of our uncle. Impressive feats for one so young.”

“Thank you, Lord Ares,” Leo stuttered.

“None of that,” Ares said with a wave of his hand. “We all know that my brother is to be actually parenting you. On the off chance, you need something more to do with war than what my brother can actually assist you with, pray to me. I am after all the uncle.” He helped pull out a chair, so Hephaestus could lower himself into it.

Aphrodite spotted a group of nymphs and my sisters and detangled herself from the men. “Excuse me, gossip to obtain and hearts to break.” Before she left, she turned. She pressed a kiss to her husband’s cheek and then one to Ares’ in quick succession. She winked at Percy, and then was gone.

Hephaestus rolled his eyes. “You need not stay, Ares.”

Ares shrugged. “Wanted to greet your brat. I’m not seeing mine.”

“They’re still loitering outside, Ares,” Annabeth said boldly. “They don’t plan on coming in until it is time for the speeches. They aren’t much for parties such as this.”

He snorted. “If I’m forced to participate in these shindigs, so should my kiddos.” He clapped a hand on Hephaestus’ shoulder. “Wish me luck in dragging my children screaming into the event.”

“Try not to cause a scene,” Hephaestus said dryly.

“Good luck,” Percy quipped.

Ares slugged Percy in the arm as he left in retaliation.

Annabeth stared at Percy. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Oh, no.”

Hephaestus looked around the room. “Leo, did you have plans to attend with anyone?”

“He’s with me,” Piper asserted. Her hand fell down to clasp Leo’s. “Neither one of us are ready for the full experience of mingling after what we went through.”

“Ah, you’re Aphrodite’s child.” He held out a hand and waited for her to take it. He brushed his lips against her hand. “For what it is worth, I am her husband. I would claim you if you ever requested it of me.”

Piper hesitated for a second. “Would you fight if someone tried to erase parts of me again?”

Hephaestus tilted his head to the side considering her genuinely for several moments. “If you asked it of me, yes.”

“Please,” she whispered softly.

“As you wish.”

Percy had a soft smile on his face, as he laid his head against Annabeth’s shoulder. He could feel her tension getting unwinded. Something about the way that Hephaestus was sitting here with his child was allowing her to unwind somewhat more than the others had. There was only one child still out and not present.

He furrowed his brow. “Where’s Athena?”

“Fretting up in Olympus, causing both father and mother to attend to her breakdown.”

“Shit, she okay?”

Annabeth side eyed them both for a second. “My mother is rarely so emotional as to result in a breakdown.”

Hephaestus shook his head. “She has had no reason to for a while now, but she has ample reason now.” He met Percy’s eyes. “There’s very little anyone but Triton can do for her now,” he said in a voice that Percy immediately knew was not spoken aloud. No one else needed to know.

A small glimmer appeared, and Athena’s hand appeared on Hephaestus’ shoulder. She was adorned in the typical glamorous garb of Olympians. She cast a glance at all of the others. “I suppose even wearing this, I shall be apart from the family tonight.”

“You did not have to wear it,” Hephaestus noted. “Reassure your daughter that you are not fading or whatever nonsense she’s concocting in her head.”

“Annabeth, do not worry about whatever gossip my brother uttered. He is a fool first and foremost.”

Annabeth stood up straight. “Of course, mother.”

“I assume you are dancing with Percy tonight.”

“Yes.”

Athena cast a glance at Percy, then back to Annabeth. “I do so wish you would listen to my advice regarding that.” Having said that, she walked away from them.

Percy raised his eyebrow to Annabeth. They hadn’t talked about much of what her mom had said post-Tartarus. Just that Annabeth hadn’t planned on following any of the advice given.

“Same old, same old, Percy. You can’t trust the sea, don’t let his good deeds fool you, think with your head and not with your heart.”

Percy frowned. The Athena that he had begun to get to know in therapy would not be bothering with warning her daughter against him. He had more than proven his usefulness and his ability to be worthy of a daughter of Athena.

Hephaestus barely moved his head, but his finger traced along his vein once Percy had turned to him. A silent reminder of why Athena might not want her daughter near him. Percy was changing and Annabeth was still the same. Not entirely, they both had trauma and issues to work through and were older than they once were. But one of them was staying at camp, planning a college future, and one of them was playing at therapy with a bunch of gods and learning that he had domains that weren’t his father’s.

Percy deflated. “Ah, well, Athena has always had opinions on us.”

Annabeth lit up. “Exactly. No sense worrying about her advice now when I haven’t before.”

Percy didn’t want to destroy her fun, so instead, he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Of course.”

Hephaestus didn’t say anything to the contrary. Instead, he glanced over at Leo. “Did you want love advice?”

“Is it don’t fall in love with immortal titanesses who are using you? Because I’ve heard that one before,” Leo said sullenly.

“It’s don’t let go of those who care for you,” Hephaestus retorted. “And for what it is worth, I am sorry that Calypso’s fate hurt you. I am sorry that I wasn’t able to stop her from getting her claws in you, and that meant it hurt you. I am not sorry that I stopped her from continuing or anything else, but for your sake, I am sorry that it hurt.”

Leo froze. “I need a minute.” He stalked off with Piper following him.

Hephaestus heaved a sigh. “Parenting a mortal child is not actually as easy as it seemed.”

Annabeth stared at him. “You can’t just show up like this and expect it to be easy.”

“Yes, well originally that wasn’t possible, and then when it became possible, things were already messed up.” The god sighed. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a simple process, but I also I didn’t really expect his memories and desires to be so damaged either.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.” She moved to the side. “If you’re determined to parent him, then do that. Tell him when he screws up and help him fix it. Don’t give vague advice, just be here when he needs someone to be.”

Hephaestus smiled at Annabeth. “I will be, don’t you worry.”

Annabeth tugged on Percy’s arm, and they were traveling through the solstice set up area. She found the rest of camp halfblood and maneuvered their way to standing amongst them. “I was unprepared for the fact that being in a small group of demigods would invite so many deities,” she complained to no one in particular.

Clarisse chuckled. “At least you were already inside, so you missed my father’s impressive speech that boiled down to get your asses inside before anyone starts thinking that my own demigods are going to be the ones to bail on this first of a pantheon level event.”

Thalia shook her head. “No, no. The biggest one was when my lady showed up to place the first circuit for men to be among her hunters and counted among their allies to Percy right after she showed up.”

“No fucking way,” Drew retorted.

Percy concentrated. The whole circuit thing was meant to be seen by gods, but he bet if he paid enough attention to it, he could call it forth. And the awe on everyone’s faces, seemed to suggest that not only could he, but he did. A soft smile graced his face. “Oh, pinecone face, don’t be jealous of me.”

“I’m not jealous, kelp head, just concerned that your epithets are going to bury you alive one day.”

That got all of the demigods laughing, and Percy was able to fade into the background of the conversation again. Everyone was having fun, the divinity in the room was high but well dispersed, and there didn’t seem to be any tensions. It was shaping up to be a good event.

The queen and king of Olympus entered with a flash of lightning in the sky. Both of them were wearing regal garments. However, they were dressed in images more representing the other. Hera had had on a satin dress of deep purple with lightning embroidered along the seams. They were bright and bold. Zeus on the other hand was wearing a light colored suit, it wasn’t quite pure white, but it certainly gleamed in the sun. His suit was adorned with the feathers of a peacock and the neckline had a fur like texture in the same manner as a lion’s mane.

Poseidon swept into a bow once he noticed the two of them. Slowly, other gods and citizens followed suit, including Percy. He could feel the sharp intake of breath from demigods around them but he didn’t have the energy to ask why they were all gasping as he had done something unthinkable.

When he stood, Annabeth’s death grip on his arm pulled him close to be able to whisper without too much notice of the gods. “Why did you bow? You never bow.”

“He is my king,” Percy said in an even tone. He didn’t flinch nor try to hide himself speaking from the gods. They all knew him.

Several demigods around him turned to share a look of bafflement. He supposed he was typically considered the wild child, part of Poseidon who kneeled practically never and respected authority only rarely. However, they forgot why that was. He was a loyal son of a gun, and Zeus had earned that right.

Frank cleared his throat. “King and Queen of Olympus, would you do us the honor of leading a speech for this holy day?”

Zeus waved an arm benevolently over the crowd. “Wife, would you speak first?”

Hera’s eyes turned to the sky, but she had a kind smile on her face. “The Summer solstice is the longest day of the year. A time when the sun shines for almost all of the day. Together we are gathered as a pantheon well bound by blood and oaths under the light of the day. Use this time to gather was you know about each other and give compassion where it is due. Offer forgiveness for wrongdoings, thanks for assistance whether asked for or freely given, and cherish each other.”

Zeus had an adoring smile on his face during his wife’s brief but impactful speech. He could feel the demigods around him frozen at the genuine compliments and warm feelings turned by this speech. He cleared his throat. “We are gathered as a pantheon to celebrate a day of worship and of celebration. I urge all non-godly attendees to say a prayer to a member of the pantheon who you do not often think of to give prayer to. On this day, I hope that the pantheon will be reminded that we are as we have always been stronger together.”

He paused. His eyes sought out Percy’s, and the casual way that Percy was standing. “I want to encourage my council and my family to consider this a great time to bond with each other. And I wish to say that this should not just be my family’s. To the naiads, hold each other close and recall the times when you spread much further than the small borders left to you. To the dryads, recall the forests. Consider spreading them forth once more, encroach upon the humans who dared to forget who they were taking from. To the denizens and demigods of this pantheon, you are who holds the torch for our prayers and our continued strength. We rely on you as much as you rely on us. Consider on this day that you are not so separated from us that you do not belong here on our holy days.”

Annabeth’s hand fell from Percy’s arm as she stared slack jawed at the king of gods as he finished that speech. In all the time that she had been among the gods, never before had she heard him give any credit to the power of lesser mortals.

Zeus clapped at the end of the speech. He glanced over at Hera, whose smile had never dimmed. “Now, I believe that the time for heavy words is over. I would like to start off the celebrations with a dance. My wife and I, of course, will lead the dancing to start, but I would very much appreciate not being alone on the dance floor if members of my family would be willing to join me.”

Poseidon and Amphitrite stepped forward onto the open cleared floor for dancing. Hades and Persephone were not far behind them. Apollo had Triton in a strong armed hold as he marched them onto the dance floor. Ares had a gentle hand on Aphrodite’s waist as they glided to the dance floor. Rhode and Kymnopoleia were next to each other and easily swayed onto the floor. Dionysus and Ariadne were there.

A gentle acceptance wafted over Percy, and he knew that he was welcomed as one of the family. “I did promise you the first dance, didn’t I, wise girl?”

Annabeth sputtered, no words forming for a second as he pulled her forward. “Percy, he meant his godly family.”

“What did he just say about us? We’re not so different, and despite the differences we may have had in the past, no one can claim that I am not his nephew.”

Annabeth was prepared for violence the second, they stepped onto the dance floor, but to her surprise, no eyes were turned to them from the Olympian council. Many of the minor gods were openly gaping. Then, before any could utter a word, a gentle music began to play.

The couples on the dance floor began to move in time. Percy thought for a brief second that he was going to have trouble here because the dance steps he had learned were nothing compared to what fancy waltzes the gods were doing next to him. However, he never faltered. A brief scent of honeysuckle filled his nose, and he could feel Apollo’s presence near him even as it never materialized.

He moved in time with the gods, as he spun Annabeth and himself in between them, making part of the perfect network of dance work. He threw his head back as he watched Annabeth’s nerves stop frying her the more the music hit her and the gentle presence of the gods were there. The music died down, and the dancing slowed across the floor.

He ended up in between his father and step mother, and Zeus and Hera.

“Percy,” Hera spoke softly.

“Aunt,” he replied in kind, despite the fear that was slowly starting to creep back into Annabeth’s posture.

“Swap partners with me. Lead me across the dance floor, please.”

Percy laughed. He handed off Annabeth to Zeus, and he took Hera by her arms. “I would be delighted.”

Zeus watched in amusement as his nephew began to dance with his wife. He was prepared to take the demigod into his arms and dance with her. Truly give the gossiping nymphs something to talk about, only a brief glance showed him that she was petrified and scared that he was going to do something to her. “You need not worry tonight.”

“That feels like a trap.”

Zeus shook his head. “You really don’t see it yet, do you?” He set a hand on her back and started leading her out of the crowd forming on the dance floor.

“See what?”

Zeus sighed. “I would not be thanked for telling you flat out, and I care rather a lot more for the people that would be upset at me forcing the issue than I do for you. Although, I did have a simple question for you.”

“What would that be, Lord Zeus?” She kept her voice steady despite the fact that she was confident she was about to be sent on a deadly quest or possibly sent across a more dangerous perspective.

“If I were to be adding an expansion to areas in Olympus soon, would you be willing to be architect once more?”

Annabeth blinked. “Of course.”

“Good. I’ll let you know when that becomes needed.”

Annabeth noticed way too late that she was no longer on the dance floor anywhere near Percy where she could keep an eye on him. Instead, she was next to Thalia and the rest of the hunters of Artemis.

“Where’s Percy?” Reyna asked, curious.

Thalia’s mouth was partially open. “He’s with Hera.”

Percy swept Hera into a tilted dip as they spun around the dance floor. “Are you just trying to show them how far this interconnection goes, auntie or were you wanting to give my girlfriend a heart attack?”

“Both seems like a good answer.”

“What did Annabeth do to you?”

“She is dating you. She needs to know how many gods she has to contend with if she ever breaks your heart.”

“Far more likely that I break hers, soon enough.”

Hera shrugged her shoulders. “It is an unfortunate part of being an immortal. We often break the hearts of mortals.”

“I’m not immortal yet,” Percy cautioned.

She stared at him even as the song ended. “Percy, you are not immortal yet is such a fine line for you. We granted you freedom from being harmed. You claimed a domain not your father’s. The only thing keeping your blood tinging red is your own will power.”

“And yet my will holds.” For the moment, he added in his head. He didn’t know how long that would last. Especially when his eyes caught the furies standing to the side, mostly ignored by the other celebrators of the solstice. “If you’ll excuse me, auntie, I see some cousins I need to bring towards the light.”

He stepped out of the dance circle and found his way next to them. “I know I promised you a dance, but which one of you is going first.”

“Scared to handle all of us.”

He held up a hand. “Also, if you could do me a favor and tell me your names. I’m terribly sorry I don’t know them.”

The fury, who he distantly recognized as being the one he slew when he was a measly 12 years old and just trying to figure out what the hell was going on that resulted in monsters chasing after him, laughed. “You always were interesting, Percy. I’m Alecto.”

One of her sisters raised a hand. “Megaera.”

“Tisiphone,” the final one said.

Percy grinned at them. “Why thank you. I won’t forget them.”

“We know.”

He chuckled. “Anyway, I’d be happy to attempt to dance with all three of you, but I need divine assistance to manage the dance as well as I have been with one person.”

“That’s quite alright. You should take Alecto, she’s the oldest and the most widely known of us,” Tisiphone offered immediately.

He held out a hand to her instead. “Widely known around these parts isn’t what we’re going for. You are a member of this family. You deserve to dance like you are one of us.”

Alecto shook her head. “Just as wild as I remember you being. I had my orders regarding you, but I think perhaps for once, I should have demanded my father listen to me about what I saw in you.” She stared across the room. “I see Hermes, and I’ve been meaning to talk with him for a while. I shall see whether I can convince him to get on the dance floor to trade off with you.”

Percy’s teeth were bared in a smile. “That means we just need a good willing partner for Megaera.”

Kymnopoleia paused in her passing of them. “I assume you want them to be from the family to cement that we’re doing this all together, and we’re all in.”

“Preferably.”

Kym pursed her lips. “While I could do it, that would be less grand as another Olympian. Bet I could get Artemis to do it. She does love dancing with fellow women at these events.”

“Please,” Percy requested.

“I’ll be right back.”

Megaera gazed at the retreating form. “So, what exactly is the plan here, Percy?”

“We’re going to the dance floor. We’ll switch at the song ends, each of you with each of us,” he said.

Alecto paced back over with Hermes having an arm around her shoulders. She grinned at Percy. “Told you, I could get him.”

Artemis slid up to them. Her hand reached down to entwine with Megaera’s. “Are we doing a traditional switching three person waltz?”

“Don’t know it,” Percy admitted.

Tisiphone laughed softly. “I do, if you’re willing to allow a woman to lead.”

“Delighted to be led,” Percy said, bowing over her hand.

“Alecto,” Hermes said with a smirk growing on his face. “What if you led us as well?”

Artemis shrugged. “Olympian and Olympian adjacent let ourselves be led by the furies. I love the plan.”

Percy ducked his head into a nod.

Artemis snapped her fingers while staring at Apollo. Her twin was next to her in seconds. A shade of himself because his other from was at Triton’s side making him laugh. “I need you to play music.”

“Me?”

“We’re going to do a triple waltz, and I need someone who knows what we’re doing and the beats that we’ll need. Please.”

Apollo’s eyes casted themselves over their group. “Only because of my deep affection for everyone here will I dare to pick up my lyre on a celebration.” He stalks off to the music players, cutting them off.

The group of six mingled onto the dance floor, ignoring the others who were staring. The furies were always going to get their share of eyes, but the way that the rest of them were present drew even more attention. Percy smiles at everyone who caught his eye as he allowed himself to be led.

Apollo plucked the strings of his lyre and the music picked up. A gentle tune that began the dance, one that was now solo on the floor as everyone but the council stared in awe at the sight before them. The furies set a pace at the waltz, spinning and dipping their partners. During one of the dips, the hands for who was holding Percy switched.

He didn’t mind the constant motion. He was content to be led across this dance floor. He moved his feet as requested, shared grins with Hermes and Artemis. He could see in the distance, Annabeth with a few others and gave her a quick toothy smile to reassure her that nothing was wrong. The music was upbeat and light hearted. With his cousins, he felt nearly invincible, which was only bolstered when he saw Hades with a genuine, gentle smile as he stared at his daughters.

Spinning around the dance floor as it emptied was such a light feeling. He was floating on clouds, and he was loving every second of it. There were claws against his arms, and he didn’t have an ounce of fear. He was not trapped in a cycle of fight and flight. He was safe among his cousins.

Another swap, and he pulled himself up to whisper into the ear of the fury that was his current partner, Alecto. “I think I’ll treasure this memory of us over all the ones that came before.”

Alecto’s sharp inhale came as a shock, but she pressed them close together as the beat of the music picked up. “You don’t owe me compassion. I haven’t even offered apology.”

“Did my uncle send you?”

“Yes.”

“Then, it’s his apology I would need, and he’s been forgiven. You are free of his debts.”

“No child of the big three is free from their debts. The immortal children have more freedom than you demigods do, but all of us will suffer at the hands of the family and the rest of the pantheon as the targets for when they can’t hit the biggest and baddest.”

Percy chuckled as the music died down, and they started separating. “I’ll change it. You won’t just rely on your father for protection any longer. Call on me, and I will come for you. Call on your uncles, and they’ll arrive.”

Alecto tilted her head to the side. “Perhaps, you can offer that for Poseidon, but you do not speak for Zeus.”

Zeus’ hand clamped down on Percy’s shoulder. There in less time than ever when he heard his name and the slight derision placed on it by those who do not trust him. The weight was familiar, and without pausing to consider the repercussions on the mental health of those around him, Percy tucked into his uncle’s side.

Zeus hesitated for a brief second, then his arm moved to more securely hold Percy. He smiled at Alecto. “I’m glad to see you, niece. It has been quite some time since I saw you in any capacity that was not a fight with your father.”

Alecto swallowed. “Yes, well, the two of you have been at odds for a while now.”

“No longer,” Zeus commented softly. “We’ve patched some of the worst of the recent fights, thanks to your cousin here.” He squeezed Percy.

Percy leaned his head in and rested it along Zeus’ side. “I told her that she would not be a target of yours.”

“She would not be,” Zeus’ word carried a heavy weight to it. The oath wasn’t as powerful as one made on the river Styx, but nor could it be ignored. The words settled across them.

“He did more than that. He insinuated that if I found myself on the wrong side of trouble in the pantheon, I could call upon you for aid.” Alecto’s eyes narrowed at Percy, as if daring him to say those words didn’t pass his lips. As if she thought he would backtrack in the face of his uncle.

Instead, Zeus boomed out a laugh. “You can. I would come. Speaking of which, I have no clue whether your father has told you, but you do have rooms in the Olympus palace should you ever wish to use them.”

Alecto froze. “Pardon?”

“Rooms, you have them. Your sisters do to. Spread the word to them, if you would be so kind. I’m afraid, I must rejoin the masses in an attempt to mingle.”

Percy laughed at the baffled expression on his cousin’s face. “Told ya. Now, if you would excuse me, I’m going to go hang out with my girlfriend until the next time one of my family members snatches me off for a dance.”

True to his word, he headed towards Annabeth. She’s hanging out with the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, and Drew. He drew close to them and wrapped an arm around Annabeth. He smiled at the others. “How are you guys enjoying the celebration?”

Clarisse blinked. “Did we just witness the king of gods allow you to press into his side?”

“He got a hug last time,” Annabeth muttered.

“Yeah, my uncle likes hugs, apparently,” he admitted freely. He had considered briefly trying to get Annabeth alone to try to tell her about the fates, and the ascension, but the more he thought about it, the more he needed to know himself before he tried to answer all the inevitable questions that Annabeth would have for him. So, he forced himself to put on a nice smile. This would be an after the quest kind of conversation.

Hermes arrived in a flash of speed. He panted and nodded to his children who were there. “Boys, how are you doing?”

Connor stared. “I’m doing fine.”

Travis nodded along.

Hermes jerked his head in a nod. “Good, good. Let me know if that changes or if you need anything.”

“I need the gods to stop acting weird,” Travis grumbled. “It’s leaving me on edge, like I don’t know what the rules are anymore.”

Hermes bit his lip. “Well, I can’t change anyone’s behavior, but I could probably tell my cabin folks what’s going on, so how about you go grab the rest of your siblings and I’ll come over and explain a few things.”

“Not to us,” Drew said softly. “Just them, your precious children. You will interfere for them, but no one else.”

“I’d interfere for Percy,” Hermes corrected. “And the rest of you will have someone tell you eventually, but no way in hell am I willingly stepping on your mother’s toes just because you looked pretty and asked nicely. I like all of my body parts act why are currently connected to me, which I would not get if I told you.”

He batted his eyes at Percy. “I’m hoping that you’ll allow me to soak up your space for the time it takes my sons to gather all of my children together for a small pep talk, so I can have peace away from everyone speaking.”

Percy snorted. “You’ll have to deal with whatever conversation I’m having, and you can’t be rude about it.”

Connor shook his head in disbelief. “Come on, Travis, I guess we’re gathering the cabin.”

The two of them left, just as Hermes nodded his head. He draped himself over Percy’s back and then dropped his head and stopped paying any attention at all.

Annabeth froze. The weird relationship she’d had with the god Hermes had changed since Luke’s death, and she wasn’t all that sure where she stood with him. She never knew how to feel about him, but Percy knew them both.

“So, Drew, have you been able to talk to Aphrodite tonight?”

“Uhh, no.”

“You should. I think she’s currently getting punch with Hephaestus.”

Annabeth stared at him. “Percy,” she cautioned.

“He’s right,” Hermes muttered. “Aphrodite would want to talk with you.”

Drew blinked at the god. He was still draped over Percy’s back with his eyes closed, but there was a sincerity in his tone that Percy knew the other demigods could hear.

Clarisse hooked an arm through Drew’s. “I’ll come with you.”

Drew nodded, and then they too were gone.

Annabeth waited a beat, then turned to Percy with the god still right next to him. “Why are you encouraging all of the demigods you run into to talk with their divine parents?”

“Because they should. If I thought you’d listen to me, I’d tell you to speak with Athena.”

“My mother will approach me when and if there is anything that I should know.”

Percy bit his tongue to blurt out a whole host of secrets she wasn’t aware of, but perhaps should be. He wanted to have a good night, not one that was full of bitterness and resentment towards family.

Hermes drew himself up. “If the prayers are anything to go by, my boys have rounded up my children. Time to go be a father for a moment or two tonight.”

Annabeth watched him go with a curious expression. “Does no one have to worry about the king of gods choosing to be a stickler for the rules tonight?”

“No, they do not have to worry about him,” Percy answered her softly. “Annabeth, we should talk about this quest alone as soon as it’s done. There are things that you should know about what I’ve learned.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I know there are. You wouldn’t be so insistent on some things if you didn’t have some reason. I know you, seaweed brain.”

Amphitrite glided up to them. “Ah, Annabeth, you look gorgeous tonight.”

“Thank you, Lady Amphitrite.”

“Percy, you promised me a dance.”

“So, I did.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss onto Annabeth’s cheek before allowing his step mother to pull him away from the demigod area and back towards the dance floor and festivities.

Amphitrite was a good dancer. She kept them moving while she was plotting with her eyes. “The girl seems kind. I have often wondered whether our anger towards Athena was clouding our judgement of your choice in partner.”

Percy glanced over his shoulder to see her. “She’s good for me.”

“Is she?” Amphitrite whirled around in his grasp. “I will not tell you that the sea has no place for one of Athena’s children. We had room for her once, and I am unsure what will come from the conversation over what happened, but I suppose the growth everyone has done suggests perhaps one day, there will be room for her again. However, the sea does not enjoy being told what to do. She constrains you at times. She is scared by the powers that you can use. Athena told you she was being unwise, but she has not changed her mind in your time outside of the pit. And I was watching when she went to hit you the last time you were in her presence.”

Percy swallowed. “She’s my link to the world that I would have forgotten more than once.”

Amphitrite sighed. Another spin around the dance floor went by. “I will not tell you what to do, Percy. I have learned better time and time again parenting your siblings. I will just tell you what I see. I don’t see a girl that would deal with our family with kindness and grace. She would hold onto old injuries. She would use the past against us.”

Percy wanted to defend her, but he couldn’t find the right words. He had seen the way she flinched when gods got too close. The careful way she guarded her words around them. The way that she went after him for seeing them as anything close to human. He leaned his head in and dropped it on Amphitrite’s shoulder. “This is awful.”

“You don’t need to make the choice yet. Let this quest guide you,” she recommended softly.

Percy peeled out of his mother’s arms at the next dance. He struck up a balance near his father and Uncle Hades. He leaned closer to them than he would have in previous events with them near, but he had no fear now.

Hades draped an arm over him. “Have you seen my daughter’s faces since you led them across the dance floor?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“They’re delighted. Some of the minor gods and the other immortal beings are requesting them for dances. I don’t recall an event not hosted in my domain where they have been so included. Thank you, nephew.”

Percy grinned. “You say that like I wouldn’t have done that even before these sessions had I know what a stir it would have caused.”

There was a commotion across the dance floor, and the four of them all turned to stare, as Persephone was whispering in Hera’s ears. Amphitrite had only just stepped away from them and towards the four of them. She stopped to murmur something into one of the musician’s ears before finally reaching them. “Husband.”

“Wife,” Poseidon replied with a rumble in his chest.

“I need you.”

Poseidon offered her a hand immediately. “Whatever you need, whatever you want.”

Amphitrite winked at Percy on her way leading him. A gentle tell that what happens next was intended and not unforeseen, which might be important given how many members of the pantheon had already been given shocks of a life time tonight.

The music picked up a beat. A very different beat than before, something heady that demanded attention and movement to the beat. Amphitrite had Poseidon on the dance floor and was guiding his hands to her waist and dancing practically on top of him. He had his head tipped back in laughter, but he didn’t stop her from doing this even though they were in front of everyone.

“Your brother is not allowed to look hotter than us,” Persephone drawled as her arm went around Hades’ neck. “I demand your attention on the dance floor.”

Hades blinked. “How far do you want to go?”

“As long as no one but you sees me, I’m not going to complain about your choices at all.”

Hades’ mouth fell open just a touch, and he was dragging her onto the floor. He was polite enough for the rest of them not to take her as far as she offered him. But, he kept a hand locked around her and the two of them were in fluid motion against each other, leaving very little to the imagination for what he would be doing.

Percy gaped for a second, then turned to Zeus. “Do you think the demigods are ever going to forget this night?”

“Not at this rate,” he admitted.

Hera reached them at a measured pace. Her heels clicked on the floor. Her gaze locked on her siblings. “Zeus, your siblings are dancing like maniacs.”

Zeus laughed. “Our siblings, dear.”

Hera blushed. “Well, there is that. I would like to join them.”

Zeus turned to stare. “Hera.”

“Persephone said there was a no harm in asking you as you would not reject me,” she continued as if she was not suggesting washing away her normal composure in front of others. “I would like to feel as though you love me and cherish me, the way the two of them do when they can dance like this and trust their husbands will stay with them, will retire with them at the end of the night.”

Zeus shook his head. He moved automatically to wrap his arms around her. “All you ever have to do is ask. I would rather be with you than anyone else any day of the week. Your room is often locked to me.”

Percy had turned around to keep his eyes on the dance floor to give them just a hint of more privacy. He watched in disbelief as Triton was the one to drag Apollo out to the dance floor during this song. He watched his brother start to grind against the god, while Apollo attempted to keep his hands respectful. He also watched that fail miserably when Apollo’s restraint broke.

Mere seconds after that, Zeus and Hera glide to the floor. He knew what was going on in most everyone’s minds, which was that a casual waltz was going to be started alongside these insane dance steps. However, Hera might have been less sexual than the other two goddesses on the floor, she was still clearly moving in time with the beat and encouraging Zeus to move with her. His thigh was between hers with every step against the beat of the song.

Percy shook his head as he was suddenly alone. He glanced up to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend or one of his friends to hang out with, but instead, he watched Ares grab Aphrodite by the waist and carry her to the dance floor. The two of them became the center of the show, as Aphrodite brushed her hand against the sides of all of the rest of the female goddesses, a gentle reminder of one of her domains and blessings, as Ares kept her moving across the floor, even as she offered everyone a small token. Her form switching and flipping depending on who she was giving a boost to.

Ariadne landed next to him. “I want to dance.”

“Where’s your husband?”

“Oh, he’s ensuring someone that we’ve been trying to seduce for the last twenty years has an open door tonight. And I still want to dance.”

“Okay?”

“You’re going to be my partner.”

“That’s…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not quite as bad as the rest of them,” she said with a smirk. “I promise that your virtue will be intact. I shall encourage a bit of jealous attention from my husband and his lover later tonight. Everyone will win.”

Percy could reject the offer, but the music did have a lovely beat. He could go find Annabeth to bring her to the dance floor again, but she was not comfortable alongside the gods and goddesses, not like he was. These were not her normal places to remain. He sighed. He put his hand, palm up to Ariadne. “No funny business.”

Nico had finally managed to get Thalia and Hazel off to the side, away from any lingering ears or eyes. “We need to talk.”

Thalia shook her head. She jerked a thumb over to the dance floor, where Ariadne had an arm across Percy’s shoulders as she danced behind him, similar to the others, but using Percy as an almost human shield rather than a partner. “About Percy? Because I don’t know what this is, but I swear he’s danced with almost every divine family member that we’ve ever considered having.”

“I don’t know much about his quest,” Nico muttered. “Annabeth said that Hestia requested that he guide family therapy. But this is beyond the fucking limits of that quest. They’re acting insanely comfortable. Hazel and I have Poseidon’s favor now. Percy stood between me and Zeus, and talked him down.”

Hazel hummed. “Have neither of you pieced it together yet?”

“Pieced what together?” Thalia growled. “Speak your mind.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “I’ve known since the moment I met him. Maybe the two of you are clouded because of what you met when he was younger, but that’s no demigod.”

Nico sighed. “Hazel, he’s a demigod. Son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson.”

“He’s a son of Poseidon, for sure. And I’m confident that Sally gave birth to him, but whatever mortal essence once flew through his veins. It’s gone now.”

Thalia groaned. “Is she always like that?”

“Look at him,” Hazel demanded. “Look around him. Tell me that you can’t see the shimmers of divinity surrounding that dance floor.”

“That’s several of the oldest gods in our pantheon,” Nico replied.

“Does it bend around him? Does it fluctuate near him? Do you see it dim where it’s just him and a goddess who was raised for mortality? Do you see any difference between him and his father’s energy levels, truly?”

“Just a side effect of exposure,” Thalia offered.

Hazel shook her head in disbelief. “Follow me, then. Allow me to show you something that you can’t do to a bloody demigod.” She marched them over to the offering zone. An altar was erected for the summer solstice, so members of the pantheon could make prayers tonight just as they do on all other days of the year. She plucked up a seashell from the offering table that they had laid out so members didn’t have to search for what they needed. She stepped up to the flames.

Her eyes fell closed, because she knew her brother and Thalia were watching her closely, but it wasn’t just them that she was calling on now. The words were going to be carefully picked. She had spoken to Annabeth too about his quest. “Perseus Jackson,” she began as she dropped the seashell into the flames. “May you continue to guide this family back to their roots and strengthen them for the coming times. May your divinity grow welcome under your skin. May the choices that lay before you be kind to you.”

When a demigod made a prayer there were two options, if you didn’t offer the right thing or the divine being rejected it or the prayer wasn’t to the divine, the smoke was a normal grey ashy color. If the prayer was accepted, the smoke was light grey usually more akin to white, and you could feel the acceptance on the wind and scent if you were paying attention. The smoke turned white, and Hazel turned back to her brother. “I couldn’t do that to a demigod.”

“No,” Nico whispered.

“I told you that Camp Jupiter made him a pyre after what he did for me and you. Did you ignore the color of the pyre’s smoke?”

“I thought maybe Poseidon had claimed it.”

“He didn’t,” Hazel corrected. “Percy held the prayers. Percy holds mine right now. He is no mere demigod, and it’s about time the two of you accepted that. Because the next time the fates, need a big three child to pick up a quest, they sure aren’t going to turn to Percy. They know full well that he’s ascending, it would have been woven in their projects.”

Thalia blinked at the flames. “How?”

“No clue,” Hazel admitted. “But, look at him and tell me now that you’ve seen the proof, does he not exude the energy of a god?”

Percy had an arm around Ariadne now, as the two of them moved in a swaying motion. He was keeping himself away from actually rubbing against her, but it was clear that they were having fun.

Dionysus was watching them too. Only where everyone would have expected anger to be present on his face, there was nothing of the sort. There was peaceful acceptance and wine glass raised to toast the both of them.

Athena stepped away once Percy’s attention was clearly focused on the family that was on the dance floor. She had a child she needed to parent. She may have been doing a shit job according to the entire fucking family, but she couldn’t just let her daughter’s heart be broken. She needed to pass on wisdom, and this was not going to be an easy conversation by any stretch of the imagination.

She landed up in front of several demigods. More than Annabeth were hers in this crowd, but she didn’t know yet how she wished to address the rest of them, nor how she should. She’d probably ask for Amphitrite’s help with that, or maybe Triton’s depending on how other sessions went. “Annabeth, I would speak to you alone.”

Annabeth’s back went tense. “Of course, mother.”

The fear present in her daughter needed to be addressed one day. Somehow, Athena was going to have to succeed in showing them that she meant them no harm, and the harms that were committed against them had been mistakes. She led Annabeth away from the crowds and erected a small privacy shield. Any other god could break through it, but she doubted anyone not in her family would dare.

Annabeth swallowed. “What do you wish to talk about?”

“I want to offer you some advice,” Athena said softly. “About Percy Jackson.”

Annabeth groaned, the first show of true disrespect in this conversation at least. “I know, mother. Children of yours should stay away from the sea. We don’t belong there, and Poseidon is not known for his kindness or his forgiveness and the two of you have had beef going on for centuries at this point. I know.”

“My children belong to the sea,” Athena corrected. “They haven’t been welcomed for the longest time, but some of my mantles originate from the sea. It is not surprising that one of my children would fall for someone of Poseidon’s lineage. It is somewhat surprising that the sea is as accepting of your presence as it is, but your choice in partners does add weight to surviving the consequences of falling into the water.”

“Mother?”

Athena waved off the confusion. She did not want to bring up Pallas further today. She had already accepted this more than she had for several centuries. Percy would help her figure out how to do so without the guild overwhelming her. He had helped others with worse, and he was the best of them.

“Annabeth, surely you cannot be blind to the changes he is facing.”

“What?”

Athena glanced at her daughter, and she sighed. She doubted that this piece of advice would even land on her daughter’s ears yet. She was not ready to admit that the boy she fell in love with was not the man standing in front of her. The fact that time and quests had changed them was inevitable. “You know that quests change you.”

“Yes.”

“He has changed.”

“He’s still my Percy, mom.”

“No, he is not. He is our Percy now. He calls my father uncle, and he does not get threatened. He can steal hugs from all of us, and no one shoves him off. He stands in front of us when we are in a deadly mood, and he stands alone often yet he does end up in Uncle Hades realm. I have taken to calling him Uncle Hades again, after nearly a millennia of not mentioning those connections out loud. He is not the same person who left you at that camp.”

“Yes, he is.”

Athena suffered through the denial without yelling. She did not try to yank on her daughter’s need for her pride. “Listen to me, Annabeth. There will be a time that you will need to choose what happens next. He is not the boy you knew. He is more. He is family to the gods. If you intend to stay with him, they need to be your family.”

“I see you as my mother.”

“You tense up when even just I approach you, girl,” Athena snapped. “When the king of gods had you in his arms and was willing to dance, you were a stone statue and needed him to whisk you away from the danger you perceived being among the gods. If you intend to stay with Percy, you will need to understand that the gods are not your enemies.”

“I know that. They’re just also dangerous and the more that you interact, the more chances of bad things happening,” Annabeth replied.

Athena shook her head. “Look at his veins, Annabeth. When you see him next, see his arms. Really look, and then try to remember this conversation as you think through what this means.”

Percy skidded to a halt, shattering her privacy charm. He had a huge grin on his face. “Hera and Uncle Zeus are dancing happily, Athena! Did you see them?”

“I did. I think that is a glorious thing to be happening for the family.”

Percy turned that smile to Annabeth. “How has the night been for you?”

“Strange, the gods are acting differently than normal.” Her eyes were not on him. She was staring at something on him, so he shrugged.

He glanced towards Athena. “You and Hephaestus are the only two that I haven’t seen on the dance floor at least once tonight.”

“I don’t dance with those that aren’t in my family, and my siblings are almost always busy flirting or partying. I don’t trust the rest not to try to use that to push an agenda to my father about good marriage propositions.”

Percy heaved a sigh. “You people and your trust issues.”

Annabeth’s eyes bulged wide. “Are you serious, Percy?”

He held out a hand to Athena. “Unless you’re about to tell me that you don’t trust me and the sea to respect your wishes.”

Athena licked her lips. She could deny him and allow her daughter to live in her ignorance for another few days, however long this quest finished, but no, she wanted to dance with the rest of her family, and she was definitely too scared to do so without either Percy or Triton, maybe Poseidon or the girls to lead her across the dance floor. “Very well.”

Percy led her off, but he agreed to make a stop first. He needed to be sure that Hephaestus wasn’t off on the side lines for some other stupid reason as well. He refused to believe that all of them were this stupid, but evidence did point to them being this emotionally constipated at the least.

They landed in front of Hephaestus’ table, where his children had slowly gathered. He had a pen out and was slowly marking the designs that were being very hesitantly presented to him. Leo had wide eyes when Percy and Athena arrived.

Athena frowned at the paper Hephaestus was looking at. “I can see the problem, give me the pen.”

“Athena,” he cautioned.

“I can be kind for your sake,” she replied, “And Percy wishes to ask you some questions.” She snatched the pen and paper before he could put up another token defense.

Percy smiled at Hephaestus. “I just wanted to check in. I noticed you haven’t danced.”

“Legs don’t move like that or for that long. The cane and me don’t really get onto the dance floor.”

“Are there solutions?” Percy asked whispering in the god’s ear.

Hephaestus let out a long breath. “Sure, if someone was willing to hold like all of my weight while we danced, I could manage a few spins across the floor. I’d probably even enjoy it, but that would require a rather strong god to accomplish, and even then the person I most want to dance with would likely deny me.”

Percy furrowed his brow. “Ares,” he muttered under his breath along with a soft push of requesting his presence behind his words.

Ares broke away from what he was doing over by a table of minor gods. He stopped before the table. “Please tell me you don’t want my opinion on some design from the demigod children, I’m absolute horse shit at that stuff.”

Athena frowned. “I’ve got it, good graces, I’m not incompetent.”

There were flinches from he demigods, but there was no danger here. Percy couldn’t even sense any of them getting truly frustrated. They were ribbing each other as siblings should. His smile was real and gentle.

“Your brother wants to dance.”

Ares blinked. “What? You need the dance floor cleared so that you can do it in one of your fancy chariots you’ve made?”

“No.” Hephaestus closed his eyes. “I’d need someone carrying me on their feet and holding my weight. I’m not able to stand for that long and the cane doesn’t support weight like that in a dance easily.”

“Oh! Sure.” Ares frowned. “Just us or do you want us dancing with your wife?”

“What?”

“I mean I’d need like the first portion of the song getting used to how to move the two of us, but I’m sure she could glide in and fit in like a good puzzle piece once I’ve got us going.”

Hephaestus stared at his brother in awe.

Ares snorted. “Hold on, I gotta go let her know otherwise she’ll never get the cue from the dancing alone.”

Athena finished the notes, handed it to the correct child and then rested her head on Hephaestus’ shoulder. “You should tell him these things more often, Hephaestus. He always comes to your aid. Pretty sure you could ask him to jump from the mountain top so you wouldn’t be the only one injured, and he wouldn’t hesitate.”

“I would never ask that.”

“You could though, is my point.”

There was no time for that to sink in as Aphrodite approached them. She touched the top of Hephaestus’ free shoulder with one of her gloved hands. “Could you last a whole tango dance if Ares has your weight?”

“Probably assuming that he is lifting most of it, and we go home afterward. Not sure I could handle the wooden chairs after that.”

“Sure. We’ll head to his rooms though. He’s able to travel there easier than either of ours, and he’ll be the one doing the motions of leading, so better to have him do it at the music’s end. I’ll let father know we’re heading out.”

Athena raised a brow. “Percy, do you know how to tango?”

“I do not.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “When we’re done with therapy, I’m going to commandeer you for an entire week to teach you all the important dances or force Chiron to add that into the camp’s fucking curriculum. Humans apparently no longer focus on these issues.” She reached out and brushed his forehead, and the steps materialized in his mind’s eye.

She disappeared again, her presence replaced by Ares. He grinned at Athena. “Can you and the fucking demigod legend walk out with us? It’ll help cover up the few missteps I’m inevitably going to make at the start.”

“If you wish,” she said softly.

Ares nodded sharply. Then, he reached out and pulled Hephaestus from his chair. He guided his brother to be standing with his back to Ares’ chest. He had one arm wrapped around him and was holding him up with that same arm. He frowned slightly as he rested Hephaestus on his feet. His other arm ended up linked too for some of the weight. “Alright. I can do it this way for the whole dance.”

“Brother, it’s fine if this plan doesn't work.”

“It’ll work,” Ares and Athena said at once.

Ares winked at his sister. “Don’t worry about it, Hephaestus. Just have your arms ready to catch that beautiful wife of yours when she twirls into us. Otherwise this disaster will have her on the ground and pouting at us.”

“You wouldn’t drop me to catch her?”

“Never.”

Athena tugged on Percy’s arms, and Percy led her to the dance floor. The music switched to the correct song for a proper tango. He started to lead her across the floor, and he could tell that eyes were on them. Probably because they were unaccustomed to Athena being willing to dance.

Seconds later, Ares was next to them, leading himself and Hephaestus in a different portion of the tango, the part done while the girl was dancing alone in a series of spins. When Aphrodite leapt back to them, Hephaestus is the one who reached out and dragged her into their portion of the tango.

Percy had no more time to watch the trio dance because he was busy leading Athena. He dipped her and spun her around. As they moved around, Athena sighed. “I tried to explain to her that you were not going to remain mortal,” she mentioned as they continued to dance.

Percy’s eyes trailed over to where Annabeth was standing. “Don’t think about that. Enjoy us dancing together instead, she’ll know when it’s time for her to know, and the fates likely already have a few plans for her.”

“Thanks, Percy.” She did put her daughter out of her mind. She instead, smiled and helped Percy with his footwork as they danced across the floor. Before long, the smile on her face was real, and she was relaxed as could be.

As planned when the song ended, the trio left the dance floor. Several of the gods dispersed with them, including the king and queen. Athena chuckled lightly. “Perhaps, don’t go after any of them. There’s a chance they’ll need their marital beds this night.”

Percy laughed with her. “No worries, Athena.” In fact, he was hoping to be able to locate Hermes and see whether the god was willing to give him a ride to his mother’s. Before he went back to therapy, he wanted to tell someone about what he saw from the fates that wasn’t a god.

He paused briefly before leaving her. “Athena, tomorrow I intend to talk about Pallas.”

Athena’s skin paled. She ducked her head into a nod. “Do you think it’s even possible for that to go well?”

“I think that Amphitrite still holds a lot of anger, Triton holds a lot of grief, and you hold a lot of guilt. Nothing is ever going to get fixed if you don’t talk about it,” he offered softly. Whether all those emotions in a singular session would end well, he couldn’t see. He’d do his best though.

Hermes arrived next to him as more gods left. “Are you coming back to Olympus or Atlantis?”

“Actually, could you take me to my mom? I want to tell her about what’s happening.”

Hermes grinned. “Yeah, of course. This is a good conversation with a parent. I’ll pop you over before heading home myself. Just give me a call when you’re done, and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Thanks, cousin.”

Chapter Text

Percy grabbed his key and let himself into the apartment. The clock read two in the morning. He’d crash in his own bed and talk to his mother in the morning. No one would argue with him for needing the time alone. The gods understood him now more than anyone else. Something that fellow demigods could never obtain.

Paul peeked out of their room. He glanced at Percy. “Do you need us?”

“Mom, in the morning.”

Paul nodded. “She said you were on a quest. Is it over?”

Percy laughed, brittle and soft. “No.”

Paul gulped. He stepped out of the room. He crossed the hallway to Percy. He wrapped an arm around Percy. “I’m so sorry it always seems to find you.”

“At least this time, I’m more okay with everything.”

“That’s good,” Paul offered.

Morning came too quickly. He had noticed that he was resting more and more like a god now a days. He would rest while the others had their domains, but he doubted it ever was a full eight hours. Hell, the closest he got was in Apollo’s chariot, and they were not being normal during that.

His mom was in the kitchen. Paul had Estelle and slipped out of the house to give them the room to talk. Just another thing that Percy was putting on his list of reasons that Paul deserved only good things to happen to him. He fiddled with his thumbs.

“Paul filled me in on the fact that your quest isn’t over.”

Percy laughed again. “Family therapy is a lot.”

“You knew that going in,” she pointed out softly. She placed blue pancakes on the counter and pushed them over to Percy’s side. “What are you hoping I can help you with?”

Percy blinked. “I just need to talk to my mom.”

She grabbed her own plate and sat down gesturing for him to join her. “Then, talk to me, baby. What’s going on?”

“I’m ascending.”

Sally choked on the pancake and set down the fork. “I’m sorry, what?”

“My life strand, the one that the fates wove into existence. They dunked it in ichor the other therapy session. Not that I couldn’t have figured it out without that. Several gods have offered oaths in the river’s name to help me maintain myself as I break the bounds of what is mortal. The blood in my veins has been slowly being burned up by the ichor and divine essence that is coming from it.” Percy breathed out. “I’m not going to die a mortal death. Elysium has been denied to me.”

“Percy,” his mom breathed out softly.

Percy’s lips quivered. “I’m scared, mom. I’m so scared. But I can’t back down. I had opportunities, moments where the gods would have taken me back and I could have hidden behind my mortality and forced it to go back to a normal level. But….they’re my family.”

“Yes, baby, I suppose they are.”

“Did you know that Aunt Hera has a lullaby that she sings when people are overwhelmed? Or that Uncle Zeus loves giving hugs to the younger gods of the family? Did you know that Dionysus is witty when he wants to be? Or that Hermes is a bloody menace when he doesn’t have contact with someone?”

“No, I don’t think mortals are made to know that.” She crossed her hands in front of her. “Percy, have you thought about what this will mean?”

“I’ll watch you die,” he admitted softly. “Annabeth too.”

“Does she know?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to tell her when I’m not here to give her options. I would have to leave again for this quest, and that wouldn’t be fair to her. Actually, none of this will ever be fair to her, but at least this, I can pretend won’t be cruel.”

His mom nodded sadly. “I wished for you to live a normal life.”

“I know.” Percy rubbed his face. “I wanted to have one, but I’ve never chosen the normal path. I make choices rather consistently that bring me farther and farther from a normal demigod.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of the other big three kids that could have had that first prophecy put on them, they wouldn’t have chosen Olympus. They didn’t like grandfather,” his mom choked when he said that on her air and had to wave him on to get him to continue. “But they also hated Uncle Zeus. The rest of the demigods while more than willing to fight against the armies of grandfather, didn’t go toe to toe with him and his host with zero hesitation. Not like I did.”

“You had the blessing of Achilles.”

“I took that,” Percy agreed. “Something that few demigods ever dare to do because doing so puts you about three steps away from godhood. There’s a single point on your body that can stop you, and even that is questionable.”

“Ah.”

“I was made praetor in a day, mom.”

“I remember you telling me that.”

“Normal demigods aren’t mistaken by the romans for a god. They aren’t raised to the highest honor within 24 hours because they are willing to slam into a giant with the head of a god in one hand and their sword drawn in the other. Normal doesn’t kill a minotaur at 12. Normal doesn’t choose to take on a war god on a beach at 12 and certainly doesn’t win.”

“Normal doesn’t follow a girl into worst place in the underworld, somewhere even his uncle can’t reach,” his mom whispered.

“Normal doesn’t survive down there.”

“So Annabeth is with you on being this different.”

Percy shook his head again. “No, mom. Annabeth should be dead. I forced her survival. I broke several areas of my mortality in order to keep her alive. I refused to lose her. I refused to have her gone from me.”

“Oh.”

“I’m a lot like Dionysus. A girl I would defy rules for. A demigod that refuses to fall into order of the demigods. I reach for domains that aren’t my father’s.”

“Like?”

“Therapy.”

His mom blinked. “You have powers regarding therapy.”

Percy nodded. “Yeah. Well, if I didn’t, I definitely wouldn’t have managed to solve a lot of the issues that were facing them. There was too much wiggle room for problems.”

She sighed. “So, you’re a god.”

Percy shrugged. “Not quite. I’m never going to end up in Elysium, but I haven’t shattered the last of my mortality.”

She smiled gently. “I’ll add you into my prayer rotation as a deity and not the person I’m asking for the sake of the safe return. Try to come by when you can, if you are allowed.”

“The interference law is gone,” Percy said softly. “Therapy showed how terrible that was for everyone there was no point in keeping it.”

“You talked Zeus into changing one of his more prominent laws.”

“Well me and several of his children and his siblings, but yes, in the end.”

Her laugh was kind and soft. “I can see what you mean now. Of course, you were defying the odds.”

Percy’s lips twitched towards a smile too. “Oh, actually, I think I might have accidentally lied earlier.”

“You need something? I’ll do much for you, but I’m not telling your girlfriend that you’re not a mortal demigod anymore. Some things are not for parents to try to explain.”

Percy coughed. “No, mom, I’ll handle that.”

“Will you?”

“As soon as the therapy is done, and I can speak with her and allow her to have all of her emotions without a time limit on it.” He scratched at his arms. “Hades and his wife are going to come to you and Paul sometime after therapy concludes.”

“Why?”

“To get rid of the stupid oath that they all swore on the river, he also has to have a child.”

“And he wants me to be the mother?”

“Dad calls you a goddess among mortal women. I praise your parenting all of the time. And apparently, he doesn’t sleep with people he doesn’t care for. He thinks you’d be the best choice if the gods want this solved as quickly as possible.”

“And you’re asking me to say yes.”

“I’m asking you not to slam the door in their faces. They’ll take your no. But, you should hear them out. They aren’t asking you to give up Paul for even the night. And you’d earn a boon.”

“A boon,” she frowned. “You no longer need them.”

Percy’s eyes glanced over to Estelle’s room. “No matter how you try to guard them, and no matter that she does not have divine blood in her veins, some monsters will be smart enough to target her. To get at me, to get at dad, to see whether they can get to any of the others. The boon could be for her.”

“Why? She’s not one of you.”

“You had her while I was still alive. I care for her. And dad saw your prayers and answered them while you were pregnant with her. To anything that matters in our world, she is not a demigod, but she’s also not a regular mortal.”

Tears filled her mother’s eyes. “Why did I have to fall for a god? It’s done nothing but hurt me.”

Percy rubbed his mom’s arm. He considered his words carefully. “Mom, have you considered what all it’s given you too? You have faith, true faith humans have largely gotten rid of. You have me and Estelle, both of whom are yours.”

“I’d trade nothing if it meant the two of you weren’t here.”

“I know, mom.”

“Would they be a forbidden child? Would the fates use them like they used you?”

“Likely. But they’ll have Uncle Hades behind them. And dad. And quite frankly likely Uncle Zeus. This will be one of the most protected demigods of all time.”

His mom nodded. “I’ll consider it when they come and ask.”

“That’s all I wanted.” Percy smiled. He slumped. “Well that, and maybe I was hoping you’d have some game changing advice about the fact that I’m definitely ascending, and there’s very little to be done about that.”

His mom breathed out a steady stream. “Percy, you have always been your father’s son. When you were younger, I tried to give you a normal life, but that never ended the way that I wanted it to. You were always going to be close to the gods. From the second, you convinced your uncle to light up what is the new Olympus blue to send me a message, I had a sinking suspicion that you would end up with them.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “God or no, you are my baby boy, and I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too, mom.”

“Now, do you want a ride to the empire state building to get you back to therapy?”

Percy chuckled. “Mom, I don’t need the empire state building, just a bit of food.” He started a small flame in the fireplace and scraped the remains of his pancakes into the fire. “Uncle Zeus, could you see who might be willing to pick me up?”

His mom stared. “You called the king of gods for a pick up.”

Percy shrugged. “He has the most range to find someone. I’d call Hermes back, but he’s been having a rough time, and if he’s relaxing, I’d hate to bother him.

The door clicked open, and Paul walked through with Estelle in his arms. “Hi, guess who I found outside the door.”

Hera stepped into the house behind him. She gave a smile to Percy upon seeing him. “I can see why you did not want your uncle to steal her away from him.”

Percy snorted. “Did you come to judge that for yourself?”

“Not entirely.” She blinked. “I also came to remark the home. Poseidon has given his blessing of the child and her mother, but Poseidon is also not much of a threat in the city. His revenge would be great, but the mission would be achieved. Mine is less of a revenge and more of a testament to what could happen should they dare to try.”

Her hands ran along the mantle place, and Percy could tell the divine energy was going to stick. He felt the apartment rumble as the sky’s payed attention. The tension that had entered when he realized that he was radiating more divine energy than he’d like around his mom and Estelle vanished. His aunt was protecting them on his behalf.

“Thank you, my lady.” His mom looked stunned, wide eyes and a breathy noise in her voice.

Hera turned to regard his mom. “Sally Jackson, you were once offered to be honored in the sea beside Poseidon.”

“I was, but I turned it down. I wanted a mortal life for my son.”

Hera laughed. “Well, I suppose it was a valiant effort you made on that attempt.” She held out her arms.

Percy crossed the floors automatically. He knew exactly where he belonged in her arms. A gentle hug, different than when his uncle did it. Hers was full of possession and pride at being allowed to hold him.

She tilted her head towards his mom. “You should pray to all of us more. We would all listen for him. Whatever you need or even want, you never have to worry about a thing. We shall wave away barriers wherever you desire.”

“What?”

“The law against interference has been lifted. And you are favored among gods, not for Poseidon’s love, much as he hates to admit it, but because of Percy’s. For as long as Percy loves you as he does, the rest of us will come when you call. And he shall love you for as long as you live.”

With that Hera whisked them away from the simple apartment. Percy couldn’t help but feel that was the last time he would see his mother as a demigod child. The next time she saw him, the mortality that she had given him would be burned away. He would still be her son, but he would be further from her than he ever had been before.

“Before you lead this session, you should try to find your brother and warn him.”

Percy blinked. “You know.”

“Athena sought out her father earlier after the evening was over and there was no chance of her interrupting us. I stayed. I believe she is calm enough for the session, although she has a bundle of emotions regarding all of it. Your brother is not my child nor Zeus’, he may be less calm, and he deserves to be warned more so than she did.”

Percy nodded to her. He took off at a jog for where he suspected his brother would be. He found him at the fountain in the center of Olympus’ gardens. “Brother.”

“We’re talking about Pallas, aren’t we?”

“You overheard.”

“Pieced it together. We talked about how Athena handled her children and then how father handled his. Now, we need to talk about my children. The one who died and the one who never came back home.” He smiled brittlely.

“What do you need?”

Triton stared at the water. “Start with her side of the story. Let her tell it fully. Make sure she spares no detail. It’ll do no good for us to start working through the emotions of that damn story if there are parts missing that come out after the fact. Hell, I’m not sure that it wouldn’t cause all of us to lose whatever patience we could arguably be said to have.”

“I can do that.”

He blinked. “I want to flee.”

“What?”

“I knew the session was coming, and I thought about not returning. I thought about turning to my dad and telling him that I wasn’t ready and letting him stop everything from coming.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because she needs her father to be present when she speaks. She needs the father who raised her to be there and tell her one way or another what needs to be done. She has said before she wishes to beg for my forgiveness, for me to wipe the slate clean, for this to be considered the end of everything. For me to be able to do any of that, I would need to know more than what I currently do.” He shook his head. “I stood up the last session regarding her children and I claimed I raised her, which is true. I can’t both stand as her parent then and not now, it isn’t fair to anyone let alone her.”

“You’re a good man,” Percy offered.

Triton scoffed. “A good man would have ensured this didn’t require a therapy session this many centuries after the problem occurred. I’m just trying to be one that is growing towards better.”

Percy guided them both towards the throne room. “Better than some.”

“Better than some,” his brother repeated. He paused them. “Would you sit with me? The way that you did with Hermes when he thought grief would get the best of them.”

“You realize that there’s every chance I’m going to have to defend her.”

“You wouldn’t be alone in wrestling the sea into a state of calm if needed.”

Percy blinked in surprise. “But?”

“Mother has often claimed that the seas would have ripped her apart, and Poseidon certainly warned Athena of that once. I never bothered correcting that belief, because she never bothered to ask. She is my daughter. The water would no more harm her than it would harm you. She has done much, but she is not Theseus. The sea would not betray her, I would not allow it.”

Percy gaped. “Triton.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to make that abundantly clear today.”

Percy snorted. Of all the ways to respond to Percy being alarmed that Triton still clearly saw her as his daughter, this was the only way his annoying older brother would do so.

Triton caught his expression. “Seriously? You of all people should have known this already. I got between the two of you for a reason.”

“She was in no danger from me.”

“She fears the trident. She flinches when she sees anyone of the sea reaching for one. You had her at trident point, her moves were faltering because she was scared. I intervened before she got worse.”

Percy nodded slowly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“She hides it well. I doubt anyone who hadn’t learned when she wanted someone to check under the bed for monsters would have noticed it.”

“She asked you to check under the bed for monsters?”

Triton nodded. “Some of the myths we told her had her concerned that titans were hiding out waiting to get revenge on Zeus for one of the many things that he had done to them.”

“Wow.”

Triton sighed. “Come on, Percy. Let’s not stall this meeting any longer.”

The rest of the gods were already in place. Several of them waved to Percy. He noted that several of them were a lot more relaxed than they had been the last few meetings. The solstice had been good for everyone’s energy.

He crossed the room to stand at his father’s side. “Dad, could you get Triton’s throne to be a little wider? I’m sharing today.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. He did however expand the throne to his right so Percy and Triton could both fit on it. His expression was gentle in the way that it only ever was to his own family.

Percy cleared his throat. “Today, we’re going to be touching on something that has been damaged for quite a bit of time. I request that all of you show respect to all of the emotions being shown here.”

Zeus nodded to Percy, indicating that he should continue. If anyone wanted to ignore these therapy sessions they were going to have to answer to him and quite frankly likely most of the the rest would follow suit.

“Athena, I would like you to start today by explaining what all happened the day Pallas died.”

Athena’s eyes shuttered closed. She sucked in a breath. “Alright.”

Amphitrite glared at the goddess. A wind picked up in the throne room, but at least for the moment it was not going to attack anyone or be accompanied by harsh rains. Emotions were high, but they were not yet unbearable.

“I will tell this story. I will live the memories.” Her eyes locked on Triton’s. “Please don’t judge how cold the story will be told. I cannot both relive the memories and my emotions at once.”

“Speak, Athena,” he commanded.

She swallowed. It wasn’t quite agreement, but it wasn’t judgement either. “We were messing around. It was early in the day. Poseidon was leading court. Amphitrite was out visiting her father. Kym wasn’t home, I believe she was in one of her storms. Rhode was still sleeping and Triton was giving messages for several lower cities within the ocean as there was a gala coming up.”

Poseidon nodded gently to her. “I recall this.”

“We snuck up on you,” Athena recalled softly. “We wanted to know whether we could go practice with our spears. Well, I wanted to practice with the spears that had recently been made for us. Pallas wanted to spend the day with me and was more than happy to spar if that meant her and I were together for the day.”

Amphitrite turned to Poseidon, a question lit up in her eyes.

“I told you girls to make sure that there were some members of the guard present in the area but to go ahead,” Poseidon said.

Athena nodded. “From my recollection, there were three guards present. One of them was leading the other two in the spar. Pallas went to speak to them as I readied our spears.”

Triton motioned for her to continue, even as his hand went to grip Percy’s as tight as he could. His breaths were heavy, but he was containing himself from saying anything where Athena would be forced to hear him. His whole body was tight and tense.

“We set out to warm up first. We did several stretches both with and without the spears. I want to say this took an hour or so. After that, the first spar match commenced.”

“First?” Zeus asked.

“We did three that day,” Athena replied, her voice dry. “The first match went to Pallas. The second as well. No matter what I did, we were in the water. There was very little I could do to one that healed in the very environment we were in, and even less that I could do without further training. Pallas saw that I was frustrated. We both knew that the sea was my home and welcomed me as one of them, but I was not of the sea.”

“Shit,” Amphitrite whispered.

“Pallas thought we should go to seashore. She figured that the waters were close enough that any injury could still be easily healed, and at least then I could have a fighting chance in a spar.”

“Pallas?” Triton murmured.

Athena nodded to him. “I was not overtly fond of breaking the rules. I was fully intending to pout to later about the unfairness of fighting my sister in the sea, but I was going to stay where members of the guard could see us, could catch us if we went further. She is the one who thought of the seashore.”

“Thought? But you did not object.”

“Not overly, Lady Amphitrite. I put up a token disagreement, but when she grabbed my hand, I hardly fought against the hold, nor did I stop the spar on the beach from commencing. For the first few minutes of that spar, we were evenly matched. However, that did not last for long. Despite the seashore, Pallas was drawing on the strength of the sea. I was desperate for a solution to this.”

“Ah,” Poseidon interrupted.

Athena inclined her head to him. “Suddenly I saw so many options. Several hundred at least, most of which allowed me to gain the upper hand. Some were so much easier to accomplish, and I was young. I did not realize that there might be reasons to watch the move play out entirely. I thought I could control it. I thought that these were just simple options.”

She turned her head away from everyone’s eyes. “I pushed ahead. I had selected one that seemed like I would gain the upper hand. I didn’t play it through. I just started moving as the path played out. I lunged forward, I feigned to the left. She followed through with her own lunge. She toppled. I brought my spear down while she was face down on the ground right through her spine. Ichor spilled on the beach and dripped from my spear. I didn’t realize right away.”

“I yelled out a victory point, same way she had done twice earlier. It wasn’t until I didn’t hear her rejoicing after me that I realized something had to have gone wrong. I knelt down. Ichor was soaking the sand by then, and I was confused. It wasn’t until I rolled her over that I realized that I had punctured through her spine and her sternum. I didn’t know.”

She blinked away tears. “I screamed. I tried to drag her body to the water. The waves were hitting her, but they weren’t closing the hole. So, I screamed for Apollo. I called every name and epithet that I had ever heard that would get his attention. I remember when he took her body from me.”

Apollo nodded. “You were clutching her desperately. I needed her laid out on the beach. I took her from you to lay her flat. I tried to catch a faint glimpse of her life force. I tried to patch the skin. It didn’t take long for me to realize that nothing was left. I was prepared to tell you that she was going to have to reform, when I realized that wasn’t there either. There was no energy left, not that of a reforming goddess, but that of one in a fade. I sat quietly next to you as you continued to scream. The winds and rains were picking up. The waves were violent. You didn’t flinch,” he ended suddenly surprised.

Athena stared at Apollo. “I remember you taking her from me, but none of the rest of it, not so surprising given my panic at the time. I don’t think that I was all that clear on anything at the time. I was just so very scared.”

“Not of the sea.”

“Why would I be scared of the sea?” She countered. “The sea was my home. I was scared for my sister. I was somewhat terrified that the god of death was going to show up in front of me and take her. I was shaking but there was nothing in my opinion to fear of the sea.”

“That didn’t come until later,” Poseidon summarized.

“I started screaming again.”

Apollo nodded. “They were raw in your throat. I swore I was going to have to heal you too, for all that you were in a state of pure terror.”

“I wanted my dad. I wanted him to come to me. I wanted to be saved.”

“I came,” Zeus rumbled softly.

Athena squeezed her eyes shut. “I took your comfort. I took the support you offered, and I allowed you to tell the sea no when they demanded my return when you told me they wished to hurt me. My fear grew from you, Zeus.”

“Daughter…”

“And I did not call for you.”

“What?”

“I screamed for my dad. You were nothing but a father who threw me out to a different person to raise. You were not my dad. You never held my hand when I was struggling to learn how to split my spirit into multiples. You did not check under my bed for titans when I feared them while learning myths. You did not sooth my injuries when I took a spar session too far. You are not who I called for.”

“Yes, I am,” Zeus countered. “I heard your screams like a prayer.”

“You were not alone,” Triton commented. “I heard them just as clearly.”

“You did not come,” Athena said. “I don’t blame you for not coming. I know what I did, but for all that is holy, I needed you to come. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry that I didn’t see it coming. I’m sorry that she is gone from us forever. I’m sorry for it all. But I needed you, dad.”

“I came,” Triton said finally. “I could feel her gone, and I am reasonably sure a portion of the sea came from me and my emotions, but I was hardly going to ignore my other daughter in her despair. I reached the beach approximately 20 seconds after Zeus had snatched you from the beach.”

Triton’s eyes narrowed in Zeus’ direction. “And how dare you tell my daughter that we wanted her for punishment? How dare you snatch her from my domain where I could not reach her?”

Zeus placed his hands up immediately. The anger directed at him was not something he was prepared for. “Woah.”

“You are the reason why I did not get to see my daughter until after anger had taken its hold. Anger was put on pause for her despair. The next time she reached out, she was apathy and cold. I was pissed. You are the reason I did not see her grieve. Do you not think that I would bend for my other daughter? You have seen your brother over and over again defend his family against all? Did you not think the same of me?”

“She was not your daughter. Not by blood, not by domain. She was mine, and yes, I was bloody terrified of you people. You all are known to go to extremes. One of yours is hurt, and the world feels the consequences. The hurricanes that were thrown against the shores that year were bad enough that humans across the globe wrote of massive floods inland. I don’t think the rains stopped for three months. I kept her away from your fucking rage.”

“You should not have had the option. She prayed to her dad. Not you, king of gods. You did not raise her, by your wife’s own admission, you have raised none of them. You do not get to claim to be their dad. Maybe you get to claim to be their father, but not their dad.”

“Triton,” Poseidon warned softly.

Percy shook his head firmly. This was important. This was not one that Poseidon could intervene in.

Zeus stared in shock at Triton. “I am most of their dads.”

“He is mine,” Dionysus offered the room. “I mean, he’s an occasionally really, really shit one, but he’s my dad.”

“Same,” Apollo muttered.

Artemis shrugged. “He’s who I would be calling for if I ever screamed for my dad.”

Hermes pursed his lips. “Me too.”

Ares and Hephaestus nodded.

Athena stared at her siblings. She stood up from her throne room. She paused from where she stood, she stared for a second at her throne. It was embedded with the rest of the children of Zeus. She had taken pride in that for ages. Now, she looked disgusted.

She licked her lips. “But not me,” she said finally.

“Daughter,” Zeus started.

“But not me!” She repeated with so much more force. She crossed the room. She stood in front of the sea gods, and then moved behind their thrones. “I am one of theirs. I am not of the sea. I have known that for many eons. But I am at home in the sea. The palace rooms I have here are not ones I would call home. I have a home. It’s in Atlantis, and I have not been in centuries. And you are not my dad.”

Athena closed her eyes. “I have so many apologies to make for so many stupid mistakes that were made that day. But here’s one that I refuse to make, I do not apologize for taking your hand Zeus. I was desperate and needed comfort, and you were there. But I also don’t forgive you for never telling me that my dad did come to that exact spot. I don’t forgive you for not speaking to the sea yourself to see what barter could be come to that day. You said in a therapy session, you bartered for my safety later. Did he, grandpa?”

“In a way,” Poseidon confirmed. “He asked me to bless you with safety should you ever fall into the water. I granted him that peace of mind, the knowledge that you would never be harmed in the water.”

Triton snorted. “As if that had ever faltered.”

“Seemed to me that they needed the confirmation. Mine, no less. They didn’t trust you or my wife with that. Seemed quite strange to me given that for all of time, her protections of the water have never been mine. I certainly backed you up, Triton. But it your blessing that stands across her shoulders. It is your essence that allows her breath beneath the waves.”

Triton rolled his eyes. “Communication has never been a strong point of this family.”

“It has in ours,” Amphitrite huffed. “And as has been repeatedly said, she was raised as one of us.” The queen of the seas twisted in her throne to look at Athena. “What right did you have to be cold towards us after killing Pallas?”

“Do you think it was easy?”

“What?”

Athena buried her head in her hands. “Do you think that it was easy to get over? Do you think that I arrived in Olympus and then immediately moved on from my home and dead sister? Apollo knocked me out shortly after Zeus fed me the horror story of why he thought it best to not return me to the sea.”

Eyes turned to Apollo once more. Apollo shot his hands up in the same surrender position being used by Zeus. “She was panicking. She was hyperventilating every half hour and forcing herself to be sick. She was weakening with every plea to every being there ever was to switch their places. She needed to rest. She had to pause. So, I forced my sister to sleep so she could try to heal for a moment. She woke up different.”

“I woke up cold. I woke up in a palace that I had only rarely stepped foot in. I woke up to a strange god calling me daughter, and a boy from a myth calling me sister.” Athena rubbed at her forehead. “None of this was reasonable. Please tell me that you realize that all of this was shock after shock. I woke up in a different realm.”

“Explain,” Triton demanded.

Athena blinked. “Right, sure. I woke from a nightmare where my sister was dead, to a reality where that wasn’t changed. Pallas was gone, I could feel it in my bones. I wrapped a robe around myself. I stepped out of the room. A part of me thought that perhaps one of you had decided that I needed Apollo’s assistance. I thought that you had dragged me to him. After all, I wasn’t actually confident on what injuries I still had from the earlier spars or even from that final one.”

She frowned. “Hera found me first. She stroked my cheek. She draped something over my shoulders. A shawl, I think.”

“A shawl,” Hera confirmed. “One that I imbued to help tamper the effects of grief. It doesn’t help you move on, but it does help focus on the good memories and not the bad.”

Hermes snapped his head over to her. “You gave her what?”

“A shawl made by me to help with grief,” Hera repeated. “She had been praying for everyone’s assistance. I could not switch her place with her sister, and I’m not sure even if that had been something I was capable of doing whether I would have done so, after all that is very final and I did enjoy Athena’s presence. So instead, I gave what I could to help.”

Athena nodded slowly. “Right. Zeus found me next. He held an arm around my shoulders. He told me that it was for the best to stay away from the water for a while. He told me that you were all very angry. That the storms on the mortal world were harsh. When I asked which of you were there in Olympus, he got so very confused as he told me none of you.”

Zeus bit his lip. “Athena, why would any of them have been there?”

“Because that’s where I was,” she screamed. “Because I was their daughter, their granddaughter, their niece. I expected them to be there because I never considered a world where I woke up to a dead sister and no one from my family to hold me close and tell me that it would be okay, that I could live in a world without my sister, and while it would suck for a long while, eventually it would get better.”

She heaved and fell to the ground. Crumbled around on her knees, her own arms wrapped around herself for comfort. “I was there, and no one being there was inconceivable. But you were calling me daughter as I fell to the ground and telling me that it was alright. That Olympus was always welcome to me, and that you would be proud of me for harnessing my domains instead of letting them control me like they had that day.”

She shook like a feather from her position on the ground. “I kept wandering. I don’t know what I was looking for, but Apollo found me.”

“I was looking,” Apollo admitted. “You seemed frightened. You seemed like a mess of expectation and consequence. I figured that you knew you what you had done, and could use a friendly and nonjudgmental face.”

“You held my hand as I stared at one of the rivers. You told me that while you were no sister, you’d be happy to be my brother,” Athena added. “You were something from a myth. The great Apollo. The son of Zeus and Leta. The child of the sun. The child who had more domains than the king of gods. And you were holding my hand and calling me sister. You told me that my sister wouldn’t want me to join her in fading. She’d want me to live.”

Triton tilted his head to the side. Then, he sighed. Some of the back breaking tension faded from him. “He was right.”

Athena’s head shot up.

Amphitrite whipped around to stare at Triton.

“He was,” Triton defended to his mother. “Pallas would never have asked for you to trade places for her. She would have wanted you to live in her place. She’d want you to think of her on special occasions, and live. She’d want you to conquer entire domains and do so in her name. She’d want you to hold her close to your heart as you did more than she ever imagined you could.”

“Dad,” she choked out.

Triton blew out a small pillar of air. “For fuck’s sake, Athena.”

“Daddy,” she cried. “I’m sorry. I promise I’m sorry.”

Before she could continue, the rain started to pour. It drowned out her words, and it was filling the room. Poseidon closed his eyes and leaned against his throne. The largest way of saying he was done.

Percy too could have done something. It would be difficult to wrestle with Amphitrite in her current state of anger, but he could do it. If he could do it to his father, he could do it to his step mother. However, he never got the chance.

Triton snarled at the rain. Suddenly the room was dry, and Triton had a hand against his mother’s arm, holding it tightly against her throne. “Enough, mother.”

“She killed a daughter of the sea,” Amphitrite argued. “She killed Pallas, and rather than ever accept accountability, she allowed the rest of Olympus to bargain for her. She has hidden herself away rather than face justice.”

“She was never going to face justice,” Triton snapped. “She would have faced me. I would have stood in front of you time and time again. Had father decided to take revenge, I would have stood in front of him. She was never going to court before the king and queen. Her father would have stood for her in those court rooms. Her father would have judged her, and possibly punished her, but you would have done nothing.”

Amphitrite dropped her glare. “She does not deserve your defense.”

“She has it regardless, as my daughter. As Zeus has Poseidon’s by virtue of being his brother, and you have it as virtue of being his wife. Her mistakes make her no less mine.”

Triton stood away from Amphitrite, only he didn’t go back to his throne. He remained standing. Now, he was towering over Athena, still curled up on the ground. “Continue.”

“I…”

“Say whatever you want. No one here is going to say a fucking thing other than me.”

Poseidon’s hand clamped down over Amphitrite’s mouth before she could speak again. He moved silently, and for a second, even Percy hadn’t been sure why, but it was now clear. He was helping his son, even when his mother was responding in a different way.

“I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make it okay. I know now that I should have played out what doing those moves would cause. I should have made sure to regulate how much strength I was fighting with. I never should have left the area where the guards could intervene. I shouldn’t have been so upset that she was beating me. I should have…”

“Stop,” Triton advised.

Athena panted. “I’m so sorry, daddy. I want Pallas back, and I swear once I realized what happened, I tried. I tried to fix it, I promise.”

“I know.” He was so cold to her that Percy didn’t actually know what to do. Athena was breaking down, and the only person who could actually save her was the same person no one could demand having to.

“I called for you. Why didn't you come?”

“Zeus told me that I was not welcome. And by the time you were willing to reach out, you were fighting my father for the only fucking city that still remembered her name. That felt like a declaration of war.”

“Why didn’t you come anyway?” Athena yelled. “You had to know. You raised me. You know that I’m scared of titans even when I show up with my weapons and family to fight them. You know that I hate breaking rules. And you know that when I’m freaking out, I bury my emotions. Why didn’t you fight for me?”

Triton laughed. “Because you killed my daughter, and if you wanted me, I was going to damn well make you work for it.”

Athena flinched backwards. It would have been kinder for him to strike her than say those words. She was now prostrated across the marble flooring. Tears making her face a mess and her hands shaking.

Triton closed his eyes. “Ask again.”

“What?”

“Ask again,” he repeated.

Athena stared at him. She was hesitant and uncertain. Then finally, “Dad, please, I need you. I want to be forgiven. I want to come home.”

Triton moved faster than ever before. He crouched next to her and drew her into his arms. He let her shake in his hold. He didn’t flinch as she curled her whole body around him and clung to him desperately. “You are forgiven, and you are always welcome in the sea.”

“Promise.”

“I promise, dear. You’ll come home tonight, and all will be fine.”

Poseidon removed his hand from Amphitrite’s mouth slowly. He made sure that Triton could see him doing it.

She glared at her husband for a brief second. The anger in them dimmed upon the steady adoration and support in Poseidon’s. He silenced her, but he had done it for their oldest child, something that he had always sworn to her and others. He would always bother saving the kids, if they asked for that from him.

“Fine,” she hissed. “The girl is welcome under the sea. And you are forgiving her, what of your punishment?”

“No,” Triton said simply.

“She killed Pallas,” Amphitrite stated. “You are not about to tell me that she deserves to get off Scott-free for having done so.”

Triton brushed his hand through her hair. “I’m telling you no. I’m telling you that my daughter has been exiled for centuries, blaming herself for Pallas’ death and having no one to turn to. I’m telling you that if that isn’t enough punishment for you, to fuck off. My daughter is done fighting to make something right that could never be patched. She’s fine.”

Amphitrite turned to Poseidon with an exaggerated huff.

Poseidon glanced at Triton. “I declare her pardoned on the basis of self imposed exile for a period of a thousand years being a harsher punishment than that with which the court would have found her liable for.” He paused. He glanced over at her throne and then dragged the thing over with his powers. Until it was situated next to Triton’s.

Zeus rubbed his temple. “Okay, okay, so this is settled.”

Percy shook his head. “Oh no.”

Athena stared at him. Her eyes piercing him as she begged him not to make her do more.

“What more needs to be said?”

“Both Triton and Athena have expressed anger at Zeus, we need to get to the bottom of that.”

Triton scoffed. “I might be willing to forgive the girl I raised for a splendid example of how far idiocy can reach when not corralled but by all of the gods, I’m not raising the fool who decided to show up when she prayed to me.”

Zeus deflated on his throne. “Can you honestly blame me for my concern, Triton?”

“For why you were concerned, not particularly. We are harsh, that is the nature of the sea.”

“So?”

“You had options. You had a messenger god to bring us a message and explain why you stole my other daughter from the place she called to me. You had several other children who were never going to be in any danger in the water. Except wait, I forgot, you don’t trust father not to kill your children or at least you didn’t. You didn’t notice that all any of you ever had to do was ask my dad for help, and you would be safe.”

Triton huffed. “As if you could not have just asked dad for protection for her, so she could ask me what to do. As if you could not have demanded my presence in Olympus if you were really so fucking fearful of the sea. You had choices and options, and you chose the one that would destroy me further and send me away from my daughter.”

Zeus frowned. “Triton, I know now. I didn’t know then. I just didn’t want my daughter to be a sacrifice for the sea.”

Percy watched his brother carefully. Only, he registered that Athena tapped him on the arm with curled fingers. Once, twice, and then again.

Triton froze where he had settled on the ground. He raised his arm up high where everyone could see, curled his fingers down into his fist and rapped his knuckles against the air. Same pattern, once, twice and then again.

Poseidon stood immediately, and he was in between the rest of the gods and his son. His eyes were firm. “Triton.”

“Just fix it, dad,” he said softly. “Athena,” he whispered. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I can’t handle this. I can’t do this. Zeus is telling me that I was in mortal danger, and you’re telling me that I was always safe, and I don’t know what truth is anymore.”

“Fuck.”

Poseidon glared Zeus down as he braced himself for a barrage of comments.

Apollo glanced back towards Athena and Triton. “I assume that was some sort of code that tells you that they need you to fix something somehow.”

“Aye.”

Apollo’s eyes twitched. “You have a sign that your children can give you non-verbally, and you’ll just get in between them and whatever the problem is?”

“Yes.”

Apollo cursed under his breath. “Why the fuck were you ever concerned about the sea, Zeus? They love each other like its as easy as breathing.”

“Because she’s not actually one of them. The sea doesn’t run in her veins.”

Poseidon snarled, the sound low and harmful. “Like Thalia, because trust me, brother, her veins have more of me than you at this point. It was pieces of me that I replaced within her as I stripped her of that poison over and over again.”

“Like you don’t have the sea in you. Or have you forgotten that Poseidon is your elder brother and once held the domains you cling to so desperately? Both yours and Hades,” Amphitrite hissed. Her body was draped over the three thrones of the sea gods, and to normal people looking, she appeared to be doing nothing much. However, Percy had gotten used to it. His step mother, was close enough that she could swap to Poseidon’s throne primarily and summon his trident if she needed to. She could summon her son and his daughter back to Triton’s throne, the one with the deepest connection to Atlantis. She could send them away from the fight in less time than anyone else.

Zeus gaped at Amphitrite.

“So you have forgotten,” she murmured. “Unsurprising. We talked about his older forms earlier, but I don’t think you paid nearly enough attention. He was the god of the underworld, and he was the king of the oceans and the gods. You may have divine energy, and you may have a crown, but it was once heavy on his head and not yours. What is yours, is ours. We do not claim it often, but when we have need, we can and shall lay claim to everyone in this pantheon. Our revenge is harsh, but it is just, especially for family. The girl is of the sea.”

Athena turned to stare at Amphitrite, tears burning in her eyes. “Not like the rest of you.”

“Similar enough,” Amphitrite allowed softly. “The water does not heal you as it does my children or my husband’s, but it brings comfort, and there is no harm that could be done to you that as long as you got to one of us, we could not heal as a part of the water.”

“Grandma,” she whispered.

Amphitrite sighed. She stood from the thrones. She brushed Athena’s hair out of her face. She pressed a kiss to Triton’s forehead. “Forgive your uncle.”

“Why?”

“Because it has been too many years, since the sea bothered being explicit in its care. We let things go unsaid because they had been said so very many times before. Apparently, the millennia dimmed their memories,” Amphitrite explained softly.

Triton’s eyes were hard, but the anger in them was dimmed. “You are forgiven, Uncle Zeus.”

“Why?”

Triton shrugged. “It is not often that my mother lets go of her rage. I was going to ask her to set aside the wrath she felt for Pallas so that Athena would be safe. She asked me to forgive you, that is a fair trade.”

Zeus blinked. “Why did you ask him to forgive me, Amphitrite?”

“To make a point,” she said simply. She stood in front of Poseidon. Her skirt blowing in the winds across Olympus, and her hair sleek across her shoulders. “Husband, I wish to make a point, but I might terrify your family.”

Poseidon rubbed his eyes. “Is there any chance that I convince you not to do this?”

“No. They need to be reminded of our position.”

Poseidon grabbed Percy and dragged him over towards Triton and Athena. He stood in front of them with a heavy look in his eyes. “Fine, I’m protecting our kids, though.”

Amphitrite waved him off. She stared and made eye contact with Zeus. “To be clear, I’m going to do this for about ten seconds to ensure all of you realize exactly what it means to be a member of this family.”

Zeus met her gaze head on. “Fine.”

Amphitrite closed her eyes and one by one each family member realized that they couldn’t breathe. Ares and Aphrodite toppled forward off their thrones. Zeus and Hera had hands around their necks clawing at the area as if that would get them their normal breathing back. Only two people were semi unaffected. Persephone had her own hand up and a vague shimmer surrounding her. Demeter had been affected for a second before her form shifted and what was used to stop their breathes could no longer touch her.

Amphitrite stopped almost as suddenly as she began. Her eyes crystal blue and clear. “You are able to breathe, to move, to live because the water does not claim you. We could. If you were not our flesh and blood, you would be dead several times over. We never would have claimed Athena because if we were going to, we wouldn’t have needed more than a second.”

Zeus gaped at her. “All of you.”

“No,” Triton answered. “Mother and father, none of their children.”

Percy winced just slightly at that. He was pretty sure he could do it as well. It would hardly be as flawless and smooth as the demonstration Amphitrite had done but still.

Persephone caught his movements. She tilted her head to the side. “Poseidon, could your mortal son rip the air from me by suffocating me on my own life force?”

“No idea. I could if I fought you for control.”

“Then the answer is yes.” Hera glanced their way. “He has fought you for control, Poseidon, and the boy won. If you could do it, so could he.”

“I wouldn’t,” Percy whispered.

Triton reached over to grab Percy’s hand and squeezed tight. “You’re alright, Percy. I promise.” He turned his gaze to Zeus. The fear and exhaustion from earlier gone from him. He blinked. “You really didn’t know how simple it would be for us to kill someone in this pantheon?”

“No.”

Triton sighed. “I wish you had spoken to me, gotten any amount of information before making a decision that hurt so many people, but I understand. We are not always kind, and you had no way of knowing that this wasn’t going to be one of the times that you had to try to fight the sea.”

Zeus blinked. “I am sorry for the pain it caused you. I just didn’t want Athena to suffer further. She was so upset already.”

“I get it.”

Athena curled further into Triton. “I forgive you too. I don’t know why my prayer carried to you as well, but you were trying to help. You did come at my call even if I was not prepared for you to be who answered.”

Zeus nodded to her. He stared at the way they were embracing, and he smiled genuinely. “I’m glad she had you, Triton.”

Amphitrite went back to her seat. “Athena, are you intending to come home entirely?”

“If you’ll have me and spare my attention as you do Poseidon’s.”

A sigh came from the queen of the seas. “Lord Delphin, come to me.”

The lord shimmered into the council’s chambers. Unlike many who would find themselves in these chambers, he did not look around. He had eyes only for the queen who called him. He dropped a low bow.

“I require you taking Triton’s role as the sea’s messenger for a time. Myself or the crown prince will relieve you from the position when it becomes possible again.”

“It shall be as you command,” he said gruffly.

“Good. Tell Princess Rhode that her niece, the princess Athena, shall be returning home. I would appreciate her rooms being cleaned and new styles given to her wardrobe. Also tell her if she finds the time, I would appreciate her beginning to plan a gala to announce the return of the lost princess.”

“Pardon?” For the first time in this chamber, he looked lost and in need of saving from the situation.

Percy stood up from where his father had dragged him when Amphitrite had decided to prove what an angry sea could do to anything that lived. He crossed the floor to stand behind the queen. “I believe you heard what my stepmother said.”

His eyes bulged from his head. Perhaps because a demigod was standing as his equal. Perhaps, the idea of Athena returning to the sea was that shocking to the god. It didn’t matter, on this the family was united.

Triton drew attention to himself when he rose from the floor. Something around him was glowing and eyes seemed to be drawn to him and what he was doing. He stared at Delphin. “My daughter is returning home. Tell the current ruler of Atlantis so preparations can be made.”

At his confident position and words, Athena braced herself for stares as she picked herself off the ground and moved to the sea family. “Hello, Delphin, I would appreciate you nodding and sending the message.”

“You, missy, should not be talking. We all know that Poseidon once favored you to an unholy degree. But back then you had Pallas by your side. There is no one backing you up now.”

Athena deflated. She might have suspected a warmer welcome from others in the sea, but it would appear she would have her work cut out for her, no matter what she did. She looked down at the ground.

Poseidon swept her off the ground. He ignored her squeak as he settled her down into his throne like he used to with both girls when they’d interrupt council meetings. She landed on the throne like someone in a state of wonder. Her eyes were wide and happy. Her smile could have lit stars.

When Percy had sat on that throne as the favored son, he faced massive consequences immediately, but Athena sat on it like she owned the damn thing. He couldn’t help but agree with Delphin that Poseidon was doting.

“My only living grandchild, you bet I’m going to be a devoted grandfather once more.” He winked at Delphin. “Better go take the messages, Lord. I would hate for the queen to think that you aren’t respecting her orders.”

Finally, he ducked into another bow. “Of course, my queen. My king.” He was gone the next second.

Athena cleared her throat. “No offense, Percy, but please tell me that’s enough for the day.”

“Yes, of course. Session adjourned.” He kept his eyes on Zeus though. He wasn’t sure how the god was going to handle being announced as not as important to Athena as the sea family was.

Zeus walked over as gods dispersed. He dragged Athena into a hug himself. “I’m glad you’re happy again, my daughter. I have not seen you smile like this since before all of this went down.”

“Thank you, father.”

Turns out, Percy needn’t have worries. Zeus wanted his children’s happiness more than he wanted status or to be seen as a good father. Percy had never been more proud of the family and the work he was doing. The smile on his face was nothing but real.

Chapter Text

Percy was quite happy about how the last session had gone. The entire branch of the sea family had retired to their wing of the palace, with Athena being told she could stay in any of her aunts rooms if she wanted or she could stay with Triton. Percy had chosen to follow Triton and Athena into the room, and they had ended up having a good time. But now he needed to look ahead instead of focusing on what good has already been accomplished.

Unfortunately, he really needed Persephone before this session. He did not want to go into this session as blind as he had been for most of the random information that she brought to attention during the other sessions. However, he had no clue where Hades branch of the palace was.

“Uncle Zeus,” he whispered having stepped out into the hallway.

His uncle was there within seconds. “Percy, what do I owe the pleasure of you calling to today?”

“I don’t know where Uncle Hades stays.”

Zeus blinked. Then, he laughed. “So not my problems today?”

“Not unless you’re having issues with what came out between Triton and Athena yesterday.”

He shook his head. “No. I’m glad she has someone like him. I wasn’t in the right head space to raise a child. Not with Metis having happened.” He swallowed. “I think I did her a great service giving her to Triton, and I think I just made a mistake when I took her that day on the beach. I just…I thought I was saving her.”

Percy shrugged. “We’ve all made mistakes. You apologized, both of them forgave you. Maybe it’s time that you try to forgive yourself for what went wrong.”

Zeus was leading him away from the area that he had been in while they talked. “I’m working on it. It’s easier with everyone here in the palace. I can feel them in my domain, and I know that they aren’t terrified of me and staying away any longer. It’s helpful.”

“I’m glad,” Percy offered.

“Anyway,” Zeus said gruffly. “This is Hades’ wings. His daughters have rooms, and then his and Persephone’s is on the far end. Can’t miss the big double doors.”

Percy darted in for a hug before Zeus could manage to escape. He leaned into the embrace forcibly. “Thanks, Uncle.”

“Anytime, Percy. Anytime.”

Percy walked through Hades’ wings of the palace in awe. Where Poseidon’s wing had running water and features that helped sooth them away from their realm, Hades was made up of massive rock features. There were gems embedded in several of them. There were bones scattered, most not human, but a few were. There were a few plants in packed dirt. The whole place reminded him of buried earth, not quite the same as the underworld, but it was perhaps the closest anything among the realms of the living could get.

There were huge double doors, dark red and imposing at the far end of the hallway. Zeus had not been kidding when he said it would be impossible to miss when he was walking through this area. His hand raised and he rapped his knuckle against the frame.

Hades opened the door wide. He stared at Percy. “Please tell me you’re not here to request another favor from me before we’ve even managed to step into the council chambers.”

“I’m actually here for your wife.”

“Me?” Persephone called from inside the room.

“Yes,” Percy called back.

Hades stepped backward to welcome him into the space. “Would it be better if I were to give you space?”

Persephone waved off the request. “It has been many years since we held secrets between each other.”

Percy smiled at them both. “I don’t mind if you’re here.” He walked over to Persephone. “Do you know how many different myths there are surrounding you?”

“Oh, yes. The mortals do love to craft stories about me, my husband, and my mother. I think that one ends up having a regional myth the most often out of any of them.”

Hades blew out a stream of air. He fell into a chair near Persephone. “I wish I could spare you from this session, my dear.”

“It was inevitable, my husband.” Her eyes locked on Percy. “I am not giving you every thought on this ahead of time. Ask what questions you absolutely need to have ahead of time.”

“Did my uncle kidnap you?”

Persephone shook her head. “No.”

“Yes,” Hades said at exactly the same time. Their eyes met and the two of them suddenly looked so much older than their normal mortal forms. Tears were forming in both sets of eyes as they turned away from each other.

Persephone turned away from her husband first. “To some, the answer is yes. To others, no. The most complicated answer, is both, but that doesn’t help you, does it?”

Percy tilted his head to the side as he watched them. In the time since he had started therapy, he had only seen Hades close to tears a few times. He could make a few guesses on why this was a problem, and he did not want to get into the possible deadly situation before the therapy and cause them to come into the session with grief already clouding them. “ I think I understand.”

Persephone inclined her head. “As you say.”

“You were the child of Zeus and Demeter, did you ever have either of their domains?”

“Not as such.”

Hades scoffed. “You took a part of the domain that Demeter had left dormant since the Mycenaeans gave them to her.”

“The older Demeter, yes. Not this Demeter. She does not claim them, she does not touch them except for when her older form flickers back into view.”

Percy blinked slowly. “The older Demeter, same as the older version of my father that has come up a few times?”

“Shit,” Hades said. “Do you know the Mycenaean myths?”

Percy shook his head. “Chiron never taught them, and coach Hedge barely wanted to acknowledge Greek myths, let alone even further back.”

“Sit, Percy. You’ll need the crash course in these myths to understand this session because it is integral to who I am now.”

Percy took a seat in front of Persephone and was surprised when Hades stood up. He brushed his lips across her cheek as he walked from the room. His questioning eyes followed him out of the bedroom.

“He does not like thinking about the Mycenaean times, as he does not have a form from back then. He is split from one.”

Percy nodded in understanding. He would also feel strange talking about a time when he didn’t exist as an immortal being who has lived several thousand of years. “Okay.”

“Back then, Poseido was the king of gods, the sea, and the dead.”

“What?”

“Your father was once king of all. There were not three realms. There was just one. And he was king. He had a queen by his side, but it wasn’t Amphitrite. She had yet to be formed just like my husband. Her name was Demeter.”

Persephone’s eyes glazed over. “The two of them were larger than anything you can see now, Percy. Both of them were handling everything. The crops, the rains, the storms, the dead, the wars. All of it went through one of them, and while eventually others were part of the mythos, pretty much no one ever prayed without including one of the two of them into the mix. My older form Desponia, she was their daughter.”

Percy blinked. “That’s why Aunt Demeter wanted to know whether Poseidon would intervene for you as well as Zeus.”

“Fucking hypocrite,” Persephone muttered. “She hates the aspects of me that I picked up from my older father, while calling on him to defend her against me and my husband.”

“Ask him to fight for you,” Percy recommended softly.

“What?”

“We’re starting with your version of what happened, then we’ll get to what Hades feels happened, and then Demeter’s before I even let the three of you talk to each other, let alone everyone else touch this. So, you think your mother is hypocritical. She could be, but I doubt she’s thinking all that clearly about the situation. Regardless, if you don’t want Poseidon to answer her call for help, ask him. You are his child, he would come for you even if you were wrong.”

Persephone ducked her head into a nod. “Very well. Lead the way to him, I shall ask before the session, because I doubt that I will be okay if I ask in the session and he doesn’t answer me.”

Percy agreed. He walked back through the palace halls towards the other wing. He could be wrong about his father being there, but he was betting the portion of the sea family here in Olympus was having a meal with Athena to help her settle. His gut feeling was completely right as he walked into the kitchen near their wing of the palace.

“Ah, there’s the favorite son,” Triton called.

Poseidon groaned. “I meant demigod son.”

“Not at all what you said,” Amphitrite said. She patted his arm as she passed some food to Percy. Then her eyes went wide as she saw Persephone. “Darling.”

Poseidon followed her gaze without any more of a word. He caught sight of Persephone. “Well now, this is quite unusual. What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Anything that needs utter privacy?”

She shook her head lightly. She had no reason to demand Poseidon keep this a secret from the rest of the sea family. And as therapy had proven repeatedly, it was probably good for the sea family to be allowed to form their own opinions on what was coming up.

“Alright. Amphitrite, would you serve her a plate? She can eat with us as she explains what’s happening that requires my interference.”

Persephone took that as permission to enter the space more fully and take a seat at the table. Her movements were less at ease than they were in other areas of the palace, but it was hard to tell whether that was because of what she was about to bring up or something about being this connected to the sea family itself.

She waited until the rest of the family had settled before turning to Poseidon. “My mother requested your help in this upcoming meeting.”

“Ah. We’re talking about you and Hades then.” He stared at her. “What does that mean?”

“You said once that anyone in the family could call upon you, and you’d answer.”

“That’s true.”

“My mom called.”

Amphitrite snorted indelicately. “She really didn’t.”

Triton nodded along. “She asked for help, and while he would naturally honor that, she did not make it clear what she wanted other than him to stand as your father figure when necessary.”

Persephone swallowed. “I’m going to have to go into detail about how my marriage came to be, how my domains were claimed, and how I feel about everything that has happened since.”

“Yes,” Percy said simply. He did not allow anyone else the breath to be able to say that she could omit some of that if she needed to. The whole family needed to know what had happened to her, and they needed to know that in its entirety. That meant Persephone had to outline everything.

Her eyes fell down to the plate in front of her. “I don’t know whether I did something wrong. Or actually, I’m confident that at least some of my actions were questionable.”

“Uhuh,” Poseidon said.

“But I remember you told Dionysus that it didn’t matter. Had he been entirely guilty or not, if he had prayed to you and asked you to fight for him anyway, because he couldn’t handle the consequences of what he did.”

“I would have fought had he asked.”

“I’m asking.”

“What exactly?” Amphitrite questioned.

“I know that there are parts of this story that my mother will poke at. She will claim that Hades took advantage of what happened to me. She will try to force me into the mold she wants me to be in because of the aspects of my story that aren’t perfect. I’m asking you to save me from that.”

Poseidon exchanged a small glance with Amphitrite. They were having one of their many silent conversations built on years of trust and communication. Finally, he sighed. “Alright. What are you hoping to get?”

“What?”

“Say that I stop your mother from being ready to kill Hades at the slightest reminder of what you are to him. Say that I manage to stop her from convincing any of the rest of her siblings that you should be returned to Olympus full time. None of that is actually what you want. What do you want?”

“I want them to see me as the queen of the dead, as is my proper title. I want them to recognize that while I will be the council’s punisher, apparently, I also have my own court. I want to spend my time as I see fit and not forced to split the year in half as if that doesn’t rip me away from my domains for half the year, longer by far than what Dionysus suffered, and yet not quite the same. They aren’t locked away from me, they’re just so very far from me.”

Amphitrite licked her lips. “Alright. Poseidon and I will fight for you.”

“What?”

Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. “You’re asking for reasonable things. And you are my sister, and you’re being completely honest right now. You don’t want your mother to keep control of you any longer. Most of our children have more freedom than you do. I will help you.”

Persephone deflated. Her body slumped forward in relief. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “You know you could have asked earlier, right? If you had told me this was as bad of a struggle as this, I would have tried to intervene earlier.”

Persephone offered a weak smile. “I didn’t want to start the war.”

“Ah.”

Athena snorted. “Zeus would have intervened.”

Eyes turned to her in confusion.

Athena blinked. “Right, most of you don’t have nearly as much information on him as I do. He capitulated to Demeter because you were young and your domains were still settling, from my understanding of this conversation, you had literally just claimed them. Had you ever said no after like a century of that, he would have fought Demeter for your freedom. He was never all that connected to raising any of his children, but he does favor us. He bends the rules all of the time for us.”

“Does he?” Triton asked.

“If he didn’t, he never would have snatched me from you,” she pointed out lightly. “Apollo certainly wouldn’t have just been made mortal after being a traitor, because if a titan had done that, they would have ended up in tartarus with nothing more than a trial. Dionysus would still be locked under his punishment. The fact that we are here in the Olympus palace, in a wing made with a river flowing through it, shows that he bends for family. He would have bent for you, Persephone.”

“Oh.”

Athena shrugged. “I don’t blame you for not knowing that. He has been extremely bad at phrasing his care for any of us, but the war was never in question. Someone just had to know that you wanted out of that arrangement, and we would have fought tooth and nail against Demeter to get you the freedom the rest of us have.”

Persephone nodded slowly. “Well thanks for the vote of confidence going into this session.”

Athena offered her a smile. “I’m behind grandma and grandpa on this one. I’ll try to offer arguments that help out.”

Triton rolled his eyes. “Evidently, we’re a united front today.”

Persephone laughed. “You usually are when it comes to a member of the sea family. I can’t remember the last time that I saw all or even some of you at a different understanding than each other on something that influenced all of you. Even Amphitrite backed down against Athena the second you claimed her as a daughter.”

“Are you claiming that you’re a member of the sea family?” Poseidon asked sharply.

“It wasn’t Zeus’ domains or mother’s that I grabbed when I picked back up my domains. I grabbed Despoina’s. I grabbed my older forms domains, and those domains were always connected to you. I don’t what that makes me. I never have.”

Amphitrite’s eyes raised to the ceiling. “It means exactly what I tried to prove yesterday. There is not a single one of you that isn’t in some way connected to the sea. We claim all of you when we feel like it. When the needs must. When the winds blow. Claim us as family if you wish, girl. You may be my sister, but I can feel the rush of the ocean in your veins, and know you were once a step daughter of my old husband.”

“You weren’t there?”

“Hmm,” she hummed. “You think Poseido never comes out. That he never appears in the seas when the currents are hard, and Atlantis rides in the balance of war. The older myths are still told. They were buried for a time, and the Romans did their best to erase them alongside the Greek ones, but they never succeeded. He comes in and out. He claimed as wife. Same as Neptune. I am my husband’s wife. Which form he takes is of no consequence to me.”

Persephone blinked. “Sometimes, I think your marriage is what we should all strive for.”

Poseidon laughed. “I wouldn’t recommend it. What works for us, would not work for all people, and I’m pretty big on the whole make a relationship work for yourself.”

Triton snorted. “That would be why none of your children have a marriage.”

“You don’t have a marriage,” Amphitrite said with a huff, “because your father won’t force you to choose a spouse, and you hate just about everyone who has ever tried to date you.”

“And Kym?”

“Has no marriage because being bound by any oath, even one of her own making would cause her to go mad.”

“And Rhode?”

“Is content to see where the wind blows her sails still. She hasn’t been on more than one date with anyone yet. She has not found a person that she wishes to settle with.”

“And you see nothing wrong with the fact every single one of your children who has seen your marriage has standards for a relationship that are so ludicrously high that not a one of them has actually been in a committed relationship.”

“I have Percy,” she said with a triumphant smile.

Percy chuckled. “Right you are. I have Annabeth, and I would not trade her for all the world.”

Athena tilted her head to look at him. “That’s not true.”

“I willingly fell into tartarus for her. If you think that there’s something worse than that which they could make me choose between, I think you’re delusional.”

“You’d choose us.”

“What?”

“If the choice came between Annabeth and the family that’s here, you would choose family,” Athena said softly. “If you didn’t, you would have gone home already. Gone back to the normal demigod quests, and the blood that still runs red. Your blood is closer to gold than every before, not a single drop is pure red now. The fates themselves will not bend and let you die a mortal death now. She would ask you not to choose this.”

Percy flinched.

Poseidon glared at Athena. “There’s no need for dramatics. Your daughter will have options when it comes time for him to fully ascend.”

“Perhaps,” Athena conceded. “But for the sake of the argument, I do not think Annabeth and Percy make a good example. They are after all not yet immortal beings like the rest.”

Triton glanced at his mother.

Amphitrite appeared to be thinking something over at length. “You’re right, Athena.”

Percy blinked. “She is.”

“Yes, I can only use you in argument once you’ve finished your ascension and all the different elements of your epithets are compiled. Before then, too many things can change the story entirely.”

Persephone glanced towards the doorway. Her plate empty in front of her. “Perhaps, we should go towards the meeting room?”

“Are you ready?” Poseidon questioned lightly. “We changed the subject to buy you time, and we could easily buy you more if you need it.”

Percy nodded along. “You’re going to be the star of this session, and I understand if you don’t want to go quite yet.”

She fidgeted in her chair. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready.”

“Why?” Athena asked softly.

“Because I have not given serious thought to that day in a thousand years, the day everything changed for me. I do not like thinking about that day. Wires get crossed and there are so many pieces to what happened that day. And no one ever listens to me when I try to explain all of the pieces. They either try to claim me as only the queen of the dead or they try to claim me only as the innocent daughter of Demeter. Hades comes the closest to actually understanding me and accepting me as I am, but even he has a lot of biases about that day. He feels guilt and he hates the fact that his relationship with Demeter was doomed forever in the span of a week.”

Poseidon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I can’t promise that no one will try to interrupt. I can’t promise that Percy won’t have to leap into action in order to defend your right to speak and your right to choose how you want to live. But I can promise that I will listen to every last one of the details you want to give us. And I will stand by you no matter what those pieces say about you in the end.”

Persephone breathed out. “Okay, okay.”

Percy trailed behind the rest of the sea family. There was a pit in the bottom of his stomach that told him today’s session was going to end in a different way than any of the sessions before. Entering the council chambers brought him more dread than ever before in these sessions.

He waited for attention at the center podium. The gods were in different positions than they used to be. Persephone had shifted her throne to be on the other side of Hades, a silent placement that drew her further away from her mother and Zeus. He was not the only one noticing that. Athena’s throne had moved in the last session to be in the middle of the sea family. Now it was different again, she was the connecting throne between the sea and Olympus. She was slightly closer to Triton than her sibling, but she was clearly middle of the road.

Zeus clapped his hands and the whispering voices died down at the thunder in the sky. He jerked his head at Percy, ceding the floor. Everyone turned to him.

Percy was once again the center of attention. He smiled at everyone before the serious expression retook his face. Levity had no place here today. “We’re going to talk today about Persephone. All of Persephone’s story. This starts where she believes it needs to, it ends where she says. Which is why we’re hearing from her first. No one gets to stop her from saying what she needs to.”

“Only after she finishes her side of the story, does anyone else get to speak on her story and how it impacted them. Hades gets to speak next, because he is the one she chose. Demeter, you go after him. Once that is done, everyone is going to come together to see what should be done in regards to her status now because we are not about to say she’s a queen only half the time or that she somehow has less rights to where and when she spreads out across the realms. Everyone understand?”

Demeter’s glare was already iron. Her eyes were locked on Hades, like he was the villain of her story.

Percy didn’t yell at her for it yet. They hadn’t even truly begun, and there were going to be more than one time when he needed to command attention and bring them to reason. No need to be overly restrictive on them. He gestured for Persephone to take the floor.

She stepped forward. Her eyes sought out Poseidon’s as she looked for his approval and support. Only once she had locked eyes and found what she was looking for, did she relax. “I am Persephone, goddess of the dead. Queen of the underworld. I am the goddess of immortality death. I am the goddess of the dead animals and plants. And I am the goddess of punishments.”

Demeter’s eyes bulged, as did several of her half siblings. That list was missing several things that had been assumed for ages. The ocean members, Hades, and Apollo seemed to be unsurprised by this announcement.

“I was not always Persephone. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I was Kore. The name my mother chose for me. When I was Kore, I had no domains. I was closer by far to my demigod kin than a goddess. I stayed with dryads because they were the same as me in many ways. Vague powers connected to the earth and nothing else.”

“You were a goddess of agriculture,” Demeter interjected.

Percy narrowed his eyes. “It’s not your turn to speak.”

“But she’s wrong!”

Persephone raised her eyebrows. “Wow, mother, I had no idea you could see domains.”

“Neither did I,” Apollo commented dryly. “You should have told me, aunt Demeter, we could have bonded.”

Demeter flushed. “Obviously, I don’t see domains as you do, Apollo. I know my daughter, she was a part of agriculture.”

“I am your daughter, and I was not.” Silence met Persephone’s declaration. None of them quite knew how to respond, and Percy was ready to fight for her if she needed him too.

“From my recollection, only my husband knows the truth of what happened in the six months that took Kore and made her me.”

“Changing your name does not change you being Kore,” Zeus said softly. “We should respect the name you’ve chosen for your myths, but you are still the girl you were.”

Persephone smiles at her dad. “Tell me whether you still believe that after I’ve told my story, please.”

Zeus nodded slowly. “Okay. Tell us what happened during those six months.”

“Let’s start with day one.”

Demeter’s gaze locked on Hades. Rage written across her facial features, her hand grasped in a deadly grip on her hoe. She was going to attack at some point during this night, and the dread Percy felt finally has a target. He knew he was going to fight an angry mother and he was going to have to win even when she poured every ounce of her being into trying to save her child.

“It started out as a normal day. Me and a few of my dryad ladies in waiting wanted to go out to the flower fields. I was an adult by our standards, older by far than Athena when her and Pallas went out, before anyone makes the comment that I should have had supervision or had told someone where I was going.”

“You weren’t alone?” Hephaestus asked.

“Not at first…” she sighed. “Our normal flower field, it was dead. The flowers had all wilted. Stupid humans had contaminates the field with metal burn off from their weapons. Normal enough to humans, but depressing to me. My mother could have raised them back from their near death state, but I was not my mother. My father could have made the rains and possibly saved them or given them a better chance of life, but I was not my father. So while the rest of the girls went off to greener fields, I fell to my knees with the wilted flowers, and I mourned.”

She blinked back tears in her eyes. “They were dying. I was able to attach to them, because I hated the idea of them being alone in those final moments. I couldn’t save them but I could witness them.”

Hades stared at her. His expression was pained.

“I followed them, where they went, so to did I. I didn’t want them to be alone. I know now that I bound myself to those flowers, the way dryads bind themselves to trees. Back then, I was not thinking about what I was doing. It was just all I could manage in the face of such death.”

“Daughter,” Zeus exclaimed.

“Pieced it together, did you?” She had a glimmer of a smile on her face. “I followed them to the new field. I believe I was likely in one of the gardens of Elysium. I certainly saw a hero or two. I helped the plants get situated, their roots take to the ground in death. I was so happy to see their petals once more.”

Her head snapped up to Hades. “My future husband found me there. He had tears in his eyes. He asked whether I knew where I was. I did not. He had to explain to me that I was dead. I was part of his realm now. He wasn’t sure how I ended up where I did, but this wasn’t my resting place. I told him I knew. I could feel the pull, but my flowers needed to be cared for. He promised he would look after my flowers for me, if I wanted to give into the pull.”

“Hades,” Zeus whispered.

“At the time, she was my niece. And I have always shown kindness to your children and grandchildren when they show up in my realm, especially those who should have managed a large and expanded life,” he offered just as softly.

“I went to the place where gods and goddesses rest. I can’t remember it clearly. Khaos told me that I wouldn’t when I made my bargain. I was not ready to be dead. There were things to be done, and in that place, I would feel Despoina so much more than I ever had before. She was raging against the confines of what Kore was. Her mantles laid unclaimed, the second crown of the underworld unworn, and her vessel among the undead. She was everything I had never been. She was a true princess. Her father had never gone decades without speaking to her. Her mother had not tried to keep her confined to domains she wanted.”

Apollo blinked. He was staring carefully at Persephone. “Sister?”

“Sometimes. I am your aunt more than your sister.”

“Ah.”

Persephone tapped her own arms in a nervous gesture. “Despoina would not rest. She was the opposite of leaving me at peace in the afterlife, which is all that any soul ever wants. Eventually, I had enough. I decided to break out of where I was. I should not have been able to do so, but the lands there were once Despoina’s domain.”

She wavered. “I made it to the way out. I reached the doorway, but before I could actually cross, Khaos pulled me into a different realm. It was something of a mess, but it felt like what the universe should be, no order, no beings, something we return to but aren’t. She told me that the way out wasn’t for me. She told me she could quiet Despoina, and I would finally rest.”

Persephone squeezed her eyes shut. “But, I was mostly Despoina at that point. I didn’t want to be silenced. I wanted to get out. I should not have been dead. I should have been able to help those flowers, or I should have had more of a domain of my own, and my anger was bubbling.”

“Persephone,” Apollo called out. “What do you mean when you say you were mostly Despoina?”

“The older form, she was leading a lot of my actions during that time. She was the one I was drawing on power from. I had stopped reaching for Zeus or Demeter’s powers, and instead I was calling on old names to help me. It worked.”

“It worked,” she repeated. “Khaos laughed when I told her that I didn’t wish to be silenced. She seemed to know that was coming. She told me that if I left this area, there would be costs. One, I was still going to be dead. The domains that I picked up, all of them had to be connected to the underworld. I was never going to be a goddess of Olympus or the sea again. I am tied completely and entirely in the dead. I took that bargain. Two, if I ever wanted to leave the realm of the dead, I had to have a damn good reason. My mother’s desire weren’t to be enough. That’s what I bartered with. I said the queen of the underworld would need to socialize. She would need to be seen. Khaos agreed. A crown was my way out, if I did not get it, I would never escape. My domains would be there, and so would I. Three, I can never return again. Even if there comes a time for me to fade, I cannot go back to rest with the pantheon. I shall return to her instead.”

Persephone began to cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her hair caught on her dress as she ducked her head. “I took the deal she offered. I am home and I am alive. But there are days when I regret nothing more than taking that bargain because death is forever something that haunts me now. Tell me, dad, am I still Kore?”

“No.”

Persephone shook her head. “No. Kore died. She followed her flowers straight to the grave. No one was around to watch her follow the ghosts directly into the underworld. No one ever finds a goddesses body. They either reform or don’t, and I was barely even that.”

She nodded slowly. “Three months had passed since that moment. Demeter’s blight on earth had begun, and Hades was trying mostly in vain to get any of you to listen to the fact that I was dead. You said he kidnapped me. Hermes gave you that information. No one kidnapped me. Death snatched me away from my family, but he did not do so for Hades.”

She closed her eyes. “It wasn’t hard to seduce Hades. I just had to be someone that he could rely on. Someone he could speak to and not have to suffer for, and suddenly he was wrapped around my fingers. The crown was mine by month six, and a bargain could be struck that I could stick to. I agreed because the fucking death toll was so high, and I hadn’t remotely began to figure out what it meant to be the goddess that I had become. As it turns out, I should have asked more questions.”

“Instead of being free to ever break those rules myself, I have been bound to them for thousands of years. You force me away from my domains. You try to pack me back into these small little boxes, and I hate every second that I spend up here because of it.”

Persephone turned towards Percy. “That’s my story.”

Percy nodded sharply. “Hades, your turn.”

“Hold up,” Demeter said. “Surely, I can respond to my daughter.”

“Not yet, no. You’re not going to say anything productive yet. We haven’t even gotten to hear the truth of what Hades had happen during this time.”

Demeter frowned. “Fine.”

Persephone inclined her head towards Percy in gratitude. She understood that her mother’s anger was nothing to think lightly of, and the fact someone here was standing up for her rights was vitally important.

Hades took his wife’s spot in the center of the room. He watched her carefully as she stepped back to her throne. He didn’t start speaking until she was comfortably sitting once more. “The underworld is not a kind place. There aren’t many areas for the dead that are comfortable and loving. All too often mortals leave the land of the living full of regret and sorrow and guilt. The underworld for them is bleak and a reminder that should they ever get the chance at another life, they need to do better.”

He glanced towards Persephone. “The flowers Kore brought into the underworld were no different, but they had a guardian. At first I was confused. I thought one of the other gods had decided to intervene for once. I went towards the source of difference intending to talk with whoever brought them and perhaps discuss why we couldn’t change the rules on a whim like that. Only I didn’t find one of my gods like I anticipated, I found Kore.”

“She wore white. She didn’t seem to understand that she was dead, that her flowers were dead, or that she was in the underworld. She was just so glad that they were growing upright again among the grasses in Elysium. I didn’t really have the heart to try to tell her that all of her work was for naught. That the flowers were dead. That she was dead.”

He sighed. “I did eventually come to my senses and tell her gently where she was. She looked around for an exit then, but one did not exist.” He glanced up at Hermes. “I believe that is what you saw when you entered my realm to see whether Demeter’s lost child had shown up there.”

Hermes nodded. “Yes, I heard her ask you where she could leave. I remember you saying she couldn’t. I recall going back to Demeter to relay that message.” He gulped. “Somewhere in that, we got that you had taken her not that she was dead.”

Hades shrugged. “It is an easy enough mistake to make. One that could have been rectified easily had she stayed dead, but she did not. It is no matter yet. We’ll need to talk about that portion eventually, but for now, I’m simply telling the story as I remember what happened.”

His eyes locked on Persephone’s. “It took several hours before she understood that she was dead. Most of the time, she wasn’t even really fighting me on the fact she had gone too far into the underworld to venture back out, it was her flowers that she wanted to save. I told her that in Elysium they would be happy. There was no guilt or anything else in that realm. It was peaceful. I told her that I would grant them the exception she gave them. They would never stand trial, never have their little souls weighed. They could stay here happy for all of eternity. This seemed to bring her peace finally.”

“You do make bargains, sometimes, dear husband,” Persephone murmured.

“Indeed, I do. If it brings peace to a gentle soul and helps speed along the processes of grief and understanding, what harm does it bring me to give just a little bit of grace. Nothing that would be considered a breach.” Hades closed his eyes. “I got her as far as I am ever able to go with an immortal soul, and I bid her farewell.”

“I did try reaching out to you, Demeter. Multiple times I asked for a meeting, I asked for you to hear me out. You were starving mortals at that point. Crops were withering and dying, and I knew that Kore would have hated every second of that. However, no amount of pleading with you resulted in you listening. On the eve of month three’s end, an immortal goddess walked back out of the realm of the dead immortals to the regular underworld.”

“What?”

“Hush,” Percy said chidingly to Demeter. “Let him speak.”

“She wore Kore’s body, but I could recognize a goddess of the underworld when I saw one. The girl that had first appeared in my realm was nothing like the mantles this goddess possessed. She was similar and so very different all at the same time. She asked me whether we could dine together. I was lonely, especially as no one in my family was talking to me at the time.” At this he glowered at all the rest of them. They all should have given him the benefit of the doubt and not assumed he kidnapped a younger goddess. He had never given any of them reason to believe that he was going to be that bloody insane over anything, so it had hurt that so many of them were completely willing to assume that he did this crime.

“Dinner was nice. She kept me company. She let me tell her about all the problems the underworld was currently facing. We talked about the trials that I had upcoming the next day, and how many souls had been crossing in for the time being. Later that night, she had convinced me that we were meant to be lovers and by the end of month six when I agreed to Zeus’ parlay and terms, she was my queen.”

Demeter glared at her brother with a harshness no one could ignore. “Exactly how did someone wearing my daughter’s body convince you that you should be lovers and marry her.”

“Can we please, Demeter, just leave it at that I am a very easy lay and it takes very little for me to be willing to give an attractive woman literally anything that they want?”

“No.”

Persephone glared at her mother. “I unlaced my bloody top half of the gown, allowed him to see me in all my naked glory and then told him, I’d be more delighted if he did something with my body rather than just stare at me. Is that enough detail for you? Or do you need to hear what he did with his tongue, or how I convinced him to propose while he was sleeping with me?”

Demeter’s skin paled considerably. “I raised you to be more proper than that.”

“I needed the crown,” Persephone retorted.

“Did you?” Zeus asked. “Or did you want it?”

Persephone paused. She considered the question for a moment. “I suppose if we’re being completely honest, it was partially both. I needed it to ever be able to stop mom’s rampage across the mortal realm, and I wanted to be able to see people again. I wanted to leave the underworld on occasion.” Her eyes searched out Hades. “And I like to think that I made a really good marriage out of the desires I had.”

“You made an excellent marriage,” Hades agreed automatically. The way his eyes landed on her, you could tell that a single word from her was all he ever needed to go charging into war. For all that people had a joke about Helen being the face that launched a thousand ships, it was clear as day that one of the faces who could see Olympus going to war was Persephone. All she ever had to was ask her husband, and he would face down any number of people.

Percy cleared his throat. “Demeter, it’s your turn to tell us how this went according to what you saw and heard from others.”

“My daughter’s ladies in waiting came to me in the late evening. They had lost track of her sometime in the morning when they wished to go to an area that had more blooming flowers when the patch they had been visiting had died out, while my daughter wanted to stay in the older bloom and see what could be done. She was missing by the time they looped back around to pick her up on their return trip to Olympus. They came to me right away, and I began to search for her.”

Demeter paused, stealing a glance at her daughter on the other side of the throne room. “I searched all of her favorite orchards, her favorite gardens, and her crops. She was not among those areas. Then, I started expanding my search. I asked for assistance from her siblings, to see whether they could keep an eye out for her somewhere.”

Apollo nodded. “Artemis and I agreed to see whether we could spot her while we were doing our journeys across the sky. I remember that I held your hand and told you not to lose faith. It would take a great deal of energy to kill a goddess, and we all would have felt such a massive surge in force.”

Hermes looked away from all of them. “I didn’t agree with Apollo. I recalled what it was like when Pallas died. She faded away not in a big bang of energy but rather in a moment of desperation and youth. She wasn’t slain by some awful monster, but rather the inattention of mortals and their lack of prayers coupled with a silly childhood mistake. I thought I’d check down in the underworld. I thought I’d see whether Uncle Hades either knew something or could shed light on it.”

Hades nodded. “Right, I saw you in the corner of my eye while I was trying to speak to Kore and get her to understand what had happened.”

“She looked lost and not at all dead. I guess I had never seen an immortal dead walk around the realm.”

“They don’t usually,” Hades responded lightly. “I have never once blamed either you or Demeter for accusing me of kidnapping her. In all the ways that matter, I did. She was in my realm and I could not let her back out again. She was trapped there, partially by me.”

Hermes stared at his uncle for a long minute. “Right, I’m going to ignore whatever self loathing that statement was for the moment. I watched her frantically turn away from you and dash off across Elysium. I heard her scream that if she got in there must be a way out. I remember the way that you caught her in your arms and trapped her them by her side. I heard your voice clearer than anything as you told her nothing gets out of this realm without your say so. I left.”

“You didn’t hear the end of the sentence,” Persephone finally muttered, looking up.

“What?”

“Nothing gets out of this realm without my say so, and nothing dead can ever leave,” she finished softly. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “You missed the fact that he was trying to tell me that I was able to enter Elysium because I had died with my flowers. You missed a key element to that story, Hermes.”

Hermes inclined his head. “I know, Persephone. That became abundantly clear by the time that you were allowed back into Olympus. The girl that I knew was gone, and while I might not have known the full extent of what happened, I’m not a fool. No one who was kidnapped by their now husband would look as delighted as you did when it came time to return. No one who was kidnapped would fight their mother every time she said Hades name in scorn.”

Persephone grinned at him. “Thanks.”

Demeter glowered at all of them. “Hermes returned to me and told me what he saw, which was my daughter desperately trying to escape the underworld and my brother keeping her hostage away from me.”

Demeter crossed her arms over her chest. “I ran to Zeus and demanded that he do something to bring our daughter home. He told me that I needed to take a minute to breathe and perhaps actually speak to you before I did anything else rash. I took that as an affront. She was your daughter too. You should have been splitting the damn sky open in an effort to look for her, not sitting on your throne high and above all of this as if she were a random nobody in your pantheon.”

“At his inaction, your incessant pleas that did not include my daughter, and Hermes’ words, I chose to act. I began by killing all the crops in Greece. They withered and died under my blight. The sun’s warmth was no longer touching them. I urged trees to go dormant as to not kill all the dryads of our pantheon in my anger. Humans had nothing and soon they were dying in droves. They prayed often, although rarely to the right deity. Eventually, Zeus agreed to hear me out.”

Zeus rubbed his eyes. “I wanted you to stop killing everyone and everything.”

“And I wanted my daughter back home.”

“Which I got you,” Zeus muttered petulantly. “I did go speak to my brother. He informed me that they were married, and yes, before anyone asks, I did check. They were married by the river Styx in the underworld. They didn’t bother inviting anyone given Demeter’s fucking reign of terror and the fact she was taking out her anger on anyone who dared to breathe near her during this time because how dare we not charge to war immediately. I told him that no amount of reasonable explanation was going to stop Demeter from wanting heads to roll.”

“Understatement,” Hephaestus commented lightly.

“Anyway, the agreement that was come to was that Persephone would come back for half the year. Part of her time with us, part of her time in the underworld. Even, so that neither my sister nor my brother could decide to come for my fucking head if it was uneven and tell me she’d been kidnapped again.”

Zeus paused. “I’m sorry, Persephone. I should have seen that you were as different as you were and done something to help. I also probably should have talked to you more when I was crafting that solution.”

Persephone quirked her lips into a small hint of a smile. “It’s alright. It’s not like you were ever the most present father. I don’t think you knew much about me before I was dead and revived, so I’m not all that surprised that you didn’t notice all the differences in me. I was more surprised that Hades could tell that I was different, something older when i came back.”

She paused. “I do wish you had talked to me. I would have told you it was unreasonable to demand that I split my time that way when I have duties in the underworld. Domains that are left mostly unfilled for half of every year. Not to mention, while I love visiting my mother and I love hanging out with the Olympian family, it gets so fucking boring when I have no domains here. I have to pretend to garden because I touch a flower and it’s going to land up in my garden in the underworld, for fuck’s sake.”

“You pretend to garden with me.” Demeter sounds like she had just been punched repeatedly in the gut. Perhaps she had with the stories coming out regarding her daughter’s past and what this meant for them and their relationship.

Persephone nodded slowly. “I mean, it’s that or try to explain to you for the hundredth time that I have no domain over the plants that you do, and well you’ve never handled that conversation well.”

“I gave you my domains!” Demeter screamed. The room shook under the weight of the words, her own powers running wild throughout the chambers.

“You tried to,” Persephone retorted. Her arms were crossed over her chest. “You tried to give me those domains, but the powers never settled in me. The waters protect all of Poseidon’s brood, but not all of them can summon hurricanes. Some of them are content with the peaceful waves of the beaches. You tried to give me agriculture, but crops never grew under my touch, they just spoke to me.”

Demeter glared. “The domain was there, you just had to accept it.”

“Khaos does not always allow us the luxury of choice. We can offer, but we can’t force,” Poseidon rumbled from his throne.

Eyes dragged away from the mother daughter duo fighting to stare at Poseidon. So far in this meeting, he had remained silent. Almost as if he knew that once he spoke, everything was going to go to shit.

Demeter reared back as if someone had struck her across the face. To be fair, Poseidon had made a big deal about the fact that if someone in the family asked him for help, he would answer, and in Demeter’s mind she had asked and was being denied.

Zeus cleared his throat. “Demeter, please, we cannot change what is done now. Persephone has none of those domains, whether she should or not no longer plays a role in our conversations, because that is not the universe in which we live.”

Demeter bared her teeth. She twisted in her throne to stare at both brothers that were currently speaking. “What would you have me do? Would you ask me to put aside the fact hat Hades stole my damn daughter and then when she resurrected and was no longer my little girl, he fucking married her to keep her tied to his realm? Would you ask me not to be angry about the fact my little girl has none of me left?”

“None of this you,” Persephone cried. “Or has it been so long that you forget who you were before, mother?”

“Our older forms rarely come out.”

“And yet, she is the reason I am still here. It is her domains that run through my veins. She is me, mother. I am not Kore. I am Persephone, queen of the underworld.” There was a bittersweet smile on her face. “And I’d love if you stopped trying to blame my husband for things he could not control.”

“Oh, then who should I blame?”

“The city that chose to kill a grove of flowers that convinced your dryad daughter to follow them to the afterlife in a bid to help them. Maybe your over confident daughter who thought somehow that following dying plants in their journey would have no true consequences. Maybe the dryads that left her alone, so there was no one to call as I laid dying so you could have seen the truth.”

“None of those people knew what would come. He knew damn well what was happening.”

Hades placed his hands into the air. “Persephone, enough.”

Persephone’s eyes cut over to him. She huffed but fell silent under the weight of his gaze.

“What?” Zeus asked, exchanging looks with Hestia as she too was confused as shit.

“Sister, I am sorry. I am so very sorry that I had to claim dominion over your baby girl,” Hades said. His voice was gentle and soft. “I wish more than anything that I could just choose not to claim members of our family. I would have given you Kore, I would have given Triton Pallas, and I would given Hermes Pan. But I cannot choose who gets to live and how gets to die. Even when mortals petition me, the chances I give them are impossible for them to ever truly win because death is not something that can be bargained with.”

“She was not dead that morning when she left me.”

“But she was dead long before you went looking,” Hades whispered. “She walked right in, Demeter. By the time, I even found her, her soul was already too far gone to ever walk back out. She did not walk in as a living being. She walked in as a dead immortal and planted some flowers.”

“And your marriage? How the fuck will you justify that?”

“I didn’t marry Kore, Demeter.”

“She’s sitting right there next to your fucking throne. She responds to you when you call her wife, and she sure as shit always calls you her fucking husband. So how the fuck does that work?”

“She didn’t walk out without a bargain. No one ever does. I am continuously surprised that Khaos allowed the bargain that she did, and I suspect it has to do with the fact that Despoina never faded and her myths are still spoken that allowed Persephone to be born. Persephone is your daughter. Yours and Zeus’, and she shares a body with Kore, but she is so different. She is not a confused dryad that wandered too far with her plants. She is a goddess with several domains. The plants that are dead have someone to petition now. Those who want actual punishment over an eternity knowing the regrets they face, have someone who will give them a trial. They did not before. Not under me at least…”

Demeter closed her eyes. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you and Zeus highlight how incompetent you are compared to Poseido once more?”

Poseidon snorted in amusement. “You helped, Demeter.”

“Yes, well I was your queen.”

“Our daughter did end up taking a leading role in the underworld for a while. I was busy trying to corral what was the gods of the pantheon of the time as the humans were expanding faster than expected. And you were busy trying to ensure that the sea didn’t drown out the whole world. She took up most of the trials.”

“We set them up,” Demeter responded softly.

Poseidon shrugged. “Is it so surprising that your daughter might do so once again when the mantles were left to gather dust?”

“She wasn’t yours.”

“Except she is,” Poseidon responded. “I may not be your husband in this form, but I would easily have sheltered her int he waters had she ever come by. I may not be the king of gods any longer, but her blood is shared by the one who is. I may not rule the underworld either, but even I can see in her eyes, that she does. Come on, look at her, and tell me you don’t see Despoina written along her every feature.”

“Despoina is gone, as is my older form, as is Poseido.”

“The kid begs to differ,” Persephone muttered.

“What?”

Persephone pointed a finger at Percy where he was still perched on his podium. He hadn’t really expected this turn in the conversation. He was grateful beyond measure that they were no longer screaming. They seemed to be finally addressing the fact that Kore and Persephone appeared to be the same person and different people all at once. Something that once upon a time would have had him scratching at his head, and now makes all the sense in the world. Dying does something to you. He had seen it in Leo. Not all the pieces ever lined up just right.

Poseidon gave a small gesture of uncertainty. “There are days when I feel as though he has to be from the older version of me and not the modern version. He has too much raw power otherwise.”

“You and Zeus’ children have always been the children of myths.”

“Not without more effort,” Ares said. “I mean, all the credit to Heracles, but he never would went toe to toe with me at 12 with no god truly backing him up with a blessing. He had nothing but the ocean at his back, and he fought me back. More importantly, he drew first blood. I may have cursed him for the audacity, but I had to respect the fact there was a demigod brat good enough to fucking fight a god of war and draw the golden blood of gods, Aunt Demeter.”

She froze. “That’s why you’re no longer on my side, isn’t it Poseidon? You would claim her as a daughter, and she asked you to support her sham of a fucking marriage to our brother.”

Poseidon did not deny her claim, instead he stared blankly at her. “Come on, Demeter. Tell me you don’t see how happy they are together. Tell me that you don’t see a damn reason to give their marriage a shot.”

“No!”

Demeter whirled to face Hades. “How dare you? You knew that I was damning every mortal I could reach to have her returned. What right did you have to marry her?”

“One, if he hadn’t, mother, you never would have gotten me at all. I never would have left the underworld, and I find it hard to believe that you would have made the venture into the underworld to greet me given your anger at everything death did to me. Two, it was a valid marriage. We both agreed. There was no pressure. You don’t get to determine who I marry as long as I married into a higher station.”

“A higher station?”

“He is the king of the underworld. I was a princess of Zeus who wasn’t even granted a spot on his council. Becoming a queen is a hell of a status boost,” Persephone boasted.

Hades rubbed his nose. “Demeter, please.”

Demeter’s dress swished as she stood from her throne. “Please, what? Please accept that you dared to marry my daughter!”

“It’s not like this family doesn’t have its share of questionable marriages within the family,” Hades argued. “She was sweet, and I do not have a lot of kindness in the underworld. Typically the ones bold enough to actually request my presence are slimy and gross and hope that they can appeal to a demonic figure of evil and no mercy. She was everything that I ever wanted, and she was there. She was right there, and she was offering me all that I could have asked for and more. I worshipped at the ground she walked for a token of affection because I got none of it down there. When she asked for my hand in marriage, do you truly believe I ever would have had the strength to turn her down?”

“I would have thought your love for me would have been enough, yes.”

Hades flinched. He covered his face with a hand.

Persephone stood up. “Mother, seriously?”

“She was my daughter, and I was still grieving a death that I hadn’t accepted. How the fuck do you think it makes me feel that even now that I can accept that she died, that you had no option to bring her back, that when she was reforming you fucking married her?”

Percy scrunched up his face. None of this seemed to be giving much agency to Persephone, and judging by the absolute bitch fest on her face, Persephone recognized that too. This was not going well by anyone’s standards. At least none of it appeared to be coming to blows yet. He was counting that as a win for the moment.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Athena who stood up. “Stop acting like Hades was the only one in this situation.”

“What?”

“Sure, Hades did not consider your feelings. Granted, you hadn’t considered his for several months. How do you think it felt when you denied every attempt he made at communication? What do you think it felt like when the whole family turned on him because of a conversation that Hermes didn’t even stick around to hear the end of and then abandoned as you froze the planet in your rage? You want to talk about unfairness. Look in a mirror, auntie.” Athena stared her down.

Hades glanced over towards Athena.

Triton reached over to hold his daughter’s hand. He squeezed it gently. “She’s right, Aunt Demeter. Hades and you were not in a spot where your relationship should have been the most important thing on that list. Especially, since it sounds a lot like Persephone initiated everything.”

“Because I did,” Persephone agreed. “Sorry, husband dear, looks like I’ll be embarrassing the shit out of you after all.”

Hades hid his face as he stalked back to his throne and sat down. “Could no one just let it be known that I am ridiculously easy to ask favors of when being shown any amount of compassion?”

“No,” several voices chimed at once. Some because they were too curious over what might come out of Persephone’s mouth, others because they knew that Demeter was still too close to coming unglued to allow any stone unturned.

“Look at me,” Persephone demanded. Then, she held her ground until her mother finally dragged her eyes up. “I am your daughter. I’m not the one you wanted, but I’m what you have, so I’m going to make this so fucking clear that you cannot possibly misunderstand willfully ever again.”

“I left Khaos’ grip with a mission. I wanted the crown of the underworld. It would give me more freedom than anything else, and I had just bartered away more than any other deity in our pantheon ever has. I walked to the palace of the underworld. I smiled at the king and told him that I had one grand story to tell me if he wouldn’t mind giving me a supper. At that supper, I ensured that there were enough foods there that bound me to the underworld and his realm that my father could not doubt that it would take a war to pull me from there. Pomegranates have always been associated with my name because I ensured they were on the table, and I painstakingly plucked their seeds from the rough skin as I told Hades my tale. All of it. Despoina’s railing against death, Khaos’ bargain, my desire to save those flowers as I was unable to reach any domain to help me.”

“So you crafted a story?”

“I didn’t craft a story. I just ensured that I held his rapt attention. I made sure that the table was never empty. The full story took us three full days to get through. I left no aspect of that story unturned. I ensured that he knew me in all parts entirely. I wanted him attached to a being in front of him that was both a stranger and oh so achingly familiar to his realm.”

“Then, I showed him the domains that I had picked up. I took up the files that were waiting for him that night to deal with cases, and I read them to filth. I came up with such punishments that the mortals took to calling me the cruel one. Mortals started realizing that if you want mercy, you had better pray to Hades, because if you get the Lady of Punishments, your suffering will have ballads written bout them.” Her smile became mockingly cruel.

“By then, mother, I had him eating out of the palm of my hand. I had fed him. I dished up his plates as I told him a story. I let him interrupt me with questions and have a kind voice laughing at his pathetic jokes about my life. I let him tell me what you were doing, and I condemned you even then. I let him tell me about how the rest of the family had flocked to you, and I knew I had him. Who else was going to care for him? No one else had ever offered to help him with the work load of the underworld. He barely had any deities to help him given that his children are my children, and I certainly did not give birth out of wedlock.”

“So, once I had him willing to do anything for the kind goddess who was once Kore, and now had a new name. Given to me by one of the dead that I declared a punishment for, Persephone, the destroyer.”

Percy blinked. He had forgotten they shared that particular root word. Him, the original Perseus, and Persephone herself, all of them destroyers. He had thought once that he might be able to escape that fantasy, but here and now, he knew better.

“I unlaced the top of my gown, and I told him that I wished he would take me to his bed. He did not hesitate. The next day, I made him breakfast. I walked the underworld to help him. I created a garden in the back of his palace after I batted my eyes and told him it would bring me comfort. The rest of you were still raging all around, and I said nothing at all about you. Until one night, he asked me what to do. I told him he should marry me. He should make me his queen, and I would deal with the rest of you. And from that moment on, his battles were my battles. His problems were mine. You got me for half a year, because if you had ever fucking gone after him again, I would have ripped out your fucking heart, mother. He is my husband, he is my king.”

Demeter looked around the council chambers, and she saw exactly what Percy saw. Zeus looked proud of his daughter. Someone who had seen exactly what she was worth and what she wanted and taken it for her own. Poseidon, and the rest of the sea family looked delighted to hear a love story of this magnitude because it might have been born differently than most, but it was clearly something that involved more love than could ever be doubted. Most of her half siblings looked half ready to clap for her having done all of that. Demeter stood alone in being outraged and upset.

Percy saw it in her eyes first. The hardening as she realized that all of her efforts were for naught because not a single member of the family was on her side. The tightening of her grip on her hoe.

He moved first. He lunged forward to shield his uncle from her blow. Riptide met her hoe in the air. Just as strong as the first time he had met Kronos blow for blow in a sword fight. There were screams around them and then nothing at all.

He glanced around as they whirled away from the clash of the blades. Vines and trunks and leaves were separating them from everyone else. He could tell someone of them were bending and restrengthening because the family was fighting to get to them, but for the moment it was just the two of them trapped in a realm of Demeter’s making. He pushed forward before she could a swing in and the two of them started to clash blades once more.

“You shouldn’t have intervened, Perseus. You might be my family, but you are the only one in this room I can kill and have stay dead. And right now, I’m itching to force someone to feel my suffering so that they can understand why I am not okay with what any of them are doing.”

Percy deflected another blow. He threw a punch along with that one and caught her across the cheek. He knew that wasn’t going to deflate his aunt’s anger, but right now, he needed her unarmed before he could start to worry about the therapy portions of this fight. He did need to get her calmed down, but that wasn’t going to happen when she was happy to kill him.

Priorities were a must. That being said, he did remember back when he was fighting with Kronos, the old titan was often doing a recruitment speeches in the middle of their sword fight. Another parry, another dodge, and they were in opposite sides of the rink. He was staring at her. “I think the fates might take issue with the idea of me dying a mortal death.”

Demeter blinked once. She lunged forward. “How about we find out?”

He slapped her blade away. While she was a good fighter, she was also way too emotional in this fight. All it took were a few words, and she gave up the advantage that him attacking her would have given. He was able to get the upper hand, and a slice landed on her sword arm.

She tossed the bladed hoe to her other hand. A growl written across her features. The vines attempting to nip at his heels, but he was quick with his feet. He never stood in one area long enough for the plants to get him. Especially when he was also keeping her off balance. She was already splitting her attentions. Same as Kronos had done back in their fights. They needed to keep other things steady. For Kronos, it was his hold on the host body. For Demeter, it was the dome to keep the other gods out, given that they were not going to be pleased with all of this.

Percy was half convinced that this was going to be the breaking point, which meant that it was his job to ensure that it wasn’t going to be. He spun on his heel and kicked her in the chest with his strength as he bent backwards to avoid her swing of the hoe. She caught a few strands of his hair, and they both watched as they dropped to the ground.

Percy pushed the advantage, swinging riptide. She barely brought her hoe up in time to stop him, but she wasn’t able to stop him from slamming her into the ground. “Tell me, auntie, when exactly did your promise to consider me family stop mattering to you?”

“Fuck you. Fuck all of you. Not a single one of you is listening.”

“We’re all listening, Demeter. We let you speak. We even tried to bring up explanations to your specific points.”

“No, you’re not.” There was a blast of power, and one of the trunks swung into his chest and pushed him off of her.

Percy shook off the attack and they started circling each other once more. Celestial bronze clashed against each other in a ring that probably could be heard throughout Olympus. They parried each other and danced around each other. Both looking for an opportunity to slip through the other ones defenses.

Percy could see now why Poseidon was so unworried about the prophecy. It was coming no matter what was going to happen, and Demeter’s children were made of the same strength as the rest. Demeter could easily fight beside her brothers in a war and do so perfectly.

He decided that he needed to push her into a bit more of a careless fighter again. “So just to make sure I understand, killing me and forcing my father to grieve the way you should have been is going to fix the fact that your daughter is presently hating you for not seeing her as she is instead of as she was.”

Demeter let out a guttural scream. She pressed forward in a flash of lunges and parries by him, until there was no where left for her to push, and Percy vaulted himself off the vine walls. She wasn’t prepared for him to target her sword arm. She didn’t seem him press the blade through her skin and cut through bone, ichor, and muscle until the arm was unusable.

He was thanking all the gods that Apollo could heal just about anything that wasn’t fatal, because that kind of injury would be an amputation in other contexts. The hoe he picked up in his hand, and he wasn’t surprised to feel the connection to her domains underneath it. He had become accustom to godly weapons though, so rather than be overwhelmed by domains that weren’t his, he pushed past them to use it as nothing more than a weapon.

He kicked Demeter’s legs out from under her until she was lying on the ground. Riptide, he held at her pulse point of the throat. The hoe was placed over her belly. There was no direction she could move that would not force her to have to reform from where he was holding the weapons.

He stared at her. “Okay, now, we need to talk.”

“Just kill me,” she mumbled.

“No.” Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m the therapist. I’d be a really shitty one, even by our standards, if I just killed my patient because they decided to have a breakdown. Now, for the love of everything, can you please try to understand where Hades is coming from?”

Demeter sucked in a large breath. Her glare landed on his blades, and then she released the sigh in a huge huff. “I am trying.”

“Are you?”

“I can get that he was lonely. I can get that he was hurt by the fact that I refused to meet. It’s not like grief is something that any of us are ever really prepared to deal with, let alone when we aren’t sure if our children are dead or kidnapped.”

“I know.” Percy didn’t move even slightly. He refused to twitch no matter what words she spoke. If he moved, she was either going to get lethally injured or she was going to escape, and they were going back to the fight. The bruises on her cheek were blossoming, and the ichor still poured from wounds.

Demeter met his gaze. “It doesn’t feel like anyone knows. It feels like everyone is telling me that I just have to be okay with everything.”

Percy considered that for a second. “No offense, Demeter, it sounds like most of them have let you have centuries of time. Persephone has not fought you on whether or not she should have to come every six months. Despite her saying that she does not believe this to be reasonable, she has never brought it up to Zeus and tried to get out of it before these therapy sessions, that is a concession to your emotions. Hades does not press his relationship onto you. He calls Persephone back often from going after you for the insults you toss his way. That is him giving you time to mourn and time to rage at him for what he did.”

Demeter frowned. “Oh, to me those felt like concessions they gave to get me to stop killing mortals over and over. Not something they were doing for me.”

Percy nodded his head. “I think on Persephone’s side, it started that way. She was dealing with several changes herself. Kore had died and what she bargained to get back was so very different. Those kinds of shifts, they stay with someone. There are a lot of days when even with my memories back, I know that I’m different than the Percy I was before Juno wiped my memories and placed me with the Romans.”

He focused all of his attention on his sleeve, so he could use the moisture in the air to flip back the fabric. The tattoo from the roman camp sat on his skin, a stark reminder that while everyone knew he was greek, he was once roman too. He nodded to it to make sure that Demeter saw what he was talking about. “Persephone had that about a thousand times worse with new domains, ones whose mantles had gone unsettled for quite some time.”

“She could have picked up the domains that I offered her.”

“Kore could have,” Percy agreed. “But the goddess out there who you’re yelling at and telling that, couldn’t. Khaos gave her a list of domains that she could have. They have to tie into the underworld. Persephone can’t pick up those domains, and you can no longer yell at Kore for any of it. Kore is gone.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I never said that it was,” Percy replied. “Life is rarely ever fair, and it’s even more rarely fair for gods.”

Demeter sighed. “I suppose I might owe them a bit of an apology for never actually addressing that neither of them designed this to hurt me, and the fact that I have never given credit to the fact that they gave me space and time.”

Percy nodded. “Likewise, perhaps you might want to consider seeing this from their standing. Persephone is trying to bond with you still. She might not be the daughter that you lost, but she is the daughter still here.”

Demeter deflated further. “It’s just…Hera and Zeus are married now. There’s no chance that he will sleep with me again for a child. It would kill Hera. Like genuinely, it would gut her in a way that she’ll never recover from. I don’t have a way to have another immortal child. And I try to mend the hole with demigod children, but they’re not fully mine. Not ever, fully mine to raise or mine to cherish. They will always be taken in the end, and I just… I can’t get over that without the ability to ever try for a child to balance my domains with me. I was once the queen of the gods, the sea, and the underworld. I used to be married to Poseido who always had so many children and so much love and compassion, and I want an immortal family again. One that is mine by flesh and blood.”

“Sounds like something you should tell the family.”

“What are they going to do?”

“I don’t know, but one of them will have a solution, they aways have before. They’re not going to let you flounder and suffer when they can help fix it. I don’t have all the answers even as therapist, but what I can tell you is that they need to know. So you can actually get them to meet you halfway, and where you actually need them to meet you, not just where you want them to move to.”

Demeter nodded. “Your father is going to kill me.”

Percy laughed. “I’ve got your back, auntie. You’re going to drop this dome, and mine is going to take it’s place for a second as I lower it slowly to show them that you didn’t just lose concentration or one of them broke through.”

“Okay.”

“Then you’re going to have Apollo look you over, because while you dripping ichor as you make apologies is a striking image, I don’t want you to be in pain for longer than necessary.”

“I’ll wait,” Demeter replied. “It might help when your father does inevitably jump down my throat for having done this when you intervened.”

“Not really all that different than when Apollo almost smote me for getting between him that one time.”

“Percy… you fought me in my full form.”

It was only then that Percy realized what his aunt meant. Ichor was pouring from her wounds, but she was golden light and no where near a mortal size. She was the same as when he had crossed blades with Tartarus. “Oh.”

Demeter laughed. “Never change, nephew.” She canceled the dome, and Percy’s water was barely up before any of them could lunge through. He’s the one who called it down next, and he glared at everyone.

He stepped back to his podium. “Aunt Demeter has some things to say, I would appreciate you all giving her your full attention.”

Demeter glanced up towards him. “I can see why your grandfather once told you that you were a good swordsmen.”

“Give me one good reason not to hurt you for what you just did to my son.”

Demeter stopped gripping her arm. She let the stump be seen. The slash on her arm, the scratch against her throat, and the bruise on her arm. “Look between us, brother. I did not win this fight.”

“You held back,” Hades said in wonder.

“Nope. I sure was doing my best to get him dead.”

Amphitrite blinked. Then, she let out a breathless laugh. “Well, I guess now we know what he meant when he said he saw Tartarus’ full form and lived. No one else ever could have managed that, but him.”

Poseidon’s eyes cut over to Percy. He stared at his son. “Did you take a hit?”

“She got some of my hair strands, and I probably have some bruises on my chest from when one of the trunks managed to get me off of her.”

“Alright. Fine.”

“You’re leaving it at that?”

Poseidon stared at his sister. “Consider it my offer for the fact that I did have to defend our daughter despite the fact you really needed me to be on your side.”

Demeter stared at him. Then, she tilted her head back as she laughed. “You and your son, so very alike the two of you are.”

She turned. Her hoe pointed directly at Hades, but she made no move to actually attack him. “Next time, you do not let me wallow in my ignorance. You are my fucking brother, I should have heard about her death from you long before she rose once more. You are more than capable of leaving the underworld for short periods.”

Hades raised his eyebrows. “I prioritized your daughter, and then you were ready to kill me because you assumed that I had kidnapped her.”

“Yes, well. It’s not like you aren’t decently skilled with a blade. Fight me and yell the truth at me while we fight. I will eventually hear you. The boy is testament to that fact.”

Hades inclined his head. “Sure, sister, I shall do that next time.”

Demeter dropped the weapon from where it pointed. “I’m sorry that I immediately assumed you had kidnapped her. That was just the best option. If I believed that with all of my being, then she was still alive. She could still come home to me.”

“I know. There is a reason that I have never truly fought you on these grounds. For all that I did not do it myself, I was her captor to the afterlife. If you wished to hate me for another thousand years, I would not blame you. I am one of the stewards of the dead and that means sometimes I must be the villain to the living.”

“You shouldn’t be, at least not to your family.”

Hades shrugged. “Take the peace, sister. If it bothers you, do better the next time it comes up.”

Demeter’s eyes rolled. “You make it difficult to apologize.”

“Didn’t ask you for one.”

Her sigh carried over the throne room. She turned her gaze over to her daughter. “I am so sorry that I have blindingly refused to see who you are instead of who I wanted you to be. I have no defense for having done so.”

“Give me your reasons, anyway. None of them will make it defendable, but at least then perhaps I’ll understand why the fuck you were willing to mess with my life for several thousand years.”

Demeter snorted. “Really?”

Persephone stared her mother down. “I don’t particularly care for your apology. It’s useless. It’s just words, mother.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You have spent thousands of years refusing to acknowledge anything had happened, so yes, I want to know why. I want to know whether there’s anything that can be done to fix this, so in the future, I’m not the scapegoat for whatever happens to bug you that day. I want things to be genuinely better, so why did this happen?”

Demeter inclined her head. “You’re all I’ve got, kid.”

“What?”

“I mean I can try as hard as I’d like to have children with lesser immortal beings, but all of those kids turn out to be dryads, or naiads, and they never have a domain. I can have all the demigod children that I wish for, and every single one of them will die. And I want children that ride in the sea. I want children that stand next to me on this council and have domains that wreak havoc on the mortal worlds at their will. You were my chance at that. Zeus is not going to give me another immortal child because Hera would fucking kill us. Poseidon’s married, and you married the other one who could have done it.”

Hades blinked slowly. “I’m sorry, is there a part of you jealous that your daughter got to marry me?”

“No.”

Persephone’s hand ran down Hades’ arm. “She’s saying that she can’t turn to you to be the sperm donor for an immortal child because you went and married her only daughter.”

“Ah.”

Demeter’s lips twitched towards something that almost resembled a smile. “I wanted you to be mine. I don’t have much of my older form left, Persephone. I am not a queen any longer. Not of Olympus, not of the sea, and not of the underworld. You were my child, in my eyes, the only true child I was ever going to get. I wanted you to be mine, not Poseido’s.”

“You don’t get to control that though,” Persephone whispered. “Khaos is the only one who gets to tell us what are domains will be. She is the one who ensures that the fates keep spinning their yarn. Once you realized that all your wants in the world weren’t going to change anything, why was that not enough?”

Demeter stared at her daughter. Finally, she stepped forward and brushed a hand over Persephone’s cheek. “Until today, I had never really accepted that it had been written quite so firmly in the stones that you could not be mine.”

Persephone’s eyes closed. “I’ve been here the whole time. Have you really been avoiding looking at me for that long?”

“I don’t know, my dear daughter. What I do know is that I was looking and searching for any hint that it might still be possible for me to accomplish what I set out to do. It wasn’t fair to you. I’m sorry that it ended up being something caused you the most harm out of any of us. If I could change that I would.”

Persephone nodded. “You’re forgiven.”

Demeter slumped. “Thank you.” She hobbled over to her throne. “I hate to do this, but Apollo would you mind?”

He rushed over to her throne. His hands were glowing with the light of the sun as they traveled over her injuries. “You stubborn woman, why the fuck did you have to do the apology before allowing yourself to get healed? That apology would have been just as impactful if done with both hands.”

“Penance,” she replied.

“You didn’t owe me that,” Persephone responded immediately.

“I wasn’t paying it to you.”

Amphitrite chuckled lightly. “Still concerned that we’re going to lunge after you, Demeter?”

“I did attempt to smite your son.”

“Not the first time someone has attempted to do that,” Triton said wryly. “It’s not even the first time in these therapy sessions.”

Apollo laughed. “We have something in common there, auntie.”

Demeter nodded along. “Of course.”

Percy waited for Apollo to step back as her injuries were mostly healed or in the process of being healed, before he took the podium again. “There’s more that we need to discuss here.”

“Oh, shit.” Hades groaned as he stretched. “This session has been hard enough for many of us.”

“Yes. And both you and Persephone are alright. Persephone now understands why her mother was so hesitant to let her go, and how in the future, her mother will see her for how she is and not how she was. You probably have a healthier relationship with guilt than you have before and got to get it off your chest the fact that no one in this family bothered to check with you and instead assumed you’d be willing to kidnap a girl to avoid loneliness.”

“And we’re both happy with how things turned out,” Persephone concluded.

“Right, but no one has addressed Demeter. She is desperate because you were her one shot with how the pantheon is currently set up. She feels ignored and forgotten from her older forms. She’s the one that still needs to be addressed.”

Demeter sighed deeply. “You are deeply frustrating at times, nephew. What can any of them do for me?”

Persephone frowned. “Perhaps, aunt Hera could make an exception?”

Zeus bravely dared to look towards his wife. A clear understanding came in that it would be her call. Zeus would not be the one to choose this. Not this time, with everything that had been said about their marriage.

Hera closed her eyes. “Demeter…”

“Don’t hurt yourself on my behalf, sister. I acknowledged back then with the way the pantheon was forming that Persephone would be my only child this time. I gave up my crown for my brother’s wife. I stood by the other at his marriage to someone closer to the sea once more. And the final brother married my only daughter. There is no crown for me to pick up. No other person for me to choose from and be happy.”

“That doesn’t fix what happened to you when Kore died and became Persephone,” Dionysus noted softly. “You overreacted and hurt people, but also not a single one of us ever asked why you were this upset.”

“Sorry, mom. I hadn’t thought about what you gave up in this younger form.”

Demeter inclined her head. “Forgiven, at least those of you with an older form that could have remembered.”

Poseidon cleared his throat loudly. Attention shifted to him. “Pardon me, but I do need to ask some clarifying questions.”

Demeter stared at him for a moment. “Oh, I’m sorry, I must have missed the part where you were involved.”

“I was your husband,” he responded dryly. “You miss your crown?”

“Yes, Poseidon. I miss being the deity at your side.”

“So you also miss our marriage and being married.”

“And our kids! And having a large family outside of my siblings. And easily calling upon others when I need someone to hear me. I miss all of it, brother.”

Poseidon looked at Amphitrite, and they had one of their silent conversations. The rest of the throne room remained quiet. They trusted that Poseidon had interrupted all of them for a reason. Finally, he spoke softly but with such conviction that everyone was paying attention. “Then, you should take them back, Demeter. Maybe in the future, tell me when you miss me instead of wallowing in your feelings.”

Demeter huffed. “What does that mean?”

“Marry us,” Amphitrite answered. Where her husband’s voice had been full of conviction, hers was hopeful. “Please come home.”

Demeter’s eyes went wide. “What?”

Poseidon stood from his throne. He paced the distance between them. His hand reached to gently cup her cheek. Then, he went down to his knees. “Darling, if you had told me you missed me, I would have brought you home ages ago. If you had told me you missed your crown, I would have had you coronated in under a week. You were my wife. I thought you wanted the distance between us or I would have been there in a second to save you.”

Demeter let out a shaky breath. “I want to come home. I want to be your queen again.”

“Then you shall be.”

Demeter’s eyes tracked over to Amphitrite. “I want children. As many full blooded as your other wife. I want us to be equal by all measures.”

Amphitrite’s grin spread. “Four more kids, husband, I’m redesigning the palace.”

“Make sure to add in another set of spousal quarters in case the both of you decide to be angry at me at the same time,” Poseidon conceded automatically. “All I ask, Demeter, is that you recall that I have never been good with limits. They chafe at my soul. I will love you for eternity, but I will be with others.”

“I remember,” she said softly. “Never leave my bed for theirs. If you’re with me because I asked for you, be with me.”

“Easily.”

“Okay.”

Zeus’ cough is what reminded them that others were in the room. “Should we pause therapy sessions?”

“Up to you,” Poseidon murmured to Demeter.

“I… yes, please. Unless, Percy, is there an issue with taking a break?”

“No. I see no issues now.” He tilted his head to the side. “Although I can see one small problem not yet discussed with the marriage.”

Poseidon inclined his head, telling his youngest son to speak.

“Amphitrite’s oldest son is the heir, will that upset you, auntie?”

“No.” She frowned. “You can call me mother as you do Amphitrite if you would like, Percy. Same goes to you, Triton.”

Triton’s head snapped up to stare at her. “I know, mother. I’m just trying to figure out the wedding.”

Demeter made a low questioning noise.

“People are going to be throwing themselves at me again. The solstices and equinoxes are bad enough as people vie for the position of the next queen of the sea. It drives me nuts.”

Demeter blinked. “That’s your biggest concern right now. Not me being a large part of your immediate family. Not the addition of four more children.”

“Dad having more children was semi inevitable. These children are more recognizable than the demigods, or naiads, or monsters. However, I’m used to him adding members to the family.”

Triton furrowed his brow. “And as dad told you, the second any of us had known you would have been a member of our little faction of the family. The sea remembers the past.”

Triton spun on his throne to stare past Athena. “Apollo,” he said with cheer in his voice.

“Hmm? Me?”

Triton nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, you. When you were on my arm, not a darn one of them was bold enough to piss either of us off by asking me about my courting plan or anything else. So, you’ll be my date at the wedding and then no one will do anything about it.”

Apollo blinked. “Umm, there might be other assumptions made if I’m on your arm two events in a row.”

“Do you care about them being made?”

“No.”

“Mom, anyone important I’m going to piss off?”

“No, dear.”

Triton beamed. “Solution had.”

Percy snorted. “Alright. Let’s leave wedding planning for after we’ve gotten out of the therapy session. As I’m sure there’s a lot to do, and Demeter would prefer us to do it as quickly as possible.”

Demeter nodded. Then she embraced Percy before he could fully leave the room. “Thank you for making sure I was heard. And thanks for beating my ass when I needed it, even if it was terrifying to see you in a fight like that.”

He tilted his head back and laughed. “Auntie, I’m your therapist. It’s my job to do both.”

“You’re more than that.” Demeter frowned. “You’re going to call me auntie for a while, aren't you?”

“At least until the wedding is official,” he quipped.

“Troublesome child of my fiancé.”

“Always.”

Chapter Text

Absolutely no member of the family bothered to split off as they exited the council chambers. They instead found themselves in a sitting room with chairs, sofas, and comfy beanbags. “Let’s talk logistics of the ceremony itself first,” Hera suggested.

Demeter inclined her head. No objection came from either of her fiancés.

Poseidon stroked his beard. “The ceremony should be held in Atlantis. We shall adorn you with the crown as part of our oaths.”

Amphitrite sighed, wistfully. “I’ll dig out my old wedding dress. Poseidon, do the same for your suit.”

Demeter frowned. “Is there enough time to make one for me?”

“Of course, with some assistance of course. I’ll have to call Benthesikyme home from where she has been visiting Oceanus.”

“I did wonder where she was when she missed the solstice events,” Zeus commented lightly.

Poseidon shrugged. “We wanted a united front and Benthe is rarely a trouble to those endeavors, and she’s been trying to talk Oceanus around.”

“He still upset?”

Amphitrite glared at Zeus. “You do not want to ask after my father, brother dear.”

Zeus’ hands went up in the air immediately. “Sorry, did not mean to spark that argument.”

Amphitrite huffed. “Anyway, with Benthe’s help, your dress will be done in 48 hours.”

“Thank you,” Demeter offered softly. “Hermes, Triton, would you mind being on invitation duty?”

“Tell me who to send for.”

Hera crossed her arms. “Flowers?”

“Persephone will you help me?” Demeter asked.

Persephone nodded at once. “Of course.”

“Who’s officiating?” Hades questioned.

Zeus arched his eyebrow. “I could do so.”

Amphitrite shook her head. “You, Hades, and Triton are Poseidon’s wedding party to support him. My girls are mine. Demeter, you need three.”

Demeter breathed out steadily. “Persephone.”

“It’s an honor, momma.”

“Hestia.”

“You need not ask. I shall be there the second any of you wished for me.”

“Hera,” Demeter whispered.

“Of course, sister. I am happy to stand by you.”

“Not to introduce problems, but who does that leave for officiating?” Hades questioned. “Unless you’re willing to go to the younger generation of Zeus’ brood?”

“No, it needs to be something more connected to the sea,” Poseidon replied.

“My father will not do this a second time, not with Zeus being there and well incorporated in the celebrations.”

Demeter cleared her throat. “I have a solution,” she stated.

“Wonderful,” Poseidon said.

“Percy, would you mind wedding us?”

Percy froze. He stared wide eyed at Demeter. He had anticipated being in attendance, but to be involved in the wedding party, to be in a place of leadership in full view of the pantheon, this was so much more than he ever anticipated. “Auntie…”

“Just answer, Percy. Don’t think about what this will mean to anyone who is not in this room.”

His mind was whirling. This was an insane request and one that a normal demigod would never be offered. He nodded. “Alright. I’ll do it.”

Demeter beamed up at him. “Wonderful.”

Amphitrite tapped her fingers against her arm. “Percy, I need you to do more, preferably with Dionysus also present.”

Percy turned to his step mother with a smile. “Sure, what do you need?”

“I need you to go to camp. Make sure that Demeter’s children know that she is marrying into the sea family. Give them pearls. Let them know that they are welcome under the waves. If they need their mother, come to the sea first. We’ll be able to send for her easier if she’s not there, and chances are at least a shade of her will be.”

Demeter inclined her head in agreement.

Percy nodded. He turned to Dionysus. “I’m going to mess with things at your camp.”

“Of course you are, you brat.” He rolled his eyes. “What are you changing?”

“I’m going to move Demeter’s cabin to be connected to my father’s so the siblings can move between cabins since they’re going to be more connected through each other now. Plus, both of them shouldn’t have cabins when Amphitrite doesn’t, so I’ll add a second floor that connects the two cabins that will be hers.”

“I wasn’t aware you suddenly became an architect,” Athena quipped lightly.

Percy shrugged. “The moving of the cabin is just going to be effort. A nice wave will do the heavy lifting for me as long as I ask the water correctly to move the damn building and make sure there’s no one in the cabin, it’s fine. The building of the second floor will require a bit more forethought, but it should be fine.”

Dionysus raised his eyes to the sky. “By father, you are the most stubborn demigod I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a fair few of them.”

Poseidon stared at Percy for a long moment. “Son, you do not need to do that. Both of your step mothers are well aware that they have your affection. Large offerings like this are not needed.”

Percy frowned. “Dad, I’m not doing this as an offering. I’m doing this because I know that it will help the demigods and make them see all three of you as equals.”

Demeter chuckled. “Oh, my dear boy, you are a delight. Will you tell my kids that I will not be expecting them in attendance for their health? Given that we’ll be getting married in our true forms, they will be somewhat at a disadvantage to surviving the wedding, and I’d rather not sacrifice my children at such an event.”

“Of course.”

Zeus cleared his throat. “Perhaps, we should break. I’m sure that the invitation list will be quite large, the dresses need to be made, and the camp stuff will take a while as well. If we start immediately, we might be able to accomplish a wedding within three days.”

Hera nodded. “It’s for the best we not dawdle. Therapy sessions often see us locked away from other aspects of the world, and eventually, we do need to be done with meeting for problem after problem while time keeps ticking on.”

Percy silently agreed with her. Honestly, he was impressed that they had lasted as long as they had. The solstice had been a quick pause in their sessions and even that had resulted in them meeting the very next day to continue. This wedding was being called as a pause, but they were all willingly planning this as quickly as possible. All in all, they were dedicated to the cause.

Dionysus’ hand wrapped around Percy’s arm. “Come on, let’s get our stuff figured out. I want to do the announcement to them before you round up all Demeter’s kids.”

“I’ll check with Katie if I can find her and see whether she can ensure the cabin is empty and then while she’s gathering every one up, I can move the cabin and start the renovations.”

“Where are you getting supplies?”

“The sea provides.”

Dionysus sighed. “You are your father’s child.” The two of them shimmered into presence among the camp. Several of the campers turned as the divine energy of the area changed drastically.

Chiron rose from where he had been talking to some of the satyrs. He walked over to them, his hooves on the ground. “Lord Dionysus. Perseus. Is the quest done?”

“Nope,” Dionysus said with a pop. “However, I’ve got announcement for all the brats. Luckily, it appears to be dinner time, so almost everyone will be in one place.”

“I feel I must ask what is so important that you would pause a quest to discuss with demigods.”

“I can do as I’d like,” Dionysus reminded the centaur softly. “There are few in existence who can question me without my growing anger. Careful not to push yourself, old friend.”

Chiron swallowed. He followed behind Percy and Dionysus as they made their way to the pavilion for meals. The steps were easy.

Percy tapped on Dionysus’ shoulder. He gestured towards the offering table. A silent request for the god to wait for him to give open prayer before doing the announcement. Dionysus didn’t respond, but he did slow his pace so Percy was pulling ahead.

Percy plucked up a plate and it was loaded up with goodies for the gods that he was planning on praying to tonight. He could tell that eyes were on him. Too many campers were used to his presence and knew him by his build. Everyone was aware he was here. He threw his plate of food into the flames. Every last morsel was fed to the skies, and he heard a few gasps from campers.

His smile grew. “To the king and queen of Olympus, may your guardianship over demigods and the pantheon continue to be strong and supported. To my father, may your blessings be enough to guide me through this quest and all further. To the rest of the Olympian council and extended family, may you remember that our connections are what stand to make us better people.”

Percy stepped away from the flames. Then, he knelt before Dionysus. “My lord, you had a message for the campers. I requested this boon from you for services rendered. Would you be so kind as to honor this tonight?”

Dionysus boomed out a laugh. For a second, he sounded just like Zeus did when Percy did something unexpectedly correct. His eyes landed on the campers. “Listen up, campers. Your savior asked me to speak to you, and I shall. Mostly because he asked and a little bit because I want to.”

The noise from the dinner tables that had quieted significantly when Percy chose to speak his prayers loudly for everyone to hear were now silent. Everyone was watching and waiting, especially given that Percy hadn’t stood up and was instead looking directly at Dionysus with as much adoration and respect as he could muster.

Dionysus cast his gaze over the rest of the campers. “For those of you that have been informed of Perseus’ newest quest, let it be known that he is performing admirably. For those of you who don’t know, you won’t ever be informed of the details, but you should all be thankful every day that he undertook his quest as he has probably saved you all another four or five times without anyone ever being the wiser.”

Annabeth’s head tilted to the side. Her eyes found Percy, and she raised a questioning brow. However, Percy steadfastly ignored her. She was not the person that mattered most right then. He needed Dionysus to know that he supported this, that he was standing behind this, and that for as long as he still had a hint of mortality in his being, he would be a respectful demigod for once. He had learned the reasons why they were the way they are, and he understood deep within him how it had come to be.

“As of now, the law against interference has been changed. No longer are you pesky demigods left alone. Should you pray, we shall be free to answer as we choose. Sometimes that won’t be in the way you would like. Often you will not understand our reasoning, but from now on, you shall have answers and responses. Even outside of quests, we will strive to be reachable when you request our attention in prayer. The more respectful you are, the more that you give in offering, the more you are likely to receive in aid and assistance.”

Mouths fell open, there was clamoring. It was then that Percy stood. He pushed himself to his feet and stood in front of Dionysus. “The reasoning of gods is not for you to question,” that was directed at Annabeth, and he refused to feel his affection for her cloud his judgment on what needed to be explicating laid out. “Your past prayers may or may not be enough, it depends on how certain you are that they recall the past prayer and gave a shit about it.” This was directed at someone sitting at Hermes’ table. He didn’t recognize them, but he didn’t know every younger demigod by name anymore. There were quite a few of them, and he was considered to be a legend to them. “Yes, this does involve some parenting, but when possible it is still best to rely on your mortal parent over the divine.”

Dionysus nodded. “Well, my job here is done. I shall be retiring to play a game with Chiron for the evening. If you need a god for something, be smart about it.”

Percy rolled his shoulders as the god left. He knew enough about the energies here to know there were a couple of confused looks about the amount of divine presence near them still. He was not going to accept any questions about that line.

Annabeth tried her best to get his attention to get him to go over to the Athena table and talk with her and the rest of her cabin. He ignored that too. Instead, he stalked over to Demeter’s table.

“Katie,” he said.

Katie turned to stare at him. Her eyebrow raised. “Wasn’t aware we were close enough that you were coming to talk to me on one of your few breaks during this quest.”

“I’m not precisely on a break. I have a job to do here, before I can head out anywhere else.”

“Oh! That does make more sense. What help can I give you?”

“I need to talk to like your entire cabin. Are you able to gather them for me?”

“My entire cabin?”

“Yes.”

Katie stared at him. “Sure, yeah, I can do that.”

Percy grinned. “Also, any chance you could tell me whether or not your cabin is currently empty?”

“It is,” she said warily.

Percy shot her a thumbs up and started jogging over to the cabins. He could tell that there were a few people following him, but he paid them no mind. If no one was in the cabin, he’d much rather get to work immediately on the first step of this process.

He called to the waters as he jogged. They started building behind him an arching wave. He was prepping all of the water to his will. Under the cabin floor, moving the ground itself as needed to ensure that the cabin building remained structurally sound as he moved the whole cabin, those were his requests. The sea was favorable to his request.

There were shouts behind him, and he slowed his jog as he came to the cabin. He turned to glance at them. His eyes apparently betrayed the fact that he heard nothing, as Meg gaped.

Meg breathed in short breaths. “Listen, I don’t know why you need Katie to gather everyone, and I don’t know what’s going on with your quest. But Percy, whatever war is brewing between the sea and Demeter, you don’t need to be a part of it. You don’t have to destroy the cabin, you don’t have to continue this quest. We can find another way.”

Percy laughed. “Trust me, Meg. I would not slow down for you if I was fully planning on destroying your cabin and starting a war. There is no war surrounding the sea and Demeter.”

There was a faint laughter in the back of his head, and he knew that Demeter had heard her name and came running. She was a great goddess to have in his head. The wave began to surround the cabin.

“Percy,” Annabeth called. “You have to admit this looks bad.”

“Uhuh.” He didn’t care about what it looked like. The results would be understandable once he was done with the speech to the rest of the kids. The pearls were sitting in a pouch on his side. Amphitrite had ensured he had plenty during the solstice, and he was just going to take from his stash for the moment. He could always replenish. He could reach Atlantis easily.

“Please, can you just call back the water for a moment to talk to us?”

“I’m on a bit of a time crunch, wise girl, so no.” He paused. “Also, what do you know about ancient greek marriages?”

“What?” She questioned. The baffled tone, betrayed that everyone around him was confused. The ground had finally gave way while he was considering the question. The water was fully surrounding the cabin.

“Ancient Greek marriages, I could use a crash course on like what the vows looked like and possibly also what should be updated to fit with the times.” Finally, Percy was able to start tugging at the cabin to move it.

Meg froze. “You’re moving the cabin.”

“Yep.”

Annabeth blinked hard. “Percy, what exactly have you gotten yourself into?”

“You heard Dionysus. Anything you don’t already know about the situation, isn't something that you’re going to be able to pry out of my mouth today. That being said, if you could assist me with knowledge about ancient wedding customs within our pantheon that’d be fantastic.”

He started walking to assist the water with carrying the cabin. Surprisingly, the water was mostly good with being requested to move the structure like this. Mostly, he was just making sure everything was tight enough for them not to come loose. Granted, he was also promising the water that they’d get to take down at least two walls once he let the building down, so that they were connected.

A throat cleared. “The vows are pretty non descriptive from what is known from myths. They tend to be catered towards the couple and which gods of marriage are being requested to bless the event. However, the ceremony itself involves several parts,” Malcom offered hesitantly.

Percy frowned. “The vows aren’t all that well known?”

“No, is that important?”

“Might be,” he muttered. He was able to set the cabin down next to his father’s. There still wasn’t much to be done about the meeting of Demeter kids. While more of them had arrived to the area, Katie wasn’t back with all of them. Meaning, that he could easily allow a bit of demolition to occur. The waves struck at the conjoining walls, and the rubble started to be washed out to sea by the other waves.

People were staring. Maybe, he was asking the water to do a bit more than he usually did in front of the others. But, none of this was super shocking. The next part, well that might be shocking. He wasn’t actually sure how to start the construction process or how exactly to ask for assistance.

Then, the sea exploded as water fell along the camp. Several pillars of stone, marble and other materials were lifted from the waves and set at the foot of the now conjoined cabins of Demeter and Poseidon. His sister walked from the waves as well. Kym stood before them, the sea waves more turbulent than they had been before.

Kym stared at him with a fond expression written along her features. A gentle hand touched his back. “I’m here to help you with the construction of my mother’s cabin. Also so you can do the rest of your jobs.”

“Any chance you have advice on ancient greek wedding vows.”

“Don’t ask a woman to be subservient, especially not one marrying into the sea. That’s a death sentence.”

Percy snorted. “Like I would ever.”

Annabeth rubbed at her eyes. “Percy, please, can you start making sense?”

Katie huffed. “All of us are here, Percy. Can you come tell us what all of this is about?”

Percy and Kym exchanged a look. Then, Percy separated from where he had been with his sister. He walked over to the group of Demeter children, and the two Athena ones that were still sticking around. Probably because they were curious and needed to know more information before they were willing to split off from the group and go do anything else.

He took in the faces of all the Demeter kids and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, he was going to be the voice that was telling them all a major change was coming. “How much do you know of your mother’s Mycenaean form?”

Heads shook. None of them spoke anything about it.

Percy nodded. It wasn’t like he had a lot of information regarding that either, before he started hanging out with gods, and hearing the truth about the fact that he was probably more Poseido’s child than just Poseidon’s. “Once upon a time, there was an older pantheon that had some of the forms of our parents, just like the romans are the younger pantheon still kicking around. Those older forms aren’t all that common for them to slip into. There isn’t much prayer and only occasionally do the gods get any cause to switch towards that form.”

“Okay,” Katie said softly.

“In the Mycenaean myths, Demeter was the queen of the sea. She was Poseido’s wife and ruled at his side.”

Katie stared at Percy for a moment. “Really?”

“Yes. I mean she was still a goddess of agriculture, and she was still mostly associated with the earth and growing things, but she was more. She was the queen of gods as well as the sea, because Poseido was the king of the gods. And that’s more detail than you needed, actually.” Percy face palmed.

He rubbed at his face. “Okay, the important bit that once Demeter had a loving husband in my father, and more immortal children than just Persephone. She occasionally has moments where she missed that. My father and step mother found out about the fact that she misses this, and.”

He was cut off by Meg’s sharp inhale. “Percy, you can’t tell us that they’re mad she misses this. It just wouldn’t be fair.”

He rolled his eyes. “No one is mad at anyone. However, they are planning a wedding to bring Demeter into their marriage and make her a queen once more under the sea.”

Mouths fell open, and he felt a bit of satisfaction about that. He kind of got that it was scary watching him control that much water and physically change the layout of the camp to suit his will, but Dionysus was literally in the great house. If he was starting a war, you’d think the god would bother putting just a bit of fear into Percy about messing with his camp to do so.

He smiled. “So, I’m attaching our cabins because we’re all going to be family again. Also as Kym pointed out, it wouldn’t be fair for two thirds of the marriage to have cabins and children, so we’re making sure Amphitrite’s kids will be welcome should she choose to have them, which by my understanding she may be doing at some point in the future.”

“Mom is getting married?” Katie whispered.

“Yeah. She’s not expecting all of you to try to attend a divine wedding. She is slightly concerned that the full forms they’d need to be in for the vows to take hold and everything to be above board, might be too much for most of you to handle.”

Katie nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Right. So, some small house keeping things, your beds will be in the cabin for your godly parent, but the walls will be open and you can treat the rest like your siblings. For better or for worse depending on what you think of me and the amount of trouble I inevitably bring to the doorstep every time a god gives me a quest, I am your brother now. You want something that I’m capable of giving, just ask.”

The kids nodded in agreement to him.

“Second thing, your mom as Dionysus’ announcement might have made clear to you, is able to answer your calls now. If for some reason you need your mom immediately or if you find yourself in a troubling situation that you cannot find a way to get out of, you get to the sea. The sea will always protect its own, and as of the moment that Demeter agreed to get married once more to the king and queen of the sea, that means you.”

He dug out his little pouch. He started handing everyone a pearl. “These are pearls of the sea. You smash them, and they’ll take you to the sea. You’ll be safe and far away from whatever troubled or you will be in a place that your mother can easily be reached. Don’t hesitate to use them, and don’t be particularly worried about the replenishing of these. Amphitrite likes to hand them out to people she loves.”

The kids blinked. They ran their hands over the pearls.

Percy turned back, ready to go back to helping Kym with the construction, when one of the girls started sobbing. The tears were dripping onto the ground, and her breaths were ragged inhales in between exhales that came with shaky tears and pants. He spun on his heels. His hands were on her shoulders as he guided her down to the ground so she wouldn’t collapse. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just…this would have saved her. A tiny little pearl and it would have meant her life, and she doesn’t have that now. So she doesn’t get to live, and I’m still going to be tasked with making her funeral shroud. And, it would have been so easy for her to live.”

It was Percy’s turn to blink. His head titled over to meet Katie’s eyes. “I need more information.”

“Her baby sister, she had to stay when she ran two years ago from the monsters. A satyr was sent to bring her sister this year, they were expected like four days ago. No one has heard from them, and Grover said that the satyr’s life energy went dark this morning. The girl, she won’t make it the rest of the way. We’ve been helping with the realization that she’ll be dead probably by the end of the night.”

“Did you pray to your mom?”

“We all have.”

Percy closed his eyes. He reached for Demeter’s energy. Questioning everything, and why the hell no one is moving.

Immediately, he saw the truth. The life strand of the girl, just barely still holding on. The poison already spreading. The energy of the big three coursed through these two sisters, and this one had attracted a chimera and there were limits to what any god could do now. Hermes could reach her, but even Apollo couldn’t heal her and battle within the new limitations. The girl was dying and no one could easily do a thing, because she had already gone too far.

Still, there was a girl. She was his sister, and somewhere there had to be a quest. Only, he was currently still a demigod in the camp, and he had no god telling him to leave. He couldn’t just run.

Kym watched him carefully. “What do you want?”

“I’m going to try to reach her. If I can get her to camp, she has a chance.” Somewhere inside him, he could feel that. If he could drag her here, then Apollo could work magic. Then, the rest of the gods would help. They couldn’t do something where she was, but Percy could get her here.

“Go,” Kym offered. “Try to save our sister.”

“What?” Katie asked softly.

“Go,” Kym repeated.

“He doesn’t know the way,” Annabeth screamed at Kym.

Hermes flashed in. A blur of motion, and he stood. “I can get you to the girl. I can’t bring the two of you back. I don’t know what’s happening but Thanatos is currently screaming at Demeter, and the fates are at Hades and Zeus’ ears telling them something.”

“Please,” Percy whispered.

A harsh grip on his arm, and he was moving through the wind at unbearable speeds. A normal mortal would be dead at these speeds. Percy merely squeezed his eyes shut and focused. Hermes said the fates were involved and Thanatos. The girl was supposed to be dead, but she hadn’t crossed yet. Thanatos hadn’t taken her yet. He had a chance.

He landed and pulled riptide from his pocket. The chimera charged them, and Hermes let out a squeak, but Percy was prepared. He rolled and swung out. The head of the creature hit the ground with a thud. He couldn’t take a second to hesitate. His blade went through the creatures chest too, just to ensure it returned to ash. It could reform in the pit once more. The mother of monsters could spend more time crafting it again.

He crouched down next to the girl. They were somewhere in Idaho, and this would be a long journey by foot. He couldn’t do anything else about it, though. He couldn’t swim through the waters with her and keep her alive, his powers were unsteady and he wasn’t sure where the boundary of mortal and immortal lay. He couldn’t move with Hermes for the same reason. And the poison was seeping through her blood. She was seconds away from being taken.

He bent down and hoisted the girl up into his arms. He hadn’t even bothered to ask what her name was, and yet he was her only chance of waking up again. The poison was simple, he started leeching it out of her the way he had when he pulled the poison from Akhlys in the pit. He replenished it with the water from everywhere.

“Percy,” Hermes said softly. “The girl, she’s dead.”

“Not yet,” he retorted.

“Percy, you are keeping her alive. Nothing else is with her. She doesn’t even have a foot left in this realm. No amount of intervention can save her now.”

Not true. Nyx’s voice was in his head. If there was nothing to be done, Thanatos would be here and not with Demeter. If there was nothing happening, the fates would not have a care left about you.

Percy knew that something was messed up if Nyx was the voice most prominent in his head. He was doing something. Something that wasn’t anticipated. Something different. Something that shouldn’t be allowed, but that he was preparing to do anyway.

He set up a system. Pull poison, replenish water, and then do it all over again. He couldn’t strip all the poison. He wasn’t quite enough for that, not with everything wrong with her, because the poison was also the only thing saving her from blood loss. He needed someone better with healing. But he could keep doing this the whole way.

He took a painful step. He managed it. Barely, but he got there. His sword was out because a bleeding girl with this much divinity would be catnip to every monster between here and camp, and he would be the only thing to keep this girl alive.

Hermes stared at him. “You’re going to try anyway.” He sighed. “I’ve got to get back to wedding duty, but Percy… no one is going to blame you if you stop trying to save this one. Sometimes mortals die, sometimes they die at moments where just another thirty minutes could have saved them. If you can’t change this one, no one will blame you.”

“That girl at camp will.”

“Only at the height of her grief.”

“Nico did once.”

“Only when he was deep in his grief. Then he grew up and has come to terms with you not being responsible for his sister when you were both still children.”

Percy shrugged. “All the same.”

“All the same.”

Then, he was alone. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed alone. The sun came and went. There were monsters that he slayed without losing his grip on the girl or changing his powers from saving her.

Apollo landed next to him sometime after the moon was high enough into the sky that he was no longer needed in his chariot. He crossed his arms. “I wish I could heal her right here.”

“Why can’t you? I could feel it in my chest, that I had to get her to camp before you could do anything, but can you explain why?”

Apollo huffed. “There’s a new prophecy.”

“What?”

“Oh, yes. The fates have been at the ear of the king of gods, telling him all about Khaos’ prophecy. Because get this, the prophet being discussed isn’t even one directed by their stands. This goes higher.”

“Do I get to hear the prophecy?”

Apollo laughed. He laughed and laughed until his breath caught. Then, he spoke as if nothing had happened at all. “A string cut. A life gone. Yet death cannot claim. A hero with a shortcut. A knitters take on life. A way to shift the game.”

Percy frowned. “I don’t get it.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “She’s supposed to be dead. The fates cut her string. Her name was on Thanatos’ list. And then suddenly what wasn’t there, reappeared. The string that had been cut was suddenly held together by a thread that none of the fates wove.”

“Me?”

“Everyone’s pretty damn sure it’s you. Only none of us are sure what to do next. No one knows where this goes, and no one knows what your plan is.”

“I have to get her to camp. I’m pretty sure I can call on you to help heal her once I get there.”

“Pretty sure?”

Percy had a sheepish grin for him. “I can’t really promise more.”

“The wedding and therapy has been postponed until you can actually be there which we acknowledge will take however long this is. We weren’t really prepared for you to embark on another quest.”

“I don’t think I intended to go on one.”

“You’re on one.”

Percy looked down at the girl. Her dark hair was spread across his arm, and her blood ran down onto the ground as he walked forward. “Do you know her name?”

“Do you not know?”

He shook his head. “I took off running once I had permission. I knew she was in danger, and I’m pretty sure that I had barely any information about it.”

Apollo rubbed his eyes. “You’re insane, Percy.” He turned away. “Her name is Willow. Her sister is Magnolia. Magnolia has stood vigil at the fire since you left. She prays mostly to Poseidon, Amphitrite and Demeter to help you where at all possible. But she keeps a small scrap to offer you every day too. Plus, she occasionally says a kind word to Kymopoleia for sending you on this quest.”

“Thanks, Apollo.”

He frowned. “Percy, you could let this one go.”

“Hermes said that too.”

“You aren’t going to, are you?”

Nyx’s laugh hit his head. He almost wanted to slam against the nearest tree with his head, but he didn’t. Instead, he kept walking.

Little god thinks that you’re going to give up. Does he know that you’ve fought primordials for the right to save a girl? Does he not realize that the second they said these children would be your siblings, there was not a thing you would not do to save them. As long as there is a chance, you’ll push for that to work. The fates were told to let you have a chance.

Percy’s lips quirked upwards. It was always a strange day when Nyx was the encouraging voice in his head, but he was hardly going to say anything against that when he was somewhat relying on the kind words to help push him through. When he looked up, Apollo was gone. Not that he was super surprised. The gods had things to do, and until he got her to camp, there was little that they could do to say anything.

His energy levels were low by now. He still had no idea how much time or distance he still had left. He’d slain about twenty monsters now on his way. He stopped really thinking about them. When he felt them coming, he readied for a fight. By this point, it was more of a do or die kind of scenario. Willow was still shallowly breathing in a coma as he pumped her blood and poison to keep her alive.

There were divine presences near him all the time, even though they were rarely the Olympian family. Thanatos was always about a quarter step behind him. If he faltered, the god would take the girl from him and return things to the order that he sees as being the rightful state. Nyx was always there in the back of his head. Her casual commentary on the situation was a balm to his worry that this was something he was going too far on. Nyx never made it seem like he was going too far. Instead, she made it seem like he hadn’t gone far enough.

Demeter shimmered into place beside him. Her steps measured to keep pace with him. Her hand brushed over Willow’s face, wiping some of the sweat from her brow. “You’re doing this for me, yes?”

“Don’t try to tell me that you don’t want me to save your daughter. I know you. You would always wish for that.”

“There are a great many things that I would ask for and want of my children. I would have asked her spared, and those pearls are being passed out in part because I want them to have someplace they can flee to that won’t be further danger to them. However, I would never trade your well being for them. You are dear to me, Percy.”

Percy glanced over at Demeter. “I will make it through this, Demeter. But I’m also going to try to get through this so Willow gets to make it to the new cabin.”

Demeter took another step with him. “Percy, every step appears to cause you massive amounts of pain.”

“Yeah, well, from what Apollo came down to tell me, I don’t think anyone was really prepared for me to do this.”

“Khaos intervened to allow this. No one knows what that means, not even the fates. She’s seen all of us, when we were told our list of domains. The younger gods got it when they finally settled, and the older of us, well some of us got them when we came close to death being eaten alive. If she’s taking an interest now, well, that’s quite something.”

Demeter rested her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to break from walking. “Promise me you won’t let this be another Tartarus. Promise me that if it gets so bad that you are going to suffer nightmare after nightmare about what you’ve done here, you’ll just let her go. She’s precious to me, all of my children are. But she’s not worth an eternity of suffering.”

“Liar,” Percy said softly.

“She’s not, Percy.”

Percy tilted his head to the side. “Tell me honestly, if this were Persephone, would the answer be the same?”

Demeter averted her gaze. “Mortal children are different. I know eventually I will have to bury them. That is simply the way of having mortal children. Nothing can be done to change that.”

“Not this young, though.”

“No, not this young. I’d still prefer you happy and back with the family.”

“I wouldn’t. She’s to be my sister. A halfblood like me for the moment. I’m going to get her home.”

“Ah.” Demeter kept up her pace as he restarted walking. “Pray to me if you need me.”

Percy agreed. Then, his thoughts faded away. While walking and fighting, he was also planning through the wedding vows he was about to try to officiate between Demeter, Amphitrite, and Poseidon. This hadn’t been in his original plan either, but he was getting better at rolling with the changes that come up during these sessions and in this life.

He thought it might be the fifth or sixth day, when he started flagging. He could no longer keep his eyes easily open and his legs moving. As close to divinity as he has pushed himself, he was still a mortal. His body was aching, and it was begging him to set the girl down and let himself be done. He could just be finished.

Don’t, boy.

Percy’s breathing stuttered. He hadn’t heard that voice since the doors of death had closed. Tartarus was there, in the back of his head like Nyx so often was. He hadn’t prepared himself for the possibility that Tartarus was also capable of reaching him.

Listen to me, boy. You have stood toe to toe with me, and while your trickery with the doors ended our fight, you still managed to hold your own. One of these days we shall have to handle the fact we never settled which one of us comes out on top. However, none of that diminishes right here and right now. Right now, you are marching a girl further and further away from the death tolls. An impressive feat for anybody.

Percy took another few steps. He understood what the primordial was saying. He didn’t love that the primordial was the one giving him this pep talk, but he heard what was being said. He was doing the impossible. Of course it was tiring. Of course, he wanted repeatedly to give up and be done with the whole situation, but he could not do that.

Nothing that happens here will ever come close to the feats you did in the pit. If you can fight me, you can save the girl.

He was alone again with his thoughts. He pushed through the pain, closer and closer to the gates. Eventually, he could actually see the camp in his vision. No car, no water, and no godly transportation to get there, and he did it. He dragged them both the whole way. Her shallow breathing the only thing keeping them going.

Steps away from the gate, where he could see Dionysus staring at him from the entrance, a large gush of warm air hit him. He didn’t have to turn, but he did. The minotaur was there, an angry sheen in his eyes. The hooves were picking up dust.

He froze. All of his techniques to fight the minotaur involved having a full range of motion. He didn’t have that here. He couldn’t set Willow down or she’d die. He couldn’t fight with her in his arms against this monster.

Laughter boomed in his head. You can’t fight this monster the way that the girl wants you to limit yourself, but you’re not out of options. You’ve choked a goddess out with her own domain. A monster like this is nothing to you. Just cap your sword and reach out.

The fucking pit was in his head telling him to use all the powers available to him. The same voice that taunted him the whole way along. But then he recalled his father’s words, he wasn’t a monster for living. He wasn’t a monster for fighting. The gods themselves had finally agreed that monsters shouldn’t be treated as such just for the way that they’re born. He was not different than them. He was not lesser than them.

He capped riptide. He could hear people yelling at him. Some of them wanted him to try to dash the minotaur. Some of them wanted him to set down Willow to fight. Others were just in fear from his dropped sword. He held out that same hand.

He focused in on the liquid running through the monster’s vein. He supposed it might still be blood, but he didn’t feel the same way about this liquid as he did about blood of other mortal beings. He froze the blood where it was standing.

The minotaur tried to charge but while its limbs moved briefly it found itself unable to truly manage to move forward. The monster kept trying to break the hold.

Percy’s hold on him was strong, but then there was a slight tug on his position and the minotaur inched forward. He was not going to be able to hold this indefinitely, and not at all if he moved towards the gate.

Choke him on it.

Percy wanted to be better than the voice in his head, but when the minotaur managed another centimeter, his morals had to go out the window. The breath of air stopped making it to the minotaur. The creature collapsed. The gasps and kicks kicked up dust and dirt into the air, but Percy refused to bend.

When the ashes of the monster finally fell to the ground, Percy managed to turn back towards the camp gates. He paused before he was in earshot of everyone. “Tartarus, do me a favor and take the minotaur for a time. Remind him that I’m willing to fight with you, so he stops thinking I’m a worthy target.”

I can do that. If only because it makes me feel like he’s spitting on me too, calling you a target when you’ve managed to fight with me. Maybe point out that fighting you ought to be meaning he’d fight me.

Percy crossed the borders of the camp. He cast his eyes over. He ignored Magnolia’s shriek upon seeing her baby sister bleeding. “Will, I need you to try to heal her.”

Will was running them to the infirmary tent. He cleared a cot and had Percy set her down on it. “I don’t even know if I’ll be enough for this. I have no clue how long the poison has been in her.”

“Neither do I, but I know that I’ve protected her for this long. It’s chimera poison. And I can keep her blood circulating for a while longer.”

“Percy, this is beyond what I can heal.”

Dionysus stood at the entrance to the healing tent. His arms crossed over his chest.

“Apollo, please.”

Apollo appeared in the tent. “Percy, her string was cut. I don’t know if there’s anything even I can do.”

“Try,” Percy pleaded.

Apollo placed his hands over her eyes. “The problem is I can’t do anything to lessen any of the replacements you’ve given without putting her too close to Thanatos’ realm. He’s watching like a hawk waiting for us to let him take the girl.”

They wouldn’t have let you come this far, if it were an impossible task. Nyx’s voice rang in his head. That means there is a way out of this problem. Think, Perseus, what does she need?

Percy’s eyes connected with Apollo’s. “Lady Hera, please, will you come?”

She was in the tent almost as quickly as Apollo had arrived. Her hand gently brushed against Percy’s side as she moved him away from Willow. She stared softly at Apollo. Then, she brushed her hand over the girl’s eyes, tracing his movements from just a moment ago. “My blessing on her. Thanatos and Hypnos can’t claim her for 24 hours. That’s how long you have to stabilize her, my son.”

Apollo blinked. He almost wanted to ask her what the hell it meant that she was calling him son, but then, the tug from the girl won out.

Dionysus cleared his throat. “I’m keeping the rest of the campers out, Percy. But in a few minutes, when you need to clear out from this tent, they’re going to swarm you. There are a shit ton of questions, and the oracle read that prophecy at the beginning before Apollo told you.”

“Auntie,” Percy whispered.

She opened one of her arms, and Percy folded into her. He was so tired. “Can you take me home? I don’t want to answer any more questions. Someone else can tell Magnolia that I bought her sister time.”

Hera paused. “Dionysus, tell the campers that Percy has left for Olympus due to his prior quest.”

“And the prophecy?”

“Tell them that at this point, we have no proof that this is about our situation.”

Then, the arms around him were lifting and they were both in Olympus again. Hera guided him away from the noise that was in the throne room. She guided them into a different set of rooms. “We’re going to stay in Zeus’ room for the moment.”

The whole ceiling was missing. The sky was pretty, and Percy just kind of planted himself in the middle of the bed. His eyes fuzzed over just a little bit as he waited.

Zeus walked in a few minutes later. He blinked. “I don’t think you’ve been in my rooms in some time, Hera. Usually, we meet in yours.”

She hummed. “My rooms are more comfortable, and also has a roof.”

He rolled his eyes. “Percy, I’m glad you’re back. The fates would like a word with you.”

Percy groaned. Nothing good ever came from speaking with them. He rolled onto his two feet. He swayed a bit. “Probably not a good idea to keep them waiting.”

“I could stall if you need a few hours.”

“Ambrosia,” he requested instead. He batted his eyes at Zeus.

Zeus reached into his pocket and pulled out a square that he passed over. “What you just did, can I ask you something about it?”

Percy nodded as he began eating large bites of the ambrosia square. He hummed as his energy levels started to be replenished.

“How’d you fight through the pain?”

“She’s my sister. You’ve seen me fight for the people I love before, is it really so surprising that I’d go for her.”

“You don’t know her. Your family loyalty is huge, but that far. To defy everything that has ever been true about death, that’s further than you’ve gone before.”

Percy glanced at Zeus. “Nyx and Tartarus gave pep talks.”

“What?”

“When I felt like giving up, when I felt like this was impossible and insane, and that this couldn’t possibly be the correct action, they were in the back of my head urging me forward.”

“Why?” Hera questioned.

“Probably because Khaos decided it was important. I don’t know why Khaos allowed me to reknit a strand of life. Nor do I know why all of this happened.”

Zeus snorted. “So, just defying the universe again with no knowledge as to why or whether you’ll do it again.”

Percy grinned. “On the bright side, I figured out how I’m doing the officiating of the wedding.”

“Your father has been near inconsolable about the fact you went and did this when you were supposed to be doing a relatively safe quest.”

“He knows that I can’t die, right?”

Hera shrugged. “Your father doesn’t always think rationally.”

Percy chuckled. “Do you know where the fates are?”

“Council chambers.”

Percy took off at a light jog. He immediately saw the fates when he stepped into the council room. Where they usually had their knitting needles out and a large woven fabric in front of them, this time, they looked animated and gesturing all around, not a care in the world for the threads. One of them spotted him, and the three were surrounding him on all sides. He held up his hands lightly.

The one directly in front of him poked in him the chest with a bony finger. “You, never again will you do this so lightly.”

“I did nothing lightly.” He was surprised to find that he was being honest. He was giving to everyone in some ways during these therapy sessions, and this was his concession to Demeter. He could not give her Kore back. No one could give her Kore back. However, they could be kinder to her children.

“All the same,” the one on the left said. “You created a string where there was none. You interfered in the threads of fate. Khaos allowed this from one of your domains. You are not likely to have that taken from you as you continue your ascension. Thus, you will be able to do it again. You shall not infringe upon us lightly, or we shall take it as a challenge.”

Percy heard the threat of that. His string may have been chosen that way, but the others that he cared about could still be harmed. And based on how much pain that one time was, it would not take a lot for him to doom at least one person he was close to, to a fate that was worse than originally intended. “I hear you.”

The fate to his right was regarding him carefully. “She lives. The girl, Willow, was her name. Her string was rethread. We shall change the story line this time, and assuming that you use this power wisely in the future, we shall change the story then too.”

Percy sighs in relief. “Thank you.”

The center fate hissed. “You should not thank us. You should be careful to let us know that it matters. She might be used later.”

Percy frowned. “You know many people you could target if you wanted revenge on me, but I don’t really intend on making you so angry that you feel the need to take revenge.”

The fates stepped back.

Percy deflated a bit. “Could you…that is do you know why or what this was?”

“The girl,” the right fate began, “she was supposed to die. Two children from the same mortal, both of whom had the full powers of Demeter. Too much possible divinity in camp. Same reason that Bianca could never be a huntress as long as the young boy would live.”

“The monsters were sent as a normal occurrence by the mother of monsters towards that much energy,” the left fate continued. “Not an attack that would trigger Demeter’s wrath towards another member of the pantheon. And the older sister would channel that.”

“Now both threads are tied to yours. You have shaped them more than their mother ever could.”

Percy froze. “My string isn’t mortal.”

The fates shook their heads as one. “Careful, Perseus. You’re changing a lot of things, most of them to better the pantheon, but all change comes with a price.”

Then, they were gone. He was standing in the council chambers, his body propped up on the energy of ambrosia, with the dawning realization that the mother of the pantheon had taken an interest in them. He slumped where he stood and tried to rationalize everything that had happened to him.

Hades set a hand on his shoulder and then turned him into an embrace when Percy pathetically leaned into the touch. “It’ll be alright. The Moira might be upset, but they aren’t so pissed as to create any changed tapestries right now. And whatever this means, we’ll handle when we get your full list of titles.”

“His domains are a mess,” Apollo chimed in. He strolled in, hands in his pockets. “The girl lives, and will likely live a long and healthy life given how dedicated she is. She sent a prayer to me, Hera, Demeter, and you immediately upon waking and being escorted to the fires.”

Hades frowned. “You have tells, nephew. You’re lying.”

Apollo swallowed. “There were two more that she prayed to, but I don’t think Percy would appreciate me listing them.”

“She gave offerings to Nyx and Tartarus,” Percy said softly. “Smart of her, given that without them she never would have made it to camp.”

“What?” Apollo asked and in that moment, Percy truly saw his father in him. The same way that Zeus had questioned him was the same way that Apollo was looking at him now.

Hades glanced at Percy. “Nyx, I’m unsurprised by. She’s always been close to Khaos. Tartarus, though, that’s a new one.”

“He took it as an insult.”

“Hmm.”

“That I might give up doing this when I wouldn’t even give up when facing him. The impossible here was not more impossible than what I did down there. He said it with such passion that well, I couldn’t give up.”

Hades snorted. “That sounds more like him.”

Tell the brat who is on the throne surrounding my realm that he doesn’t know shit about me.

Percy froze.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I’m here. I thought I’d let you know that I am in fact teaching the minotaur a lesson he won’t soon forget. You are a legend down here, remember that.

Hades sniffed the air. “Why the fuck does it reek?”

“Tartarus,” Percy muttered softly. He shook his head. “I’m done with dwelling on impossible things.”

“Really?”

“Apparently doing this impossible thing still wasn’t enough to break the bare bones of my mortality down yet.”

Apollo grabbed his wrist and yanked it forward. He dragged a celestial bronze blade across his skin. And when he bled, it came out as ichor with faint droplets of blood. “You’re barely mortal, Percy. You can’t die. You don’t bleed red. The only thing you haven’t done is face Khaos for a list of your domains.”

“I’m still on a quest,” Percy said suddenly understanding why he hadn’t broken through yet. “Khaos is letting me be a demigod to finish out this quest. I can’t ascend until we’ve finished therapy.”

Apollo chuckled. “Oh, great. Even more reasons to keep us in these sessions. What’s next? You going to tell me that somehow all of this will also ensure that we all live.”

Percy shrugged. “Who knows? For now, I’ve got a wedding to officiate.”

“That reminds me,” Hermes said walking into the throne room. “Amphitrite invited your girlfriend, I delivered the invitation, your father gave her a warning. I have no idea whether she’ll be there or not.”

“More details, please.”

“Amphitrite pointed out to all of us as the guest list was being finalized that if we were going to be treating you like a full member of the family, that we really ought to be doing so entirely. She is your partner. One that you fully acknowledge and treat as your equal. Thus, if you’re at a wedding, so should she.”

Percy nodded slowly. “But Demeter said that demigods shouldn’t be there.”

“For her own children, Athena made no such stipulation that would keep Annabeth from being able to come to the wedding.”

Percy blinked. He rubbed his temples. “Okay, right. You delivered her the invitation.”

“Yeah. I thought about passing that one off to Triton, but then I kind of wanted the moral high ground to shove in Hera’s face later. And so, I’m the one who ended up handing her the invitation.”

Percy swallowed. “I forgot that you have a small grudge against her.”

“I know its not her fault entirely that Luke got to the place where grandfather could manipulate him and all that. But, there are times, when I feel like she could have done a lot more to ensure that he didn’t end up dead and a husk for grandfather.”

Percy couldn’t fault him there. There were so many possible choices that all of them could have made that would have changed the outcomes. So, he reached out and squeezed Hermes forearm. “I’m sorry, cousin.”

“I know.” He rolled his shoulders back. “Anyway, on the back of the invitation, your father wrote out a warning. He told her that her connection to you would always warrant her presence being accepted and welcome under the sea, but this is one of the few times that he would advise caution. And then I believe he went on to explain why exactly he thought this would be a particularly foolish idea of hers.”

Percy blinked. “She’s going to be all kinds of upset by that.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Ariadne said suddenly.

Percy turned to face her. “You will?”

“She deserves someone who knows what loving an ascending demigod feels like. I have some experience in that aspect. I will explain what your father was trying to get her to see. And maybe, while her mother’s words, and Poseidon’s words haven’t made it clear to her, mine will.”

Percy grinned at her. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it, Percy. I’m doing this for her as much as I’m doing this for you.”

“Still, thank you!”

Ariadne squeezed past him. “Please excuse me. I have a demigod to speak to before we head for the wedding.”

“How long do we have?” Percy asked.

“The brides were told that we were ready once I was done healing Willow,” Apollo said. “They’re getting all done up now. So, probably a few hours or so.”

Percy nodded. “Right. Well then, what should we do in the meantime?”

“You want a nap?” Hermes suggested.

“Ambrosia,” he explained.

Persephone stepped into the room in a beautiful dress, made of fall time leaves, and a satin fabric. She wound her hair up a hand as she used a pointed flower stem to hold up her up-do. She walked straight to Hades. Her hand delicately rested on his chest. “You’re needed.”

“I am?”

“Poseidon needs you down there to talk him down from his panic.”

“My brother is panicking?”

“Will you go, please?”

Hades nodded. “Right, should I get Zeus?”

“I’m here, let’s go.”

The two were gone within moments.

Percy furrowed his brow. “Are you serious about my father freaking out right now?”

“Of a sort. He has been agitated, but not with the wedding itself. More, he’s been concerned that one of the two of them isn’t going to show and unbalance the numbers, and I figured if the two of them showed up early, he’d stop worrying outside of mom’s door.”

Percy snorted. “That sounds more like him.”

Persephone stared at him. “Are you planning on going in that outfit?”

“No, one of my sisters is going to show up with what Amphitrite wants me to be wearing, and I’ll put it on then.”

Apollo glanced at him. “You’re taking all of this well.”

Percy shrugged. “There’s nothing more I can do about any of it. I chose to do the impossible because someone said one of my newest sisters was in trouble and a satyr was dead. I’m ascending and all chances I’ve had to turn away, I’ve directly chosen to do the opposite. I’m not going to panic about the ascension that is inevitable. Oh, and since I apparently have the interest of two primordials, I should also say I’m also ignoring the fact I appear to be the most interesting gossip in Olympus at the moment.”

Apollo inclined his head. “Alright, that seems healthy enough of a response. Then, if you’ll excuse me. I should go coordinate my own outfit with my date.”

Percy watched Apollo leave. He glanced towards Persephone. “You want to usher me down under the sea?”

“Nope. I want to know if you saw me in that girl.”

“Willow?”

Persephone nodded.

“No.”

“It’s just right after we talked about my mother’s admittedly very valid reaction to losing her daughter, you took off on an impossible mission to save one of her daughters. And I guess, I just want to know whether that means something.”

Percy sucked in a breath. “Do you know what I thought when Magnolia broke down into tears?”

“No.”

“Oh gods, don’t let this be another war.”

“Percy.”

“And then Katie started talking to me about how they were preemptively making a funeral shroud because Grover said a satyr died. And then I was going to charge forward. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew in my gut if I moved, I could stop that from happening. Do you know how many funerals I’ve been to? Do you know how many of my dear friends have died? Do you know what I’d trade for Charles or Silena, or even Luke to be back among the living? Do you know how much more that’d go up if it was Jason or Bianca I was trading for? I’ve seen people I love die in war. I saw a girl crying for her sister and I felt a tug in my gut that said I could change things for the better. You and Demeter were so far away from my thoughts when I did that.”

Persephone stared at him. “I forgot how much the war touches you in grief.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t really fight the war, did you? That was us.”

“It always is, Percy. Gods let mortals fight because we aren’t beings that can be gotten rid of.”

“I hate that.”

“Sometimes we do too.”

Percy raised his eyes to the sky. “The therapy is going to stop you from ever having a war among each other, I hope. I think that’s the best I can give for the demigods.”

“It’s quite something to say that the first quest you ever went on will never happen again.”

“I know.”

“And it’s quite something to be saving my mother from her ages old grief for a marriage and daughter that both existed and didn’t again.”

“I’m doing my best.”

Benthe appeared in a bubble and burst out of the water. “Percy, I need you in this suit in less than five minutes. Then, I’m taking you to your position. Your father is going to enter first with his people. Zeus is giving him away since he’s a damn king, so despite being younger that works. Demeter is being given away by Hera for the same reason. That leaves mom without someone giving her away.”

“Have Rhode do it as the current sitting monarch of Atlantis,” Percy said as he tugged on the brilliant attire. His mother had outdone herself this time. The fabric shined on his skin, appearing for all the world as if he were putting on the water as a second skin without actually revealing anything. It had hints of the corals and kelp forests on it.

“Smart. I’ll let her know as soon as I get you into position. Dad, then mom, then Demeter. It’s going to be strange to try to come up what to call my second mother. That’s a future problem. Grandfather is having a conniption about the fact this is going down, but he has re opened the borders among our realms so that he could attend the wedding.”

Percy nodded. He glanced towards Persephone. “I’ll see you down there.”

He took Benthe’s arm. She took him to a large ballroom in the palace. The guests were already being sat by various mer people. She led him to the center stage. “Say something to the guests, while I go ensure everyone is ready,” she hissed under breath.

Percy grinned and cleared his throat. He watched every head in the room turn to him. “Hi folks, I’m glad to se that the pantheon has chosen to come be with us during this moment to celebrate the wedding between Demeter, Poseidon and Amphitrite. For a lot of you, this announcement came as a shock, but for those of you into our past, you probably were surprised this didn’t happen ages ago. In a few short minutes, you’re going to see all the wedding parties be brought in. Then, I’m going to do a short speech. The wedding participants are going to be given to this ceremony. I’m going to guide them through vows, and then they’ll be wed. If anyone has any pressing questions, I do urge you to say them now and not during the marriage.”

Oceanus stood. “What do you mean this should have been foreseen?”

“Well, Poseidon’s older form comes out on more occasions than anyone else’s in the pantheons.”

“So?”

“So Demeter is his older wife. And it’s no surprise to anyone that Amphitrite and Poseidon both are willing to allow another love into their hearts. They’ve done that the whole way along.”

There were coos and awes from the audience at that. Percy was impressed by Oceanus’ decision to sit down after giving a brief nod to Percy. The merpeople were still leading people in when the band started to play a nice soundtrack, and when the last guest had been seated, and Percy realized that Annabeth was not among them, Poseidon began to lead into the room. He was flanked by his brothers and Triton. All of them wore crowns upon their heads, and they all looked like they belonged on a throne with no question of authority being put upon them.

Percy bowed to his father. He straightened back up when the music changed.

Amphitrite was wearing a veil under her crown. All three of her daughters were also wearing crowns, but hers was more adorned with objects from the sea, and more than a few flowers as well. An homage to the goddess they were about to be wed with. She looked over to Poseidon with a smile.

Percy dropped into another bow. He winked at his sisters who were staring at him with shock. He knew that they were seeing him with a new light too. Because he looked with Artemis’ crown shimmering in his hair, and the suit Amphitrite made for him, like he was meant to be a prince among them. They weren’t at the therapy sessions and while he had no doubt that they had been filled in on some of the particulars, the details had been left vague. The details included why he was trusted to do this wedding ceremony.

Finally, the music shifted again, and Demeter walked in. Her dress touched the floor. The top part was that of the sea, the bottom part was that of the beaches. In her arms was a bouquet of coral and flowers. And sitting on her head, was a crown that had been dusted off from somewhere deep in the palace. Something that called to him as being ancient, and something he was willing to bet was once placed on an older version of hers head. This wasn’t new, this was old and beautiful.

He bowed to her as well when she arrived in front of him.

She bowed her head in respect as well. Then, she straightened out. She locked eyes with him, and he knew it was time for him to speak to practically the whole pantheon as the spokesperson for this marriage.

“Friends, family, and distinguished guests, we are all here today to celebrate a joyous occasion. The sea is returning to its roots by wedding Demeter to Poseidon and Amphitrite. She has been a goddess of agriculture, daughter of Kronos for all her existence in this pantheon. But once, she was also a queen of gods and a queen of the sea. While she will not be taking a crown as Olympus’ leader, she will be bring forward a new chapter in the sea’s history. We shall two queens to govern the people. They will be fair and kind to all of our citizens. And we can hope temper the wrath of the sea at least on occasion.”

He got laughter at that joke in the speech. He looked at each of them then, making sure that all of them were happy and not upset with his joking around with everyone else. “This marriage will be one for the ages. They will not be found by fidelity nor by law. Instead they will be bound by their hearts and by their families. From this day forth, none of them will be alone when they scream. They will be together through the good days and the bad ones. Their children shall be of the land and the sea. And from them, they will encourage the next generation of the sea to be prolific and happy.”

A smile graced his face. “I now ask, who gives away Poseidon, king of the sea, to this marriage?”

“I, Zeus, King of gods, do give away my brother, Poseidon, on this occasion for his marriage to Demeter and recommitment to Amphitrite.”

“We accept your pledge. Who gives away Amphitrite, daughter of the ocean and queen of the seas, to this marriage?”

“I, Rhode, current ruling princess of Atlantis, do give away my mother to this bonding of her husband and his once bride soon to be wife again.”

“We accept your pledge.” The crowd had shifted forward to better get a view at the wedding ceremony going on. “Who gives away Demeter, daughter of time and goddess of the fields?”

Hera stepped forward. “I, Hera, queen of gods, do grace my sister, Demeter with the blessing of being offered at this ceremony.”

“We accept your pledge. Will the three offered gods step forward please?”

All three of them stepped as one onto the vaulted level with Percy. He smiled at each of them. “I will now ask all of you to speak to one another. Give each other promises that you know you can keep from this day until the day the pantheon finally disappears into the forgotten depths of human memory. These vows do not have to be traditional, nor do they need to be restrictions. Rather they should be free gifts that you give tot he ones that will hold your heart.”

Poseidon gulped. “I promise that you shall be holders of my heart until the day that I fade from existence. You shall be the ones I go to when I am angry beyond measure, hurt beyond repair, and desperate for a voice who listens. However, you shall also be the ones I go to when I am bursting from joy, exploding with pride, and eager for a partner by my side. For all that I am, I have always been a family man. You can make any request, ask any boon, and I shall be next to you in every way that I can be. You will never have to beg for me to be present, as a part of me shall always be a part of you.”

Amphitrite reached over to grab one of his hands. She squeezed gently. She glanced over at Demeter, then began to speak. “I am not one for light oaths. I think that most if any promises are difficult to keep at the best of times, and guaranteed failures at the worst of them. However, there are a few things that I can offer to a marriage. I promise that I will never disagree with you in a public setting, what you choose, I will stand behind, even to the point of folly. I promise that I will be a nurturing presence for any and all that you choose to love. And most importantly, I will be yours. Any day, any time, any where, you can call to me and there will be nothing more pressing on my plate than being beside you for what you need on any given day.”

Demeter’s eyes shown with tears. She looked between the married two, and then a smile grew across her face. “I vow to both of you, that I shall be an earnest queen, kind to your citizens. I shall be a doting mother, both to the children we have no yet had and all of the children that have been born before. Be they of a union in this marriage or those that carry mortal blood. I shall be an enthusiastic goddess of agriculture, once more will mortals remember to honor the sea and the fields that give them life. We shall be reborn with this marriage, this I vow.”

Percy blinked, surprised to find there are tears in his eyes as well. Those were artfully done vows by each of them that sounded honest and true to who they were. He fought the urge to be speechless. He had a job to do. “This marriage will test your vows, as all marriages do. Immortality is not an easy thing to live with and even harder one to manage a marriage within. However, what you’ve said here today are reflections of who you are, and you shall from this day forth be wed. Please, Poseidon, lift the veils of your wives, kiss them and bring us to a happy conclusion to this ceremony. There shall be dancing and meals and more as the married couple disappears on us for the evening.”

Poseidon laughed. He reached over and grabbed the silk of Demeter’s veil and tipped it over her head. He put a hand on her chin and kissed her gently in front of everyone. Then, he turned to grab the fragile fabric of Amphitrite’s veil. His lips touched her in an achingly familiar kiss. Before anyone could say a word, Amphitrite grabbed hold of Demeter’s shoulders and pulled herself up to plant a loving kiss on the taller goddesses lips.

Demeter leaned into her new wife and husband’s grips. Her soft smile was full of hope and contentment. “Come, we must finish the ceremony.”

Poseidon did not release her. “It’s as Percy said. We’re slipping away. The rest of them will dance and mingle and ensure nothing goes wrong.” He pulled her backwards, and this time Demeter let him lead her further and further away from the processions with Amphitrite trailing behind them.

Percy waited until they were out of sight. “Please enjoy the refreshments and the entertainment.”

Then, he stepped down off the podium. He let his sisters catch him. He rolled his head onto Kym’s shoulder. “I’m done, right? Nothing else big speech wise for me to do.”

Rhode chuckled. “I think anything else, either me or Triton could handle. I was surprised to not see your girlfriend here.”

“To a divine wedding,” Athena muttered, the flowers still glittering in her basket. “She would have been in so much pain she’d have dived for the backrooms when Poseidon entered. She was wise to heed his words not to come.”

“Did you tell her not to?” Kym asked.

“No, the advice that I gave her was somewhat more severe than that.” Athena looked at Percy. “You look like a younger version of your father in that outfit, you know.”

Percy flushed. “Athena.”

“She’s right.” Triton had his arm around Apollo’s waist. He reached out and tucked a strand of Percy’s hair behind his ear. “You are very much like father.”

Apollo extracted himself from around Triton. He stepped up to Percy. “Would you like me to escort you to a bedroom? The ambrosia is likely going to wear off shortly, and you’ve done quite a bit lately.”

“Will you take me back to Olympus? I want to be near the council chamber for the next therapy session whenever I wake?”

“Of course.” Apollo wrapped a hand around Percy’s arm. He paused before they left. He turned. “I’ll be back, Triton.” He grabbed the outstretched hand of Triton’s and placed a kiss on it before he left.

Percy swooned when he felt the familiar air of Olympus. “It says something that I’m more relaxed here than in Atlantis.”

“Not necessarily. Zeus’ blessing is still all across your skin from that first day in therapy. I think that’s more accurately the cause of your comfort here for the moment,” Apollo corrected.

Percy stopped Apollo with his hand before he could leave again. “You should ask Triton directly.”

“What?”

“You were helping him out the first time, so he thought that you were just making a scene with the kiss. And this time, he’s not sure whether its still a favor or something more. You should ask him clearly whether he’d like this to be a real date.”

“Why do you think I want it to be?”

“Because you didn’t have to kiss him that first time. You didn’t have to say yes the second time. And you didn’t have to be on his arm for the first chance to see him after the ceremony. You chose all of those things out of every other option. Ask him. I think he’ll respond favorably.”

“Your father and mothers will have my head if I hurt him even on accident. The sea is not always forgiving.”

“Run to your father for protection then, or Hera.”

Apollo blinked. “She called me son when I was healing Willow.

”

“I know.”

“When we reach that session, don’t let her skirt around that.”

“I won’t. I haven’t let anyone skirt around these things this whole time. Ask him.” Percy let his hand drop.

Apollo was gone in the next flash of light, and Percy found himself trailing back to his room. He sagged once he reached his bed. He wanted and needed some sleep.

Chapter Text

Percy woke up with a splitting headache. He groaned and reached up to his temples to rub them. He blinked and noticed that while he was in his normal rooms of the palace, he was not alone.

Apollo was crosslegged and staring at him from the other side of the bed. He gave Percy a small wave when he noticed that Percy was finally awake. “I’ve been waiting.”

“Why?”

“Because you were always going to wake up in pain after the events of last week. And I’m kind enough to heal you.” His hands were quick to dart out and capture the sides of Percy’s face and then there was a glowing light surrounding his vision.

When Percy next saw the room clearly, Apollo was not there. However, his brother was. Percy blinked. “What’s up, Triton?”

“Why did you save the girl?”

“What?”

“Why did you save Demeter’s halfblood daughter while we were planning a wedding?”

“Dad would have saved her. If she had the pearl, he would have thrown the weight of the sea behind her in that fight. If she had known who to pray to, he would have sent help. If she had been older, she would have fought against such a monster. She had none of those things, but she had me. I was there, and I could interfere, so I did.”

Triton nodded. “Next time, call on the sea yourself, you fool.”

“What?”

“I could not have walked her. That is not something Khaos ever would have given me. But I would have fought off monsters ahead of you. I would have kept your path clear.”

“You would have?”

Triton shrugged. “I think so.”

Percy stared at his brother. “You’ve changed.”

“Oh, yes. You have successfully done the impossible. These therapy sessions have changed eons old beings into agreeing that there are better ways to handle the world, than the ones that we’ve used before.” Triton rolled his eyes. “I have my daughter. I will have younger growing siblings again. I am far happier than I was before. Sure, I may intervene more than I ever thought reasonable before, but I would not trade what you’ve given me.”

Percy rubbed at his eyes, then he cursed under his breath. “Shit, therapy.”

“Will resume once you are okay.”

“Apollo healed me.”

“I know. I asked him to.”

Percy blinked. “He came for you.”

Triton flushed a bright color. “We aren’t putting a label on it. But, I don’t think I’m going to worry about all the marriage proposals ever again. And I think I’m probably going to have to get Artemis to be okay with me.”

“Holy shit, Triton, you’re serious?”

He nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, I think so. I mean I watched my dad marry his old queen and my mother again, and all my thoughts were about the fact that I’d take every one of those oaths for him. I think that means I need to give it a fair shot.”

Percy laughed. He clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”

Triton tilted his head to the side. “No judgement, Percy, but would you have taken those oaths for your girl?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Would she?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to think so.” Percy glanced at the doorway. “And a question that I suppose I’m going to have to ask louder at the end of this quest.”

“Yes.”

“And to the star players of today’s therapy session.”

“Oh?”

“Hephaestus’ and Aphrodite’s marriage.”

Triton winced. “I’m going to be honest, I think they’re worse off than Zeus and Hera. At least the two of them have a deep history and a sibling bond damned and determined to get them through the hard times.”

“I’ve had that thought myself more than once,” Percy admitted.

“Our marriage is hardly that bad,” Hephaestus commented as he shimmered into an appearance in the bedroom.

“I’m sorry, when did you get here.”

“I said his name,” Percy acknowledged the question. He stared at Hephaestus, who for all the struggles of what this session was likely to cause, was not panicking. In fact, he was calm as could be.

Hephaestus winked at Percy. “There are very few things that I do not know in this pantheon. I know that my wife has a lot of anger issues that she’s chosen to take out on me, as if I was the one that did all of these things to her. I wasn’t, but I am a suitable target, and I have no issues being her punching bag. I know that my brother chooses to fall in love with my wife, but I also know that all it would take is a word of censure from me and he’d back off. I have never actually censured him. I have no reason to. For all that marriage between siblings causes problems in this pantheon, he is the one that I trust to be my voice when I cannot speak. I love them both. I love them enough to allow them whatever it is they wish.”

“That’s not fucking healthy,” Percy muttered. “And fuck, I guess, I need to get my ass ready for a session.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to sacrifice your marriage to make others happy, and you deserve a fucking piece of happiness. Because Aphrodite needs to desperately acknowledge that all of these problems might be partially on other people, and yet she is also complicit in the fact that they still reach her. And Ares needs to acknowledge that he’s not part of this marriage.”

“He could be,” Hephaestus said.

“Then make him one instead of having him be the third party cheater,” Percy snapped.

Triton glanced between them. “Alright, I’m just going to slip out, because I feel like this is part of a conversation that I do not need nor want to be a part of this before therapy.”

Hephaestus’ eyes tracked over to Triton. “Sure.”

Triton disappeared in the same manner that Hephaestus had appeared in.

Percy crossed his arms over his chest. “You want to fix this, then I will need to be able to figure out the problems of this.”

“I don’t want this fixed,” Hephaestus admitted. “I’m happy with the status quo that is currently established. Ares and Aphrodite take pleasure with each other, they have children with each other, and they both feel loved. Ares comes to me often with problems, and on rare occasion when he feels guilt, I make sure to do something just a little annoying that causes him to feel less guilty. Aphrodite does not speak to me because it makes her upset and reminds her of when she had very little agency in the world. So instead, I let her have her lover and her children and her future crown without ever needing to speak to me. In return, I have a wife that will stand behind me when the pantheon comes knocking. I have a brother whose sword will rise to my defense. What more do I need?”

“Someone to choose you. Someone to love you.”

“Ares would if I asked him too. I just choose not to ask.”

Percy rubbed at his face. “Breakfast. I need breakfast, and then I need to get you and the rest of this mess in a therapy session, with other voices of reason there to back me up.”

Hephaestus snorted.

Percy wagged a finger at him. “Don’t you start with me. We’ll have plenty of time to get into your fucking delusions of this not needing fixed.”

Hephaestus didn’t speak as Percy stalked out of his bedroom and headed towards the kitchen. He trailed behind Percy though, as if still keeping him company.

The kitchen was relatively full when he stepped in. Ariadne and Dionysus were sharing a bottle of wine and some kind of salad at the family table. Hestia and Hera were making some kind of porridge at the oven, standing close to one another. And Aphrodite was sitting up on the countertop in conversation with Ares, who appeared to be grilling some meat.

The voices and chatter silenced when he walked in. Hera’s eyes snapped up to him. “Are you joining us for a meal, Percy? We’re doing a bit of a what everyone wants. I was craving porridge, Ariadne wanted an old fashioned greek salad, and Ares agreed to make some steak for those that wanted a bit of protein with either the porridge or salad if they’re partaking.”

“I could eat a steak and some salad.”

“Fantastic, cousin, come sit and partake in salad,” Dionysus chimed in.

Ariadne patted the open chair next to her.

Aphrodite caught sight of Hephaestus. “Thought you said you weren’t hungry for mortal food today.”

“Just following Percy.”

Ares hummed. “Can I tempt you with a steak anyway?”

“I suppose I might as well if I’m already here.”

“There’s the spirit,” Ares said while waving the tongs at him.

Hera ran a hand down her gown as Hestia took over stirring for a time. “Were you planning on holding a session today, Percy?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “Hermes, would you mind sending a message to your father letting him know that Percy is planning a therapy session today?”

Hermes appeared in the kitchen with a furrowed brow. “Since when is Percy up and functional. I thought he’d be a zombie for at least a week.”

“Apollo healed me.”

Hermes spun around to see Percy. He rushed forward and cupped Percy’s chin to pull his head up so he could check him out. “Seriously, already up and planning to continue the quest?”

“Should I be concerned about something else?”

Hermes groaned. “Yourself.”

“I’m fine. Could use some food, but then I need the therapy session if for no other reason than Hephaestus has reminded me how very important it is that I’m around to hold you folks accountable.”

Aphrodite stifled a chuckle. “Really?”

“He’s an idiot,” Percy said dryly. He narrowed his eyes at Hephaestus.

Hephaestus held up his hands in surrender. “I shall eagerly await the therapy session which I’m sure will end well.”

Ares blinked. “Wait, does that mean we’re dealing with something that centers around Hephaestus today?”

“His marriage, specifically. We’ll deal with other things and him later on.”

Hera snorted. “Oh, this should be fun. We just dealt with Hades and Persephone, but somehow I don’t think this marriage is so easily solved.”

Aphrodite slung an arm across Hera. “At times like these, I really wish you’d let us call you mother, because I feel like this steadfast defense would only come from a mother.”

Hera glanced at Aphrodite. “I’ve never told you children you couldn’t call me that. I said I wouldn’t be taking the place nor acting like your mother.”

“And yet,” Hermes sing-songed, “you’re still acting like a mother. You know what we’re doing, who we’re dating, and you keep dad updated on it.”

Hera bunched up a towel and whipped it at him. “You, shoo. Go tell your father about therapy.”

“He knows. I sent a shade out to let him know. He’s sending word to Poseidon through Triton. The others under the water will come, I’m sure when Poseidon tells them that its time.”

“Thanks for defending me, mother.”

Hera froze as Aphrodite said that. She forced the stillness of her body to stop after a moment. She reached out to take back the porridge stirring from Hestia. “Yes, well, it doesn’t take a genius or a mother to see that your marriage is broken. After all between the three of you, I think you have a solid 30 bastards, some of which are even born of immortal lines and have their own domains in the pantheon.”

Ariadne pursed her lips. “Bastards don’t break a marriage, Hera.”

“They should.”

“I would never limit my husband by those rules. The madness and seduction are a part of him, and I love all parts of him.”

Hera waved her off. “His children aren’t true bastards. You know about all of them, and you know about almost all of his partners, and half the time you are with him at the time of conception, even if you aren’t the one bearing the children. Poseidon is somewhat similar. His are less carnal, but Amphitrite and I suppose now Demeter will know full well when he decides to stray from his marriage bed. They know, and they support him breaking free for his domains.”

She gestured with the dripping spoon. “These fools do not have domains that require infidelity. They chose this perversion of their vows.”

Hephaestus cleared his throat. “I did not ask her for fidelity in our vows.”

Hera blinked. “What?”

“When we did our vows, I did not make that a part of them. I figured that our marriage was starting off on rocky enough footing that there might be times that she would prefer another’s company than mine, and I had no desire for that to become yet another fight, so I didn’t bother requesting it.”

Aphrodite flushed. “Be as that may, I’m pretty sure my affair and children with Ares violate them regardless.”

Percy tilted his head to the side, curious to see how Hephaestus would respond when confronted by this so blatantly and in front of others, including his mother who hated every part of what this meant. He half expected another diversion and deflection from the real question.

Hephaestus furrowed his brow. “Not as far as I’m aware. I suppose it might break the trust portion of the oath if the two of you were actually any good at sneaking around, but since Ares told me practically the hour that it started, I have never considered that oath to be broken.”

“I’ve just broken trust in a million other ways,” Aphrodite muttered. “Given that you chose not to tell me about my position as primary heir to mother’s throne.”

Hephaestus shrugged. “If you choose to see it that way.”

“How do you choose to see it?” She snarled.

“A happenstance of our separation that I should have used as cause to end it. I am sorry by the way.”

“What?”

“I didn’t realize not knowing that would upset you like it did. Had I realized what reaction that would cause, I would have tried to find a way to tell you that it was happening, and what it meant.”

Aphrodite huffed lightly. “Of course. Is there anything you wouldn’t say that you’d change if given the chance?”

“I wouldn’t change marrying you,” he muttered. Then, he shrugged. “On a more serious note, a lot of the rest of it, I would change. At the time, I thought that I was desperate enough that all of it would work out. Obviously as we are several thousand years down the line, I no longer believe that to be true. I should have considered other things when I made these decisions, but I did not have hindsight.”

Zeus walked in during that comment. He rubbed his temples. “How about we leave the debate on your marriage to the therapy session that I hope to be soon?”

“It’s today,” Percy supplied helpfully.

“And you’re letting them bicker like this.”

“I’m trying to judge some things.”

“What things?” Aphrodite questioned.

“For starters, why it was that the solstice went so well with you together when the rest of the time you snap like this? Why exactly does it seem like Hephaestus bends and allows you whatever you want? Oh, and also why despite the fact that Ares does seem to care about you both, does he gravitate towards your side in all arguments, despite the fact that I’m pretty confident in a few regards at least, he does typically side with your husband?”

Ares snorted. He set another steak on the grill. “That’s easy. I’ve been asked to.”

“What?” Aphrodite whirled around to face him, her skirt flaring outwards as she does so.

“Hephaestus told me that he’d prefer my support of his positions to be silent in the cases where I’m not on your side. As much as I feel that’s foolish, I don’t argue with him. I just stand silent during those arguments, and you usually feel as though I am still on your side even when no one else is, and you always seem really relieve to have someone behind you like that. So, I get Hephaestus’ point.”

“Why?”

Hephaestus cleared your throat. “You mentioned it being something that you wanted out of a marriage during the early days of us trying to figure shit out. You know before you decided that your hatred was something I’d never recover from. I figured that while the fact you hate me means us being a united front is literally impossible, since you were using my brother as your affair partner and lover, I could easily get him to do that behavior for you.”

Ares covered his face. He choked on a laugh. Then, he just shook his head. “Oh, this therapy session is going to be fantastic.”

“You mean insane,” Hestia corrected. “If this is what your marriage is like, I’m almost scared to go poking at the roots of this thing.”

“What were the other damn questions?” Aphrodite snarled. “He had three.”

“He asked why we were so different at the solstice?”

“We weren’t.”

Hephaestus raised a brow at her. “I don’t recall you snapping at me during that event.”

“We were requested to present a more unified family look, snapping at you would have been uncalled for. It’s not like I was particularly close to you, the whole night.”

“On the contrary, you arrived with him, allowing him to have an arm around you. You danced with him when Ares agreed to help him across the dance floor and brought him home afterwards when he told you that his legs wouldn’t hold him any further. What is that if not closeness?”

Aphrodite closed her eyes. “The first was just imagery. It would make everything look smoother if we were in matching outfits, and if I looked like an adoring wife or at least closer to an adoring wife. And the second was a request from Ares, not Hephaestus.”

Ares winced. “Dite,” he pleaded softly.

“What? I make no apologies for the fact that I did not choose my own spouse but I will choose who I love.”

“And the third question, about why Hephaestus bends for your every whim?” Percy asked softly.

“Ask him. I have never understood all of the reasons that cause him to do what he does.”

“It makes her happy.”

Percy rolled his eyes. He accepted the steak platter that Ares handed him. “Do you understand that any better than I do?”

“He loves her. He wishes for her happiness over his own just about all the time. You should ask him about all the conversations that he is privy to that she isn’t, that he handles just so she never knows about them.”

“What conversations?”

“The one Ares is trying to ensure gets brought up is the fact that I ensure none of the conversations regarding us having immortal children together never reaches your ears.”

“No, no, no.” Her smile turned brittle. Her eyes hardened. “They took the right to choose my husband from me, and they were smart enough never to bring up the idea of forced heirs to me. They would never do that because I would rip their eyes from their sockets and feast upon them. I would ensure that sailors jumped over the edges of their boats every time they dared to glance upon the sea. I would burn the whole damn world. They do not do that.”

“They do,” Hephaestus replied. “I just never let them speak to you. I tell them that they will deal with me, and I postpone their deadlines. I push back against their arguments, and I find counter solutions when necessary. For instance, at this moment, Eros is my heir.”

Ares turned his head just slightly to the side. “You need not make her bastard, you heir. I might honor him as my child, but I do acknowledge that he is not legitimate.”

Aphrodite glared at Ares. “He is our child. I declare him legitimate. I say that I made him out of love and not duty and that alone should raise his status.”

“I legitimized him at Hephaestus’ request ages ago,” Zeus agreed.

Hera nodded. “I attempted to fight that one, but failed miserably. I eventually caved and offered the boy my own acceptance of his title too.”

Percy looked between all of the gods. Then, he let out a long suffering sigh. “This whole story is going to be a mess.”

“Yes, probably,” Hephaestus agreed.

“Ugh. Uncle Zeus, please tell me everyone else is going to be ready for the session when we finish eating.”

“I believe so.”

Percy carved up his steak and started planning while he was eating. The three gods that were going to be the stars of today’s session were still bickering. Hera and Hestia and Zeus went back to speaking amongst themselves about how they thought the wedding was a nice event for the gods. Meanwhile Ariadne and Dionysus were piling more food onto Percy’s plate to ensure that he got his calories back up.

So, for the session, he needed better background. Actually, everyone needed better background. First up, how Hephaestus saw the start of the their relationship and marriage. Then, how Aphrodite saw the start of the their relationship and marriage. Then, the two of them were both going to need to say how they fucking started off the marriage. How that ended with the two of them agreeing to never actually care for each other, try to make the marriage work, and whatever else happens to come up during that segment. Then, how the affair began. Obviously it wasn’t like most of the other affairs that were being brought up at times. This wasn’t a lot of random partnerships that meant nothing or everything, this was one specific immortal who she was claiming for like all of eternity that wasn’t her married partner. That one was also going to have to include Ares. Then, he needed all three of them to say what their ideal end goal would be for this. If they could have everything they wanted, what would it be?

Percy stood at the final bite of his plate of food. “Alright, let’s go.” He had an entourage of gods following him as he stepped into the council chambers. The rest of the gods were already there.

Poseidon had shifted the thrones slightly to move Demeter’s over next to him. He had Athena to one side and Demeter to the other now. He glanced over at Zeus to see whether the changes would result in his brother being upset.

Zeus took a look around the room. “Hades, do you want to shift where you and Persephone are sitting to be over closer to Demeter?”

“Nope.”

Persephone snorted. She moved her hand, and the thrones moved at her will to where he suggested. “Ignore him.”

“I’m still not convinced that she isn’t going to try to kill me.”

“Not today,” Demeter offered softly. “Unless the therapy session is somehow you having done even more shit to me and mine.”

Zeus laughed heartedly. “This one doesn’t involve any of us big six for once.”

“Blatantly untrue, but we can pretend for the moment,” Hephaestus stated.

“Huh?”

Hephaestus stared at his father’s bewilderment and then he burst out into a rough laugh. “Holy shit. Do you not realize the level to which you and mom have completely and utterly fucked my marriage beyond a salvageable start?”

“Don’t go trying to shift blame,” Aphrodite snapped. “Our problems are ours.”

“The fuck they are. Do you think I’m the one who dragged you to the altar unwillingly? No, that was all dad. I told him to find me a fucking bride. I was expecting a willing one and not someone who didn’t want to be there.”

“What?” Her voice shook.

“And mom is not only the blackmail material I used to ensure that I got a bride, but she’s also the one who wouldn’t let me back down once you were dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage. You want to look at why the two of us have such shoddy base support for our marriage, the two of them are heavily at fault. Sure, maybe I should have denied the queen and king of Olympus rather than marry someone unwilling. And sure, maybe you should have given me the benefit of the doubt that fighting the two of them at the time and strength I had then would have been near impossible, but we were both just doing the best we could with what they left us with.”

Percy whistled. Eyes turned towards him. It had been a while since he had to use any methods to draw attention to him. “Enough. If Zeus and Hera end up being important to your story, rest assured, I will drag them into the session.”

Poseidon looked up at the sky. “Oh no.”

“And if anyone else is involved, we’ll deal with them too.”

Percy wasn’t sure why his dad was suddenly upset, but he was sure that he’d uncover the reasons at some point.

Aphrodite was not so happy to let it lie. “You mean like someone wrestling enough control over the waters to ensure that I couldn’t express my displeasure with the whole situation by means of my own domains.”

“You were killing children,” Poseidon yelled. “At unprecedented rates, and no one was listening even as all the kids died. The ocean can be a cruel mistress at times, but it is not so unfair as that.”

“It was my choice. I help the sirens sing their song. I can influence who gets pulled to the waves. It was my revenge. How dare you stop me?”

“Hey!” Percy shouted. “Enough, Aphrodite, we will get to your host of issues with this that and the other thing in due time. For now, shut up and sit down, so I can get this session going. Just screaming isn’t going to accomplish any change.”

“No, I’ve bit my tongue often enough.”

“Aphrodite,” Percy pleaded. “I am not going to tell you to bite your tongue. Have I in the history of these sessions, ever told one of you that something you were feeling wasn’t right?”

“No,” she admitted.

“So, do you have any reason to believe that I’m going to silence you later when it comes to how you’re feeling about all that happened to you?”

“I do not.”

“So, can you please take your seat?”

Aphrodite stared at him. Her body was shaking. Eventually though, she dropped her head to her chest and walked back towards her seat. Her steps were loud in the chambers and it did not take anyone puzzling together the fact that she was angry. She was willing but she was upset.

“Okay, Hephaestus, can you give us all insight into how this relationship came to be?”

“Aphrodite would prefer to tell the story.”

“Aphrodite will be telling us her side to the story, yes. However, you are one of the major players in this story. You had agency. You made choices. So, you have a side to the story as well. Please, just tell us what that side is, so we can all continue to try to help you towards a better ending than shouting at each other every time your marriage is brought up.”

Hephaestus sighed. “Okay, then I guess it starts when I went to talk to Hades about my father.”

“It starts where?” Aphrodite asked puzzled.

Hephaestus waved his hand, practically begging for a moment to get all the story together in his own head to be able to explain it to others. “Okay, so I went to uncle Hades. I was curious whether he had any insight on why my father had yet to name me heir despite the fact that I was his oldest legitimate child. No one knew that Athena was coming later, or that Apollo would grab so many domains that he makes the rest of us look like weaklings, so it seemed to me at the time it was an easy choice.”

Hades nodded. “Right. I forgot you came to ask me. You had considered going to Poseidon, but he had his hands full with his own children. And mine were mostly well behaved. I told you that I had long ago stopped trying to predict why Zeus did anything.”

Hephaestus smiled. “Yeah, but as I was leaving, the Moira stopped me. They asked whether I was truly curious about Zeus’ decision making. When I said yes, they guided me back to where they stay when they aren’t out weaving strings in front of people or passing along prophecies.”

“It was in their hut that they told me all about my image problems. The fact that this wasn’t just dad passing me over, but a problem across the pantheon. With my injuries, I was seen as a weak god. Someone who a lot of them could overthrow. If dad named me heir, people would start trying to overthrow me the second he was gone. Make all their plans for when they were sure that I’d be the only one they were fighting.”

Hephaestus’ smile disappeared, in its place was a small frown. “I really hated that answer. I understood it, of course, but why was I still being punished for actions I didn’t choose to take. It’s one of my domains, I understand that. Khaos chose it for me, I recognize her right to hand us the domains that she believes are going to be important to us, but still I hated everything right then. I hated that mom had thrown me from a cliff and made it worse. I hated that healing wasn’t an option. I hated the cane. I begged the fates for a way to get away from these consequences. I begged them for another chance.”

“I remember them laughing,” he whispered. “I remember them telling me they have no control over what Khaos had decreed. I asked whether there was no other way, and they told me of course there was. They said that I needed a wife, someone to be queen of Olympus by my side. Someone who could make up for my image issues. Someone who I could stand behind. Or I think more accurately they said I needed either that or a council more loyal than Zeus’, and since I was young, I thought that getting a bride would be easier.”

“How do you feel about that now?”

Hephaestus glanced over at Percy. “I was a fool. I was also young and desperate for some approval after the shit storm of what I had been born with.”

“Just making sure that we don’t need to address why that assumption was a fucking mistake from the get go.”

Hephaestus snorted. “Yeah, I get that everything I did from this moment on could have been better handled through any other means. However, I was a dumb kid with chronic pain and Zeus and Hera as parents. Things were always going to get messy, in my humble opinion.”

“Continue,” Percy said.

“Anyway, I got it in my head that dad was ignoring my requests to see any courtship papers because he didn’t see me being a good husband. Now, I acknowledge it was likely because all the ones that I was getting at the time were definitely people looking to use me to get ahead.”

“No shit,” Zeus said. “You barely left the Olympus palace. You definitely weren’t getting genuine good marriage proposals.”

Hephaestus sighed. “Yes, well, sorry for not understanding the politics behind marriage.”

Hera sighed. “It’s fine. We should have been talking to you about that and the political impact of Zeus naming you heir anyway. None of this would be happening had we done a better job at raising you with all the knowledge that you needed.”

Hephaestus inclined his head. “Thanks, mom. I kidnapped you next.”

“I am aware.”

“So, I used several contraptions to kidnap mom. I was smart enough to ensure that none of them would harm her. And then I locked her way. Then, I told dad that I wouldn’t give her back until he brought me a bride.”

Hera laughed. “I remember you visiting me and letting me know what your demands were. You were so confident that this was some grand plan.”

“I did catch you,” Hephaestus stated blandly.

Hera raised a brow. “Darling, you know I didn’t fight you, right?”

“What?”

“I mean you did capture me. Your traps and machines were very well thought out for being able to catch me by surprise. But you still had to drag me to place me in the cage that you wanted to use against Zeus, and on several occasions, you gave me more than enough means to stop you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“You were passionate enough about the situation that you were willing to try your best to kidnap the queen of Olympus. I decided this was how I’d lend my support. It’s part of why I wouldn’t let you back down. You wanted this, and your father’s choice in brides was a good one.”

Aphrodite scoffed. “I was unwilling.”

“And?” Hera rolled her eyes when everyone turned their glares on her. “Who would you have rather we switch with you? Someone who would use your husband?”

“No,” she snarled. “He’s sweet enough that he’d let someone like that walk all over him, this pantheon, and this family.”

“Someone who would hurt him, then?”

“Of course not.”

“So you agree, we needed choices who we could trust wouldn’t use or hurt him.”

“Yes,” Aphrodite bit out.

“Do you think we should have chosen Artemis?”

Artemis shot up in her seat. Her eyes were wide. “What the fuck?”

Hera held up a hand. “We needed someone we could trust. We needed family. Of the born people we could have chosen, we had you, Aphrodite, and Kym. Kym much as she would not have wanted to hurt him, would have. She swore to her father that if he ever forced her into marriage, she would make the man suffer and burn. Her oath would have eventually held him to harm. Artemis was a terrible choice because no matter how much she tries to trust men that aren’t her twin, she doesn’t. She made the vow to be a virgin goddess and forcing her out of that role to marry him. It might have killed her. That left you. Yes, you were unwilling, but tell me who could have we chosen.”

“You could have told him no.”

“After he kidnapped me to ensure that he had a marriage. No, I could not. We could not.”

Zeus nodded slowly. “It was regrettable that you wanted nothing to do with the conversation. I was hoping to be able to tell you about why we weren’t giving you a choice in husbands anymore. I was hoping to be able to explain how all of this went wrong, but you didn’t want a conversation, and I could not let you walk away.”

“Fuck you,” Aphrodite said.

Percy cleared his throat. “Hephaestus, we’ve gone a little bit off on a tangent, but will you continue to tell us how this led up to the wedding.”

“Uh, sure. I sent my demands to dad. He told me he’d set up a wedding and a bride. I said I’d release mom when my bride was walking down the aisle. Set mom’s cage up in front of the damn stage. Realized my bride was to be Aphrodite, and then I saw her face.”

“She was,” he choked on the words. “She was so angry and bitter. I could tell from the second that I saw her that somehow my request had hurt her. That she was not willing and this marriage would only end up hurting someone. I was going to turn around. I was going to release Hera early, but that’s the first time mom put up a fight. She stopped me from doing so.”

“You were right. Well, not entirely right. There were a lot of better ways to get our attention and even more where we didn’t have to speed choose a bride from options that we knew we could trust. But, a bride would help you. And we had put off trying to get you the help that you needed for too long by that point. Giving you this was the best of the not great options available to us.”

Aphrodite glowered at Hera. “Really?”

“Yes, you damn selfish fool of a girl.”

Everyone flinched back at Hera’s words. “You’re hardly the first woman to be proposed a marriage that she didn’t actually want but needed to take for the good of the family or the pantheon or her safety or any other thing. You think I wanted to be his queen? No!”

Zeus stared at Hera. “What?”

“I wanted to be your sister. I wanted to be someone that you protected at all times, not the woman you wanted to impress and find solace in. I knew you’d end up cheating on whoever you took as a bride. You are not so dissimilar from your brother that you could ever manage to be truly faithful, and gods if I didn’t know it would hurt me that my domains and my well being were never going to truly be enough to get you to honor our marriage vow. I did not want this,” Hera said.

“You proposed this,” Poseidon rumbled.

“I did. It was the best solution to move forward for the pantheon. It would keep Zeus from being so paranoid that he killed another queen. And for that matter, it ensured that the rest of you wouldn’t move against him as often because it meant moving against me.”

Hera rubbed her temples. “Marriage is many things, and some of them are love, Aphrodite, but a good portion of them aren’t. It’s why marriage is not one of your domains, it’s one of mine. A good marriage is political, and a job, not just two lovers coming together. You can love your spouse, you can find love in your marriage, but often it ends up being because you both need something someone else can give. You needed protection. He needed your image.”

“Protection from what?”

“Protection from the number of members of the pantheon who thought as the goddess of sex and passion and love that you were free game,” Ares answered. “I was young, but I was not so young that I did not hear the whispers.”

Zeus nodded. “My protections went far, but the more you were venturing out to find love, the more danger you were in. Hephaestus wedding you meant that it was your choice to step out of the marriage and his to respond. Most of the men and women who were willing to take liberties to be with you, knew better than to step further because if they lost your blessing, his wrath was to be feared.”

“His wrath? What wrath? He doesn’t care about my affairs.”

“Not caring about your affairs does not equate to not caring,” Hephaestus responded bitterly. “Any time one of your mortal affair partners tries to claim that they convinced the goddess of love they were better, I stepped in. Hell, among your immortal partners, almost all of them know better than to ever find themselves alone in a room with me and utter your name.”

“Almost all?”

“The exception is me,” Ares chimed in. “I can speak your name freely, because I do truly love you.”

“I know,” Aphrodite said softly. “I love you too.”

Ares smiles. His eyes gentler for her than they are for anyone else in the room, except for his brother, who he looks at as if the world was on his shoulders even still. “I went to him the night after we first got together.”

Percy made a loud buzzing sound. “We’re getting ahead of the story. We only just found out why and how Hephaestus made it down the aisle. We are not about to get into the affair, and we aren’t going to further touch on the fact apparently Aunt Hera didn’t want her marriage either.”

“We aren’t?” Zeus questioned.

“That’s a problem for the two of your marriage session and not today’s. I’m already trying to fix one messy marriage today, I’m not doing two at once, that’s guaranteed to result in me losing my mind and nothing good.”

Hera inclined her head. “Fair enough.”

Aphrodite sighed. “Where to, therapist?”

“How did you get to the wedding?”

“Uh, let’s see. The queen of Olympus went missing suddenly. Half the pantheon was concerned that the titans or giants or primordials were making a move. The other half was convinced the queen finally had enough of Zeus’ affairs and ran off. The council alone knew who had taken her when the note came in.”

Aphrodite’s hands came up to cradle her face as she tried to recall all the different parts of this. “Uh, he demanded a bride. The whole council was in a uproar. I remember Zeus handing over a stack of papers to Poseidon.”

“The marriage proposals that Zeus had been sent. He wanted my eyes to check over and see whether there were any that he dismissed that I thought might not be as bad as what Zeus had. There were none of that I found that weren’t clearly going to hurt my nephew. I did send word to Amphitrite to see whether she had any connections that could be used.”

Amphitrite glanced up. “Except none of that I could get done in a quick time frame were fruitful. Our young girls could have maybe been options but marrying them that young would have been hard on them.”

Hades cleared his throat. “Is there a particular reason why none of you came to me?”

“What could you have done?” Zeus questioned. “None of the letters were from the underworld immortals.”

“I had three daughters of marrying age, Zeus. Sure, the furies have their own domains and tasks, but it would not have been impossible for one of them to marry Hephaestus and helped him. I’m pretty sure at least one of them would have been willing.” His eyes darted over to Persephone.

Persephone frowned as she considered this. “Well, yes. Alecto at least would have considered it heavily. She always did find it interesting how marriages are political. She would have enjoyed having a reason to come to Olympus more as well.”

“Your kids are always welcome,” Zeus said once more. But then, he sighed. “As for why, I never even considered your kids, Hades. You had made it clear that you were raising them away from the bullshit of the pantheon politics. I didn’t think you’d handle Hephaestus’ demand as anything but a manipulation tactic.”

“It was,” Hades agreed. “But I would have done so had you told me your only options were Kym, Benthe, Rhode, Artemis or Aphrodite. I know full well why every name on that list should have been eliminated. I would have helped you.”

Zeus groaned. “I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t think you would.”

“Next time, come to me.”

“I will.”

Aphrodite huffed. “Zeus said it would be. I said no. He said I was the only choice. I said I didn’t care. I stormed out of the council. My rage to the sirens began. I told them to focus on those that were innocent. The way I felt I was innocent and being targeted anyway for this punishment.”

Amphitrite frowned. “Ah, yes. I forgot that you came and fled to the sea for a time. Your father came for you.”

“Yeah, fat lot of protection I got from the sea when I needed it.”

Poseidon rubbed his temples. “Aphrodite, please.”

“What? Am I being unjust in my explanations? Not giving you enough credit for what you did?”

“You didn’t ask for our help. You took up your bedroom, started luring the sirens to taking the young and infant, and then your father showed up to tell us that this was a reaction to him telling you that you needed to marry Hephaestus.”

“Was it not clear?” Her voice wavered. “Did I need to do more than run to you, wreak havoc on the mortal world, and sob into my sleep every night for you to know that I needed help?”

“I knew that something was going on, but what you needed from us, that was a mystery.”

Aphrodite stared at him. “Really?”

Poseidon sighed. He stood up and he walked to Aphrodite’s throne. He wrapped an arm around her and then tugged her into a rough hug. “I am not a mind reader. I do not know when you kids need me to fight your father to save you if you do not tell me that you feel you need a savior. I knew you were unhappy about not being able to choose a love match for yourself given your domains. I thought that you had fully understood why it was necessary and just needed space to process.”

“Oh.”

Aphrodite swallowed. “Had I managed words?”

“Then, your father would have been barred from the palace and Amphitrite would have likely gone to the underworld to see whether Hades could come up with a different way for us to accomplish all that was needed.”

“Promise,” she demanded in a weak voice.

“Aphrodite had you told me that you could not handle marrying Hephaestus, I would have brought forth armies to stop them from forcing you down that aisle. I promise you this.”

She clung to him. Tears formed at her eyes. “I wanted my dad to want that for me.”

“I know.”

“He can’t promise that. He knew.”

Zeus opened his mouth and then he hesitated. He sighed deeply. “Aphrodite, you didn’t tell me either.”

“What?”

“You said you wouldn’t marry him, but you didn’t say why or that you were planning on anything else. When I came to you under the sea, you seemed resigned to the fact the wedding was taking place. I thought someone had reasoned with you.”

“You forced yourself into my safe place. How did you think that wasn’t what forced me into a state of resignation?”

“Because Hera and I don’t fight you kids. We don’t use all of the powers at our disposal to hurt you. We have on occasion, given official punishments that resulted in harm, which we have addressed repeatedly in these therapy session.”

“Hera does,” Aphrodite screamed. “Hera throws babies off of cliffs and targets all of us when you have an affair. I’m only safe because you never actually slept with anyone.” Aphrodite sucked in a breath. She leaned into Poseidon’s arms. “So what? You think you would have done something had I trusted you enough to say down in the sea, I’m not doing this for a second time. It doesn’t matter because none of us ever trusted you back then.”

“Daughter.”

“Shut the fuck up, dad. You’re trying to be better, and I’m allowing that to stand. Let that be enough.” Her eyes traveled to Hera. “You’re a mess, and you should care more that others don’t end up in shitty positions like yours. You don’t want your marriage end it.”

“Do you want a divorce?” Hera finally said lightly.

“What?”

“You say you were forced. You’ve asked for various family members to say whether they would have saved you had the situation been just slightly different and they had the ability. And I’m done bickering with you over why it was necessary and why sometimes marriage doesn’t end up being a love match. I’m done. You want someone to look at you and say that your emotions matter, that how you felt that day mattered, and that the marriage shouldn’t have been forced. Fine.”

Hera glanced over at Zeus. “Your son has the support of all his siblings but her, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then, Aphrodite, I have the power to dissolve your marriage. I can say that what we did was wrong and correct the damn thing.”

“You can?”

Hera nodded. “So, would you like a divorce?”

Hephaestus stared at his mother with horror on his face. Stricken as he could be, frozen in place. “Mom.”

“I know.”

“But…”

“Not your call,” Zeus finally said gruffly. “We’re trying to fix Aphrodite’s issues right now. I know you grew to love her. I know how much you cherish this marriage. But if she’s genuinely so fucking pissed that we did this to her all those years ago and can’t think of a single reason why she might want to stick this out, then that’s on her. That choice can be hers.”

Percy opened his mouth to interject. They should reflect on this more, but Ares beat him to speaking. His statement caused everyone to turn.

“That’d be the end of us too,” Ares said softly.

Aphrodite whipped around to stare at him. “What? Why? We could finally get married. We could be together in public all the time without it looking like I’m sleeping around on my husband. We could vow our love to each other for eternity.”

“I love you, Aphrodite.” He closed his eyes. He opened them again with tears in them. “But I choose my brother.”

“What?”

“He lets me love you, and he doesn’t ask for anything in return. He lets me sleep with you, and he doesn’t ask for me to leave you alone even on days when I know he’d do anything to have you come home to his bed. He has never once held this affair against me, even though I know it pains him that the woman he loves is in love with someone else. He won’t give me this. He will never give me his blessing to marry you, and I wouldn’t be with you without his approval. If you divorce him, his desire to see you happy dissipates. Enough that he wouldn’t be okay with us, and when he no longer approves, when he would finally say stop to me and be begging me to listen to him, I would.”

Hephaestus turned to Ares. “Brother,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” Ares pleaded softly. “It’s hard enough to say what I’m feeling. It’s hard to make choices. But she has to know.”

“Why?”

“I love you, Aphrodite. I treasure you and every single moment that I’ve ever gotten to have with you. But I love him more.” The tears were freely falling from his eyes.

Aphrodite gaped.

Hera stared at her, pity across her face. “I can still do it, Aphrodite. The choice is yours.”

“Stop,” Percy ordered.

Aphrodite turned to him. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy and wide. “What?”

“You shouldn’t make that choice before we finish the therapy session. We need to deal with a lot more stuff and even more about this affair and who you love, and we can’t do that after you make such a drastic decision like divorce. That will change how we handle everything.”

Aphrodite sucked in a breath. “Right. But I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“I can’t stay like this, Percy. My lover has just informed me that he loves my fucking twat of a husband more than me, and my husband is still a fucking twat that was willing to marry me unwilling. And I’m not okay to keep going.”

Well, shit. In most of the therapy sessions, the gods had maintained enough composure to work through issues without a pause. However, Zeus had stormed from a meeting once because of the emotions running too high. Percy couldn’t really fault her for being at a similar position, given what she was learning.

Hermes stood from his throne, he was at his sister’s side in a second. He held out a hand for her to take. Once she did, the two of them were gone in the wind.

Percy groaned. “Okay. Yeah, that tracks.”

Zeus glanced over at Percy. “What do you want to do?”

“Have you keep the rest of the gods here, Hephaestus and I will go get Aphrodite.”

Hephaestus jerked his head up. “I’m half of her problem, why should I go?”

Percy held up one finger. “You can find her. No matter where she is, you’ve always been able to find her.” He added a second finger to his count. “You are the problem and the solution to most of her situation. Everything that has happened has been to both of you, but you’ve handled it in progressively separate manners to the point that at this very moment, I’m not sure I can tell you for sure which one of you started this mess.” He put up a final finger into the air. “Also, if anyone can calm her, it’s probably you or Ares.”

Hephaestus rolled his eyes. He used his cane to stand. He crossed the room to Percy. “Let’s go then.”

Percy blinked as they landed on a beach. The waves were crashing gently into the shores. Hermes was lounged on one of the beach recliners.

He glanced up at them. “I hope you know what you’re doing, cousin.”

“We can hope.” Percy stalked forward. “Hephaestus, will you stay with your brother while I try to do the first part of this conversation?”

He got a half nod in response, and he took off. It wasn’t hard to tell that the flashing form in front of him was Aphrodite. She was teasing a surfer and a bartender all at once. She smiled at Percy when he arrived there.

“Don’t bother with the fake emotions, Aphrodite.”

Aphrodite’s hand shot out to clamp down on his arm as she dragged him away from mortals. Her grip betrayed how upset she truly was. The nails digging into his skin and demanding vengeance. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why didn’t my father care about my personhood enough to not trade me like a piece to barter? Why didn’t my uncle stand before me and the dangers of this world? You can’t tell me that they wouldn’t do so for some of their other children. They have. Both of them have stood between their precious Athena and consequences. Am I so different?”

Percy took a second to consider. “You weren’t in real danger.”

“I am hurting. Every part of me feels like it was just ripped from my insides. I am in agony and I have been in partial agony for millennia and you would say that I was in no danger.”

Percy shrugged. “You could change all of that. Ares has chosen you, time and time again. He’s telling you where he can’t choose you. Perhaps you hoped that he would choose you every time, but that isn’t fair. Not when you’re married to his brother. Not when he might love you, but not enough to destroy his brother. And Hephaestus is not some monster that crept into your bedroom and stole away your innocence. He was a desperate heir to the throne trying to deal with chronic pain and disability among a family of immortals that don’t have to deal with these issues. He was doing his best. You could ask him for anything, and he’d give it to you.”

Aphrodite crossed her arms. The sea licked at their heels. “I want things that I apparently can’t have.”

“He’s here,” Percy said. “Ask him whether they are truly impossible to have. I doubt that there’s much in this world that you could ask for that Hephaestus wouldn’t offer you.”

Aphrodite’s eyes spun around. They landed on her husband. He was indeed, heavily standing on his cane. She beckoned with one hand.

Hephaestus made his way over to them. He tilted his head to the side. “Hello, wife.”

“Husband.” Where his title for her had been full of respect, the way she replied was filled with disdain. The two of them were entering from separate points.

“We need to return to therapy,” Hephaestus said finally. “What would it take to bring you back?”

Aphrodite stared at him. There was anger in her eyes as she stared at him. “I could ask you to hurt yourself further, you know.”

“Would that please you?”

Percy groaned audibly. “Please, Hephaestus.”

“Hush, Percy. My wife has demands. She can make them. If they hurt me and that pleases her, I have no complaints to utter.”

Aphrodite’s gaze darkened. “But you won’t allow me the love of my life.”

“On the contrary, I have allowed you this over and over again. Every child you have with him holds my protection more so than they have yours or his. The other gods know better than to attack you for infidelity. Even my mother bothers to make less of an effort to pick on your divine children less. What more would you like?”

“A divorce,” she snarled.

“That’s not my choice. That’s his. I won’t do either of you the discourtesy of lying. You divorcing me would break me, and if he was still with you, it’d be a betrayal. No matter that the love has always been there. No matter that you’ve always had a soft spot for him. This goes far beyond that. And somewhere in you, you know that.”

Aphrodite deflated. “I don’t necessarily want a divorce.”

“Good. Then come back to therapy and help us figure out what you do want.”

“I want something from you.”

Hephaestus raised his eyes to the sky. “I would literally offer you pain. Whatever it is, you can have.”

“I want your throne. You can stay on mine for the duration of this session. We’ll figure something else out afterwards.”

Hephaestus blinked harshly. “Sure.”

She faltered. “What?”

“You want my throne. The one in the council chambers, I presume. Have it.”

“It’s the focal point of your powers,” she exclaimed.

“I am aware of what it is. You asked for it.”

“I…”

“We’re still working on getting to that point,” Percy explained softly to Aphrodite. “But he’s not exaggerating when he offers you anything. That’s not fucking healthy.”

She flashed out of the beach. Hephaestus closed his eyes. “She’s back in the chambers. Shall we return as well, Percy?”

“Why is your marriage so complicated?”

“Because she did not to be married, I only wanted a bride, and no one who was old enough to know to intervene bothered to.” Hephaestus took his arm, and they were back in front of the council chambers. He leaned heavily on his cane, as Aphrodite sat delicately on his throne.

Zeus furrowed his brow. “Daughter, that is not your seat, nor your domains to claim.”

“Father, leave it be.” Hephaestus stepped past Aphrodite’s throne seat. He glanced at Ares. “May I?”

Ares shifted, so his brother could easily take the seat, and he was lounging on the side. “So have we solved anything?”

Aphrodite sucked in a breath. “Hephaestus has a point that the marriage between us being willing has far less to do with him and far more to do with Zeus.” She sucked in a breath. “Queen Hera, could I give you an answer regarding my marriage once I actually finish this session and not at this exact moment?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Artemis’ head was raised and she was staring at her step mother.

“She had been saying that the marriage was unsalvageable because of these emotions she had regarding being unwilling. If that remains true, then the only way for the family to move past these issues is for her to no longer be stuck in that marriage. As the only goddess with the power to assist her, i would.”

Zeus blinked. “Wife, surely you aren’t saying that you believe their marriage is beyond saving.”

“My opinion on whether it can be something better or not does not matter. What matters is whether or not Aphrodite and Hephaestus agree that it could be fixed, if they cannot then they need help.”

Aphrodite cleared her throat. “We are not going to move on quite yet either, Percy.”

“You need something else.”

“I do.” She stared directly at her father. “You will give me your word. You will not drag another woman down a wedding altar without her consent. I don’t care what reasons you have. I don’t care if you think the whole world will come crashing down. Another woman will not have the king of Olympus dragging her to a marriage she would not welcome.”

Zeus swallowed. “I wouldn’t have genuinely forced you had I known it was this unwelcome. You have my word, my daughter. I will not do this ever again.”

Aphrodite inclined her head. “Very well.”

Percy cleared his throat. He dragged attention back to himself. “Would the two of us tell us what happened after the wedding? How did you go about this marriage?”

Hephaestus laughed. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. If Ares’ arms hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen out of the throne. “I brought her back to the palace my wing. She told me something, I don’t recall the exact words, but it boiled down to, I will never consider this marriage valid. I will publicly appear next to you to appease our father, but otherwise, you have no wife. Then, she stormed out.”

“It was a bit more complicated,” Aphrodite allowed softly.

“In what way?”

“He wasn’t…” she cut off her words. “I went on several rants during that time. Throughout the whole time, he refused to cut me off. There were several times, I was reasonably certain he was going to push, to force me into doing things, he did not.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“The first thing I started in on was the fact he could kiss his plans for a wedding night goodbye.”

Hephaestus’ lips twitched in amusement. “Didn’t I tell you that you’d never be requested in my bed, and that you could find your own way into it, if you ever wanted it?”

“Something like that.” She sighed. “You were kind about it.”

“Usually speaking I do try to be kind. I don’t always have the capacity to be, but I have always attempted to make this easier on you.”

Her eyes went down. “When I told him I wanted to give him no privileges of having a wife, he let me have my own wing of the palace. When I told him, I would take other partners as befitting my status as a goddess of love and sex, he told me I was welcome to them, and he would ensure no one said anything.”

Hera’s eyes cut over to her son. “Is that why?”

“Why what?”

“Why you have never allowed me to censure her the way I have others who stepped out on their marriage? Is this why you purposefully go out every now and then to find a mortal woman to bear your children? Is this why you’ve cut the tongue of lesser pantheon members who dared to call your wife an adulterer?”

“Oh, yes.”

“You’ve done what?” Aphrodite was staring at her husband as if she were seeing him for the first time.

“You asked for your affair partners. You asked me to ensure no one said anything, or well more accurately you made it clear you did not want to face consequences for having your affairs. I have done my best to ensure this was true. I have accepted your children as my own, including your immortal ones. I figured that would be the best I could do for you.”

Aphrodite’s hand raised to her forehead, then she just leaned her elbow down and collapsed into it. She started laughing softly. “You do know to get credit for these actions, you would have to ensure that I actually know that this is happening, right?”

“I wasn’t looking for credit.”

“What?”

“You said what you needed from our marriage. I acquiesced on all terms. I could and did fight with you on one point. I told you that while I would never demand you act as my wife in private, whether we were truly alone or not, I didn’t care. But in these chambers and at major pantheon events, you had to make the appearance as my wife. You could be unhappy, you could flirt, you could do all that you wanted, but you still had to accept the title of wife and come on my arm, so that the queen and king would have no grounds to attack either of us on the grounds of our marriage. I don’t need nor want credit for things I offered these things at your request for what our marriage looks like. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Aphrodite stared at him. “But you would have earned my favor.”

“I don’t need nor want your favor, Aphrodite. You told me the ways that you would accept me acting as your husband, and I do them. I ask for nothing in return for them. If you would ever like more, that is on your shoulders. You can come and ask for them.”

Her eyes turned to a glare. “Why is that? Why must it be mine to bear?”

“Because you are the one who does not want this marriage. I would have gladly accepted you.”

Aphrodite frowned. “How was I to know though? If you didn’t tell me any of the deeds you were doing for me, how was I ever supposed to change the image in my head from the man who forced me into a marriage into a man that loved me?”

“I didn’t intend for you to know.”

Hermes groaned. “Okay, well for those of us confused as can be, could you maybe find it in yourself to offer like a percentage of an explanation?”

“Yeah, alright. Uh, simply put, I don’t want to work for it anymore. I do these things because I was always going to do these things. You asked for so little from me, and these were the only ones I was allowed. I took them. I ran with them. You wanted my brother, I gave my blessing. You wanted to have his children, I ensured their safety and protections. Everything else? I wasn’t going to risk your wrath. I was just going to be who I was. I was never the god who forced you down the aisle. No one was. Your fear kept glued there. And maybe I should have seen the fear in your eyes and called it all off, but I am a scapegoat.”

Aphrodite’s mouth hung open.

Hephaestus nodded. “All of you like acting like I have no emotions about the shit you do to me, but I do. Okay, I have a lot of emotions over the fact that every time Ares has ever slept with you Aphrodite, he thinks of me and gets guilty. Not guilty enough to stop, but enough to drag me into the background of every thrust. Uncomfortable as fuck that is.”

“You, Aphrodite, tend to think of me when you’re sleeping with anyone. You want to spite me and our marriage and all you’ve successfully done is drag me into your problems. I hate it.”

“I hate that mother drinks and thinks of me randomly and the fact she wishes that she had done anything else that fated day at the top of Mount Olympus. I hate that father thinks of me as a weaker son every time he is reminded of the great feats of Heracles or Ares. I hate that Uncle Hades on more than one occasion thought of me when he was doing something with Persephone and wondered whether his marriage to her was similar to how I forced my own marriage to occur.”

He breathed out. “I hate that all of you rarely come to me, but you think about me all of the time. So often that I am there. I am there to save you when you stumble. I am there to smooth over troubles that you don’t pause to consider, and still somehow I am worth less than the rest of you. I may not be able bodied. But I am a god of the forge. I have great myths associated with my name, and I have produced remarkable heroes.”

Ares hooked his chin over Hephaestus’ shoulder. He burrowed down. “I’ll be better,” he swore under his breath.

“You have been. The start of therapy really turned over a leaf for you.” Hephaestus leaned into his brother. “I meant it earlier, Aphrodite. You can ask me for anything that I have to give and I will do so.”

“You wouldn’t give me him.”

“He’s not to give.”

Ares huffed. “Aphrodite, he is my brother. He needs someone in his corner. He’s got me.”

“Why?”

“Because I should have been there the whole time. I should have been the one protecting him. When people said shit, I should have punched them until they fell and agreed to plead for his mercy. Because I have been a shit brother, and I’d like to be fucking better. I love you, and I asked him whether he needed me or wanted me to stop seeing you at the start of this, and he said no. You’d always be his wife, and he had no problems if in return I was your lover. I know him. I know him, and if you were no longer his wife, my continued love for you would be awful to him. I won’t do that. I won’t be another harm he can list off as having been dealt from this family.”

Aphrodite let out an wordless screech.

Percy cleared his throat. “How did you come to love Ares, Aphrodite? Given your own admittance of not noticing the little things Hephaestus had done.”

“It didn’t happen all at once.”

“It didn’t?” Zeus questioned.

“No, the first time it happened, I was wondering whether I could trigger him to a rage worthy of his mother. The apathy was getting on my nerves.”

Hephaestus cleared his throat.

“The apathy that I thought was there. Evidently this was his way of giving me what I asked for.” She paused. “He was good to me. In a time where women were very often treated like shit even when they were beautiful and worthy of being wooed, he took the time to pluck flowers.”

Demeter laughed. “Did you sneak into my garden for her?”

Ares spread his hands wide. “You have the best blooms, auntie.”

“He made sure that while we were sneaking around, we usually had comforts still. He kept me hidden from view when we’d get a little closer to getting caught. He defended me at meetings. And somewhere in between all of these things, I fell for him. I loved him. The way that he did all of these things.”

Ares snorted.

“What do you find funny about that?”

He cast a glance at his brother. “Do you know who told me I should get you flowers?”

She shook her head.

“Or who ensured that I never forgot a blanket to tuck underneath you? Or who warned me when someone was getting close to where we were and that I might want to shield us both?”

She blinked. “Someone was doing all of that.”

"Of course they were. I’m not easily kind by nature. I wanted to be for you, enough so that I asked for assistance, but I did have to ask for help. I asked Hephaestus to help me. Your husband knew your favorite flower. He knew that you craved comforts. He knew that you would hate being found out in the earlier stages of what we were doing. And once you didn’t care about that, he stopped. When he realized that he switched over to fixing the problem in another fashion.”

Ares smiled at her. “I defended you on my own, but I was never the only one.”

Aphrodite’s head tracked over to her husband. She let out another screech.

“Are you alright, daughter?” Zeus was staring at her.

“We’re not getting a divorce,” she muttered finally. “Thank you for the offer, Hera. But I’m afraid my husband and my partner and I need to figure a few things out before we can do anything.”

Hera glanced up. “Shocking.” She went back to working on some of her knitting projects.

Aphrodite rubbed at her temples. “We need new rules, Hephaestus.”

“As you say.”

“Can you form an actual opinion?”

“If you ask for something I don’t deem reasonable, I will say something. You are the only one unhappy right now. Ares and I have talked it through. I’m good with what is.”

Aphrodite’s eyes raised to the skies. She took several calming breaths. “Are you telling me that you don’t want the only person who has started to see you for your actions as more than just a friend?”

“I don’t want to take your lover from you,” Hephaestus countered.

“Hence the new rules, dumbass. Ares, you will be taking both of us out for dates separately. I will be taking Hephaestus out on dates. Hephaestus, you will be in charge of the dates where all of us are present.”

Ares nodded.

Hephaestus furrowed his brow, but he inclined his head.

“For the time being, we will alert each other if we intend on sharing beds within this relationship. None of us are going to tell the others no, but we aren’t going to blindside part of this with the hookups having happened.”

Another set of nods.

“Zeus, for the time being, we are tentatively all together. Address invitations to all three of us for the important events.”

The king stared at her. “As you wish.”

“If we can figure out how this will work for us and whether it even can, we will do a new marriage. It will be different than Demeter’s marriage into a healthy one. We’re redoing all of it.”

Hephaestus snorted. “Probably for the best.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Final thing, while we’re figuring this out, none of us are sleeping with others either. No mortals.”

Hera’s eyes tracked over to her. “That’s a dangerous thing to ask. There may come a time when you realize that they are incapable of doing what you’ve asked.”

Aphrodite did not turn her gaze to the queen of Olympus. Instead, she stared at her men. “Do not mistake your children for their father. If I demand it for a small period of time, they will agree to that. They might not be able to offer me a marriage without affairs, but they can do a trial period.”

Hephaestus met his wife’s gaze. “No mortals until you give the okay. I can manage that.”

Ares’ brow was furrowed. “Yeah, I can manage this if that’s what you’d like.”

Zeus paused. “How long do you think this trial period will last?”

“I have no idea,” Aphrodite admitted. “Percy, would you be potentially willing to do a couples session with us after the quest?”

“Of course. Anytime any of you need me, let me know, and I’ll be there.”

Apollo grinned at him. “Accepting the fact that you’re sticking around?”

“Did I ever a choice?” Percy quipped. He sobered up quickly though. He met Aphrodite’s gaze. “Is there anything else that you need?” He switched his gaze over to Hephaestus.

Both of them shook their heads.

Percy turned to face Hestia and Zeus. “Are there any concerns about this that either of you need addressed?”

Hestia smiled. “No, I can tell that there marriage is still a strain on the bonds of this family, but it no longer feels like a threat that will snap at any moment. I can wait them out. Although if the three of you ever do need help, know that I’m here. I’m not as good as Percy at it, but I am quite something.”

Zeus thought about it for a quiet moment. “No, I think I’m good. Thank you for checking, Percy.”

“Session dismissed.”

Hephaestus stood. Ares wrapped an arm around him to help stabilize him. “Would the two of you like to join me for a meal?” Hephaestus asked it softly. There were no denials, instead, Aphrodite climbed off her husband’s throne and met him and her lover.

Percy breathed out a sigh of relief. Things were doing well. Now, if he could patch up Hera’s relationship with her children, he’d be golden.

Chapter Text

Percy wandered towards Zeus and Hera’s wing of the palace. He knew he needed to talk with his aunt ahead of the upcoming session. For better or for worse, they needed to actually delve deeper into how she perceives her step children and her relationship with them. He could feel a faint tug in his chest towards where Hera was, which was not her bedroom. Nor was it Zeus’ which he felt grateful for. He wasn’t sure he would have survived interrupting them, whether they were angry or not.

He found her in an arm chair across from a fire where Hestia was sitting. Her needles were clinking together as she made another piece. She had a small pile in front of her that Hestia kept shooting gentle smiles at when she knew her sister was not looking her way and she could get away with it.

Percy cleared his throat lightly. “Auntie, I need to speak to you.”

“Which one of us, dear?” Hestia asked lightly.

Percy laughed. “Hestia, if I ever feel the need to come after you before a therapy session because I’m nervous of your reaction, I think we will genuinely be screwed beyond measure.”

“Ah, so it must be me you were looking for,” Hera said softly. “Come in, take a seat. Hestia, would you mind sealing off the room from any eavesdroppers?”

“You think they’ll come?”

“Percy does tend to get my children’s attention.”

Percy took her up on the offer. He tucked his feet under him as he curled up into the other arm chair. The room was dimly lit, and the entire space was encompassed in a warm sensation that put him at ease. He hoped that he wasn’t about ready to destroy that for good.

Hera glanced over at him. “My marriage or my children?”

“The children need to be put first this time.”

“They usually do,” she agreed softly.

“Hera, we’re going to be talking about the step children.”

“And what list that is? Persephone, Dionysus, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite.” She hummed softly. “Some I have harmed worse than others.”

“Seems to me that you target Hermes and Dionysus more often.”

Hera inclined her head. “Dionysus used to be a normal target, or at least a more normal target. He was a demigod, and that usually makes them open season. Zeus interjecting was an unexpected outcome, but one that I think makes him a better father than usual. Hermes on the other hand just happens to piss me off.”

Percy hadn’t expected her to be so blunt about it. Nor was he sure what to say at first. “How has he pissed you off?”

“Do you know who should have the king’s ear? Who should hear about council matters before everyone is gathered? Who should have the virtue of being permitted to disagree in private before things are made public? The queen. Do you know gets it?”

“Hermes,” Percy concluded.

Hera nodded. “I’m not fair to him. I’m not fair to any of them. The world isn’t fair and all of the bonding and therapy in the world wouldn’t make it become fair, no matter how much some of us wish it could.”

“You could make it more fair.”

Hera glanced down at the pile of works in front of her. “One is for grief, and the rest are for acceptance. What do you think I’m doing?”

“You’re not going to make us work on forcing you to accept that they are not responsible for Zeus’ actions?”

Hera shook her head. “I know that. I’ve always known that. i just couldn’t always be okay with that. Or more accurately the striking lack of agency in my own relationship.”

Percy blinked. “Can you keep the marital problems out of the session?”

“Presuming the children don’t ask for my reasons, yes. However, there’s a good chance at least one of them will. In which case, all bets are off, and I hope you prepared for the bashing of their father.”

Percy paused. “You said last session you could grant Hephaestus and Aphrodite a divorce.”

“I could.”

“Could you not do the same for yourself?”

Hestia giggled over by the fire. “Oh, Percy, never change.”

“I could, but it would destroy his legitimacy as king. Decimate Olympus. Possibly cause a crisis that could never be resolved. Not to mention possibly kill my sister and wreck the council.”

Hera’s needles clacked together as she fell silent. She waited a few beats. “I meant what I said last session. Aphrodite is hardly the only woman in this pantheon who found herself walking down an aisle to a marriage she didn’t want. She’s just the one that chose an absolutely insane way of dealing with it. I have made this marriage something. I built off the love we already had, of course. I haven’t quite figured out how to make do with some of the parts that I can’t handle, but overwhelmingly, my marriage is stable. Or more stable at least than hers.”

Percy ran his tongue over his teeth. “It won’t be this session or the next, but maybe think about why it is that Aphrodite’s marriage ending wouldn’t be disastrous, despite the fact that her husband has nearly the power yours does and the impact on the pantheon, but you can’t.”

Hestia’s giggles spread again. “Percy.”

“Yes, auntie.”

“She doesn’t want a divorce.”

Hera’s snort was indelicate. “Butt out, sister.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“Not being wrong is a far cry from being right.” Hera sighed. “If I thought it was the best way forward, I would divorce him. I do not believe that. I have never believed that. I did not wish to marry my brother, but I did choose to. I had other options. It isn’t like Poseidon ever would have allowed one of his sister’s to be forced down the aisle when they didn’t wish to be.”

“You didn’t want this, but you chose it?”

Hera nodded to him. “It doesn’t always make sense. Sometimes we choose things we don’t want, because the consequences of not choosing, they’re awful.”

Percy glanced down at the pile of knitted projects under her. “What do you need from me in this session?”

Hera met his gaze. “Ask the children what they need. I know they will be angry.”

“I’m not asking the kids, I’m asking you.”

“Why?”

“Because the kids know I will defend their right to be angry. The kids know that while in that chamber room as long as they don’t attempt to physically strike you in any way, I will be on their side. They need not worry about the impact of speaking. They just have to speak.”

“Meanwhile, I have to worry.”

Percy bit his tongue. “You don’t have to worry about anything. However, the emotional backlash of accepting several centuries of anger for wrongs that you’ve done might weigh on you, and I’d like to avoid another Olympian fleeing my chambers when emotions run high.”

Hera sighed. “Reiterate for everyone the rules. Make sure they understand that when they ask me why, the answers can’t be driven towards my marriage. They can ask why I thought these consequences would talk their father down, but they can’t turn to Zeus and ask why it wasn’t.”

“Why is that important?”

“Hera offered him once. Her acceptance of all of his bastards, the immortal ones at least, for his agreement not to sleep with another immortal for the rest of eternity,” Hestia answered.

“He turned you down,” Percy realized out loud. His eyes went wide. “He said no, and you’ve not stopped because doing so would give him even more incentive to continue.”

Hera turned her head to the side and tilted it ever so slightly. “The full story is somewhat more complicated and ties much more to our marriage than to the children. But, yes. Over the years, I have offered him a way to spare his children more pain. I know how much it hurts him, almost as much as his affairs hurt me. If I had a way to stop this cycle easily, I would have done so sooner.”

“Sooner?”

Hera’s gaze softened as she turned back to her sister. "I will not allow the price of my anger to be my sister. Her skin flows once more with the color of the gods. If I continued to take my anger out on the children of this family, eventually things would decay again. Her skin would dull, and she would find herself knocking on a door that she cannot return from. I would not see that for as long as I still live. So, yes. I am breaking the cycle today. They will yell. They will scream. They will reach for me once more, at some point, and this time, I will meet them when they reach.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “My children, his children. What’s the difference now? They are all mine if I truly claim my rights as queen of Olympus, something you, child, have often encouraged during these sessions.”

Percy gaped at her.

Hera’s eyes opened. “Reiterate the rules, and turn the floor over to me. I will go to each of them individually. We will speak. I will not pressure them.”

“Auntie,” he whispered.

“I know.”

“You are…”

“I am changing the direction the pantheon is taking. For the first time in a long period, the queen of Olympus will make a choice to drastically change it all.”

Hestia’s lips lifted. “It never should have been you, we made his bride.”

“I wouldn’t have fit beneath the sea. And Olympus needed a queen that could stand up to its king when it was needed. It had to be me, you or Demeter.”

“It should have been Demeter.”

“Demeter was broken and trapped in her grief still. Asking her to take the burden of being queen would have killed Hades. She would have had his head, and the dead would have no king. Tartarus would have reclaimed his full domain and quite frankly, I don’t think we could survive Erebus waking back up.”

Hestia stared at her sister. “But we damned you to this constant pain and anger.”

Hera shrugged. “Perhaps you did, or perhaps our constant ignorance of other paths did. We shall find out when Percy is ready to discuss my marriage. We will either succeed or I will bear this burden without striking out.”

Percy swallowed. Then, he slipped out of the arm chair. He landed on his feet, but he put them under him as he knelt before the queen of Olympus. “My queen,” he offered.

Hera stared at him. “Rise, Percy. You should never bow to me or my husband. You have saved us again. This time from more than a threat from outside. You have saved us from the harms we have dealt to ourselves and each other.”

He stood. He leaned over and threw his arms around her. “You deserve the respect me kneeling offers.”

She snorted. “I have done more than enough to you and you done more than enough to prove that your disrespect is earned, that you need not offer it.”

“But I will.” He paused. “Eventually the demigods will need to learn that I plan on standing up for all of you. Or one of them is going to end up on the wrong side of my blade when I decide they’ve gone too far towards disrespect.”

Hera laughed. “If you ever slay a demigod for disrespecting a god, I will help ensure that Thanatos does not claim them before they can be healed.”

“The fates would not be pleased.”

“I think you are loved by Khaos more than they are.”

Percy narrowed his eyes. “I’m still not going to antagonize them.”

“Better than me.” Hera glanced towards the doorway. “You should go to the council chambers and summon the meeting. Everyone has noticed that you did not sleep after last session.”

Percy looked down. “I didn’t feel any exhaustion.”

“Let me know if you start to, and I’ll slip you ambrosia.”

Percy agreed to that as he left. He was a bit confused on why exactly Hera and Hestia weren’t coming with him since they’d be landing in the same room. However, he doesn’t worry about it. The conversation with Hera had shown she was going to come into this session a mostly willing participant.

He stepped into the chambers.

Athena was at his side in a moment. “You haven’t slept.”

“I didn’t need to.”

She stared at him. “Ah, we’re at that point in the ascension.”

He frowned. “I hate how you phrased that.”

“I mean we’ve only seen it once before, but Dionysus stopped sleeping at some point.”

“I’ve seen gods sleep.”

“Not like mortals. Not once every 24 to 48 hours for several hours. We sleep after major exertions of our powers, battles with fellow immortals, or other events that require that amount of energy.”

Percy couldn’t argue with her there. “Why are you coming up to me?”

“I wished to ask you something.”

“Sure.”

“Am I allowed to forgive people the wrongs they’ve dealt me even if they never apologize for it?”

Percy paused. He wasn’t entirely sure who she was talking about, but her hands were calm at her side. She was being genuine in her question. He took a second to consider the sentiments behind the idea of forgiveness without an apology. “You can. But you can’t expect them to change based on that.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

Percy stepped up to Zeus’ throne. His uncle was already upon the seat. “Will you summon everyone?”

“I did the moment you stepped into the room. Where are you going to be this session?”

“Oh, I’m going to be in the center. Many moving pieces today.” He paused. “Hey Uncle Zeus, a quick question, preferably without the others hearing?”

Zeus waved a hand and a harsh wind picked up around them. “Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you accept Hera’s offer to stop the pain to your children?”

“I didn’t think I was going to successfully never search out comfort from an immortal. I figured if I offered her that promise and then failed to keep it, her revenge would be far worse than what was already happening.” He furrowed his brow. “How did you find out about it?”

“I talked to auntie.” He licked his lips. “Okay, thanks.”

“Why?”

“I still have to figure out how to do the therapy session regarding your marriage. I understood how to talk about Persephone and Hades’ marriage because the antagonizing factors were outside of the marriage. Aphrodite and Hephaestus’ was simpler too because Hephaestus turned out to not be that angry. He was mostly willing to do what was requested of him. Your marriage is more complicated by far.”

Zeus chuckled. “You’re right about that.”

Percy flashed him a quick grin. “Don’t worry, Uncle. I will figure it out.” When Zeus let the wind die down, he went over to his podium and waited for the sea family to show up.

Triton arrived first. He walked over to his throne and sat down. He waved at Athena when she offered him a greeting, but over all he seemed mostly quiet.

Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Demeter ended up tumbling into the room together. Demeter waved her hand, and Poseidon’s throne expanded. The three of them now sat on the throne in more of a bench format than a singular throne. Her head fell on Poseidon’s shoulder.

Zeus stared at them for a moment. Then, he shook his head. “Alright, Percy. Call the session to a start, and let us begin to heal further.”

Percy glanced to Hera. “Today, we’re going to be getting into the start of a very sticky situation. So before the topic even gets brought up, we’re going to reestablish some of the key rules of these therapy sessions. One, we’re focusing only on the topic for today. Yes, some other issues are going to be present in reasonings and motivations, but we’re not going to be able to dig straight to the bottom and ferret out a solution today. We’re going for one part. Two, you do not get to interrupt each other. We’ve been lax on that lately, but I have a gut feeling some of you are going to want to interject and scream at one another today, and I’m here to tell you that just isn’t going to happen. I will drown you out first. Three, try to be honest with each other during this. I know that this topic will be rough for a lot of you, and that it’s easy to hide emotions under others, but do your best.”

Everyone nodded in understanding to him.

Percy swallowed harshly. “Today we’re going to be talking about how Hera has handled her step children.”

Apollo’s hands fell away from his face to stare at Percy. “We’re going to be doing what.”

“We’re talking about Hera and her relationship with her step children and the harms that she has done to all of you. We’re going to do this in a cyclical fashion. We’re not going to all start shouting out her harms all at once. We’re going to deal with one child at a time, because like it or not, she is hurting you all as individuals and not as a unit.”

“Her reasoning was done as a unit,” Hermes corrected.

Hera trailed her eyes over to Hermes. “I suppose that’s somewhat true. The root of all my reasoning comes down to the same. But I do craft and choose my reactions depending on what Zeus had done recently and opportunities to hurt you. Those are designed by individual.”

Apollo inclined his head. “Fine. Whose order are going by?”

“Mine,” Hera replied. “I want to deal with the girls first. Persephone, Athena, Aphrodite and then Artemis. Then you, Hermes, and Dionysus.”

“Why? You want us to go along with you driving this, you tell me why the fuck I’m letting you do that.”

Hera’s lips twitched. “Please.”

Apollo frowned. “That’s not playing fair.”

“The world isn’t fair. Neither am I. I’m just trying my best. Please, will you let me do this my way.”

Hermes stared at her. “Give me a reason.”

Hera blinked. Then, a small smile graced her face. “I promise I won’t target you again.”

Artemis snorted. “For how long?”

“Just never,” Hera answered. “I know that Zeus’ actions aren’t yours. They never should have been yours to pay the price for. I just couldn’t hurt him for the longest time on my own, and you were targets that could reach him. I was playing by the same rules that the fates and Lady Styx use, and I wasn’t considering how different we are in terms of reasonable choices.”

Athena stared at her. “What exactly changed?”

Hera sighed again. She shifted on her throne, so she was more clearly at the edge of it. “So many things. The short answer is that I had never really considered you to be real. I knew you were, but I wasn’t really letting myself see you as individuals. You were bastards. You were my husband’s bastards. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“We don’t want some half answer bullshit, Hera.” Dionysus met her eyes. “Tell us the whole of it, or don’t bother.”

Her eyes drifted across the chambers. “Fine. I didn’t realize how bad Hestia was getting. I didn’t actually believe that she was close to fading. I thought she was exaggerating. I thought all of this was a ploy at the start. Because I was lying to you, Hermes. I would have spared Pan if I could have found a way to help him adapt.”

Apollo reared back. “That was…”

“Yes, I know. It’s a truth that I doubt any of you were prepared to hear from me today, or any other day for that matter.” She sucked in a large breath. “Like it or not, you are my family. You are my husband’s child and by virtue of that, you are children of mine. I have not treated you as such. I have not been kind. And I have been this way for so long that I’m not sure I still know what it looks like to be better, kinder, nicer.”

“Percy fucking Jackson,” Hera continued. “He forced us all to talk about things. I watched my sister get better. He proved she was close to death because I saw her how she should be for the first time since before I even got married. You, kids, are annoyingly persistent. You are here, and if I want to repair my family, you are a part of it. I’m changing because I do not want to continue the way we were going.”

Hermes had his head tilted. He was staring at her. There was a burning rage in the back of his eyes. But he wasn’t lunging, he wasn’t screaming, he was considering her. “Do you regret that you spent all this time doing it the other way?”

“I don’t know.”

Apollo frowned. “How can you not know?”

“This family is chaotic at the best of times. We have so many conflicting domains and emotions and structures that we have no hope of ever being simplistic about our motivations and regrets.”

“Dad regrets.”

“Your father is different than me. He has always been ruled by his impulses which has led to several mistakes. I made my choices very deliberately. I had backups upon backups for what to do.”

She looked away from all of the kids. Her eyes locked on Percy. “All the same, I do regret that we landed this strained. I am sorry that I chose to use you to attack your father. But I’m not sure if we reversed time, whether I’d choose differently before seeing the consequences in real time.”

Hermes held up his hand to stop the rest of his siblings from screaming at her. “Do your order, Hera. We’ll address you one by one. And maybe you’ll surprise us all.”

Hera stared at him. Then her head tilted down in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”

She stood from her throne. She reached down beside her throne to drag out several lumps of yarn that were bundled together to avoid showing what any one of them was. She plucked one project out from the mix. She stepped up to Persephone.