Chapter Text
Song: American Pie - Don McLean
Percy's POV
Olympus was deadly silent, the marble pillars crowding the horizon like the entrance to a morgue. Snow flecked the ground, sludgy and slick, like even it had given up hope of keeping together. Our little party trudged quickly over the golden-rimmed bridges and adamantine stepping stones that led us to the main palace. Silence was, in this case, not appreciated. It gave me more time to spend alone with my own thoughts, those of dread and fear and nerves mostly drowned out now. Instead, the majority of space in my brain was occupied by two things—the jittery sensation of happiness at the memory of Annabeth finally in my arms once more and the choking, suffocating fear of what could happen to her. But I had to steel myself and keep going. For her sake, our friends, and the hope of a better future together.
Crackling broke the silence as the speaker of Dad's phone blared to life. "Hello? Who is this? Please tell me nobody's injured," my brother grumbled from the other end of the line.
"Triton. It's Dad. And no, everyone is fine as far as we know."
"Oh." Triton's voice was laced with relief. "Why are you calling me? Just Iris message or teleport like you normally do?" The scream of a monster being cut down muffled his voice slightly as he spoke. "Because I'm on Olympus. With Hades, Percy, Thalia, and Luke. Nico is like half paralyzed from tiredness. He's holding the titans at the doors of Tartarus back."
"Okay. Does that mean what I think it does?" My brother asked, and I decided this would be an acceptable place to slip into the conversation. "Yes. Someone needs to go. But we have no idea who."
"Triton. Do not mention this to Athena, or I will ground you for the rest of your life." Dad threatened and my brother whined.
"You act like I'm a huge blabbermouth. I can keep some stuff on the down low."
"Seriously, Triton. I don't know if I'm going to come back down again." Dad's voice shook as he spoke. This was the first time in my entire life I'd seen him genuinely terrified.
"Don't say that," Triton pleaded. "You have to come back, Dad. You and Perce both do."
"We'll try our best," I vowed. "Guess what, dude. Annabeth kissed me."
"No way!" He exclaimed. "Shit, man. I'm proud of you."
"Yes, yes, we're all very proud of Perce." Dad muttered, "Triton. Listen to me seriously. If I don't come back, you know where that will is in Atlantis. You need to be regent until she decides she's stable enough to rule again. If she ever does. Promise me you'll take care of everyone. Your siblings, your mom, and Delphin and Leah. And promise me that you'll keep Atlantis safe."
"Gods, you're dramatic," Triton huffed. "Yes, Dad, I will do what you've been training me to do if the worst-case scenario happens for nearly five thousand years. It's not going to be necessary, though, because you're going to come back alive. All of you."
"We'll try our best. Love you, kiddo."
"Love you guys. No, Seb, don't do tha—" The call disconnected before we could figure out what he was yelling at.
"Well, that's reassuring," I mumbled half-heartedly. "I didn't know you had a will." Dad sighed, his breath fogging in the icy air of the late morning. "Yeah. I revised it a couple of years ago. Some of it is fairly basic; other stuff is more complicated. There's money and assets for all you kids in there. Support for your mom and Paul and Delph and Amphi. Charitable donations because I'm such a kind soul. The estate will all go to Thee, though. The same thing is in hers for me."
I narrowed my eyes. "You live in the same house. What other property is there?"
"A couple private islands. The cabin in Canada we bought when we got engaged. The villa in Greece we bought when we got married. The penthouse in London." He smirked. "Do you think the Library of Alexandria just disappeared, Percy? No. It's here on Olympus. Owned by your stepmom."
"I updated mine a few weeks ago," Hades added. "Wrote Demeter out of it."
I snorted with laughter as we came to a stop in front of the handsome oak doors that separated the king of Olympus from the rest of us. It took one rap of Thalia’s fist for Zeus' head to poke out from the gap in the door. "Who is it?" He hissed, leveling his sword between the doors in defense.
Thalia narrowed her eyes. "Your daughter. And your brothers and nephews. And my boyfriend."
"Hum." The king of the gods grumped. "At least you aren't a titan embassy. Come in, then."
I hadn't expected tea and crumpets. Dad looked like he was one more custard cream away from throwing hands with Zeus and only kept his behavior civil because of the looks Hades kept leveling him from across the loveseat. I sipped my tea and kept my mouth shut for fear of saying something to trigger an argument. "So. Why are you here?" Zeus raised a dark eyebrow at his eldest brother, who prodded a swaying Nico.
"My son is about to pass away. He's singlehandedly holding back the titans from returning from Tartarus."
"And why is that relevant to me?" Zeus nibbled a scone haughtily.
"Well, because this is your war. You helped cause it," Thalia retorted. His eyes flashed as he looked at her, vision fixing on her and Luke's entwined hands. "Perhaps you could say that. But I haven't been an active participant in it for a fortnight now. Nobody wants me to."
"Well, that's not true, is it, you piece of shit?" Dad hissed, and Hades groaned, muttering something that sounded like 'Here we go again.' "You're refusing to fight because you're pissed we insulted your authority or something inane like that when we actually just found out how horrifically you treated us for years."
"I did what I had to do to keep things orderly," Zeus snapped.
"No. You did what was necessary to keep control. Think of this as your chance to make up for your failings as a parent and as a grandparent, Zeus."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well. I'm not going over your sins against your children again because, frankly, if you don't understand that now, you never will. You have never even met Dylan, Liv, and Merrick. And they're nearly 200!"
"I won't go near them because that girl looks exactly like her mother did as a child. Except she has your coloring. She is a reminder of everything I ever did to my daughter. When I see photos of her, it's like I'm looking inside my own head half a millennium ago," Zeus hissed. The room was silent but for his heavy breathing.
"Do you not think I regret what I did, Poseidon? Do you honestly see me as so heartless that you think I still believe I was in the right?" Stormclouds brewed in his eyes as he continued to speak. "Do you not think I regretted swallowing Metis moments after I did it? Do you not think I regretted ruining so many lives? Do you not think I regretted what I did to my daughter the moment I saw her on that hospital bed? Both times I've put her in one of those?" Lightning crackled across the clouds outside, but Zeus went on. "Do you not think I regretted how I treated Hera? How did I abandon Ares? How did I ignore Hephaestus? The way I controlled Artemis? Coddled Apollo? Discarded Dionysus? Mocked Hermes? Do you not think I have a list of regrets so long I could write an epic poem to rival Homer's? But they are unforgivable. I cannot undo them. I cannot simply start over." The king of Olympus finished his rant with a sigh and collapsed back into his chair. His pride was nowhere to be seen. "I loved my daughter to the point that I wanted to keep her small forever. Because I was afraid of her. I wanted so desperately to do right by her. And I thought I had for so long. I thought I'd done the right thing, keeping her here with me."
"That's not love, Zeus." Hades' voice cracked as he spoke. "Loving your kids is wanting to see them grow into the fullest versions of themselves. I have no doubt you do love your children." He sighed heavily. "But you love your power more."
"I'm unforgivable," Zeus snarled. "My throne is all I've got. Do you think my wife could ever forgive what I put her through? The pain? The public humiliation? No."
"I know I'll never forgive you." Dad shook his head. "That's why I gave you those scars. So you can look in the mirror and remember what a monster you are every time."
Something like hurt passed over Zeus' face, which only threw the scars in question into a greater light. "Poseidon. We get that you're pissed off." Hades sounded exhausted. "But you are not helping this situation. So unless you have anything nice to say, shush."
"We don't have time for this." Thalia leaned forward to better look at her father. "Yes, you're a shitty dad. And an even shittier husband. But if you want any chance of making it up to those people, you have to help us now. Allegiance is the only way back."
The king of Olympus studied his daughter for a few moments before relenting. "Fine. Where on earth is my master bolt?"
"What do you mean, you don't have it?" I hissed at Thalia as we stepped outside Zeus' chambers.
"I thought you had it!" She yelped.
"Why would I have it?" I protested, and Luke held up a hand to silence us.
"Have no fear. The child of Hermes is here. I'll take a message downstairs asking where the Hades it is." Thalia nodded, engulfing her boyfriend in a hug before he sped off downstairs. Nico was slumped against Hades' shoulder as Dad glowered sullenly while Zeus strapped on his armor for the first time in weeks. "Chop chop Zeus. We don't have all day."
"We don't even have that long." Thalia whispered beside me, and I looked at her, confused. She pointed mutely in the direction of the throne room. Like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, a scratching echoed down the halls of Olympus. Like that of a blade. Or a scythe.
"Ahh, boys. Come to see the show?" Kronos lounged on the throne of Zeus, sloth exuding from every curve of his frame. Beside him, Porus was bound and gagged to an obelisk, his blue eyes frantic with fear. Thalia inhaled sharply at the sight of him as Hades set Nico down on the floor carefully. "Father. What are you doing here?" Zeus gritted his teeth in fury. Kronos' smile gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the celestial constellations dotting the ceiling of the throne room. "I'm here to watch your empire crumble. I'm here to watch your blood coat my floors. I'm here to watch each and every one of you die by the hands of my forces. And I shall enjoy it. It's even in ultra HD!" He gestured excitedly at the huge screen before us, showing what I presumed was a live feed of everything happening down in New York. That's what was draining Porus so much, I realized as Thalia stilled next to me. "What are they doing?" Kronos' attention flicked to her, and Nico whined in pain again. "Well, Miss Grace. Ask your uncle." Kronos leered at Dad. "Your wife has just made the call to pull your entire army back from the front. Care to enlighten me as to why that is?"
"I have no idea," Dad said stiffly, eyes fixed on the misty screen. "But if it's her call, there must be a reason behind it."
"Well, yes," Kronos laughed manically. "Difficult job it is commanding armies that large. That's why I have someone else do it for me. Someone who's been waiting to see you for a very long time, Zeus." With a click of a door shut, ginger curls and blue robes swept into the room. Metis eyed our party haughtily, her breath catching when they landed on Zeus. "Five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine years since you two last saw each other, isn't it?" The titan lord laughed gleefully as though this were his favorite couple on Love Island.
Dad cleared his throat lightly. "It's actually 5472."
"How on earth do you know that?" Metis shrieked. "Because it's Athena’s birthday in three weeks?"
"How do you know when my daughter's birthday is?" Metis demanded.
Hades looked astounded. "They're married, dumbass. Some titaness of wisdom you are."
"Changing the subject!" Kronos yelled before Metis went nuclear. "I'm going to kill you all. So let us move on."
"Oh no!" Metis swore, waving her hands at Kronos, who looked partially irritated and partially scared of her.
"Why did nobody tell me my daughter got married?"
"Not like you're exactly an active and present parent," Zeus muttered, and she stomped her foot.
"I still win parent of the year over you! Porus told me what you did!"
"So you knew she was married then?" Hades looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in this moment.
"No!" Metis whined. "I knew she'd slept with Poseidon, but I didn't know she'd married him!"
"Okay, we've crossed that line!" Dad shouted over Metis, and if Kronos weren't sitting there about to murder us all, I would've laughed. "Can we like, get this conversation back on track, please?"
"Yes. Where was I? Oh yes, plotting to murder you all." The titan lord smiled giddily. Thalia nudged my ribs, and I turned to look where she was looking. Porus had passed out, and the screen had permanently vanished. Nico looked closer to death than ever. But in the doorway, clutching the master bolt like a lifeline, stood my savior.
Luke Castellan.