A loud explosion echoed over Olympus, causing the busy market-goers to pause before continuing their business. Explosions and fights among Olympians and minor gods were daily aspects of life on Olympus, and the city's inhabitants had gotten used to it over the years.

From inside the throne room however, it was anything but peaceful.

All of the Olympians had gathered for a new meeting at Artemis's behest, with her saying it was of the upmost importance. What it really turned out to be was a mixture of 'Percy did this' and 'Percy did that'. Most of the gods had tuned it out until Zeus heard about his son's rather painful situation.

Then it had devolved into…well, this.

Percy ducked under a silver arrow before summoning water from the air and retaliating with a few large icicles, pinning the Huntress to the opposite wall. Turning around, he was caught in the chest by a fist sent by everyone's favorite Sun God. Recovering quickly, the Hound of War knocked the Hades out of him with a punch to the face, sending Apollo stumbling right into Uncle Hephaestus's hammer with a bone shattering blow to the ribs.

Taking a quick breather, he was surprised by a spear impaling him into the ground from behind. Arching his neck, he chuckled at Athena's rather poor attempt at killing him before a flash of crimson barreled into the Goddess of Wisdom and made her drop the spear. Zoe appeared over Percy, her crimson bow and armor making her look all the more deadly, and yanked the spear out of his back. She gave him a smirk before Percy grabbed her armor and yanked her out of the way of a leopard sent from Dionysus. Percy met Zoe's eyes before he dashed forward and dropped to a knee, only to have Zoe leap off his back and land a kick to the Wine God's face, knocking him out cold.

While things were looking good with Percy and Zoe, Ares was having a bit more difficulty, seeing as how Apollo had recovered and was Hades-bent on pummeling the God of War along with his sister.

Deflecting the twin's arrows with his blades, Ares noticed the Huntresses approaching and summoned the Maidens of War. Motioning to their former allies, the God of War couldn't help but smile at the sight of his champions charging into battle against the Huntresses, who were immediately put on the defensive by their former sisters' new tactics and superior fighting ability. Turning to face the twin archers, Ares dashed forward, ignoring the pain that their arrows caused when they hit their mark, before he lunged and slammed both of his swords' hilts against Apollo's head, knocking him out with quite a bit of pain and leaving the God of War alone with his least favorite half-sister.

The two began circling one another, ignoring the chaos within the throne room as they both glared hatefully at one another. With an unspoken consent both lunged forward, Ares with his twin swords and Artemis with her dual hunting knives. Meeting with a clash of blades, Artemis immediately swung her legs under the God of War, causing him to jump over the kick and retaliate with a swing of both his swords, forcing the goddess onto the defensive. Meeting blow to blow, Artemis feinted to the right and as the God of War made to block, she slid her knives against his ribs, creating deep gashes that began to pour Ichor. Grunting in pain, Ares sent her reeling with a blow from the hilt of his sword before he readied his stance.

Their eyes met again, the cold silver clashing against the burning steel as they stared each other down. Without a word, Ares planted both his swords into the floor and looked up to see Artemis doing the same. With a speed neither knew they had, they leapt forward, trading blow for blow. Ares landed a punch to her ribs, feeling the bones cracking under the pressure, before she retaliated with a kick to the jaw. She kicked her leg out again, only to have it caught in Ares' iron grip.

SNAP

Artemis cried out in agony before another fist caught her in the temple, knocking her out and sending her to Morpheus's realm. Ares dropped her without a second glance, turning and almost immediately being blasted into the floor by a wave of pink energy. Snarling in anger and the beginnings of a blood lust induced rage, the God of War brought both swords down upon Aphrodite, who weaved away from the strikes and almost casually brought a hand across his face.

In the midst of all the chaos, Hestia sat in the hearth, watching and waiting for the one person she had been searching for. A smile crossed her face before she sent a massive ball of fire into the ceiling, causing everyone to pause as well as reveal the cause of all the chaos and discord.

Eris slammed into the ground forcefully, her black wings slightly singed from the blast. Rising and brushing off her chiton, her mischievous violet eyes scanned the crowd of demigods and immortals as she ruffled her wings. Her dark hair shifted slightly as she turned and caught the eyes of a very unpleased Hearth Goddess.

"Get out Eris. This is an Olympian Council, and your tricks are not welcome here." At her words, the Goddess of Discord pouted.

"Oh come on Hestia, it's not like anyone got hurt."

"Three members of the Olympian council are currently unconscious and suffering from terrible wounds."

Eris scoffed, "That's it? I must be losing my touch."

"Eris…"

The goddess huffed before disappearing in a violet flash, leaving behind a room full of confused and wounded people, mortal and immortal alike. Hestia rolled her eyes before calling the attention of the council members that were not currently comatose.

"Now that that's settled, Apollo, you go heal those who are injured. Everyone else, if you have a throne, sit down in it. If not, I will provide sitting arrangements."

Hestia sighed as Apollo made his rounds and healed everyone that was injured. She was about to return to the hearth before she spotted a certain demigod and grabbed him by the ear, causing the said demigod to yelp in surprise and pain as she dragged him to the hearth's edge.

"Ow, ow, ok ow! Lady Hestia, what did I do wrong?!" Percy tried to keep up with his aunt's pace to keep his ear intact, but the goddess pulled relentlessly and seemed determined to drill some lesson into his head.

"You should have been more observant. If you had been, you would've discovered her much faster, instead of having the entire Olympian Council break down into an all out brawl." Her tone, thank the Fates, wasn't angry, so much as disappointed.

Percy grimaced. The infamous guilt trip was coming into play. He tried desperately to scramble out of the tongue lashing he knew was to come.

"Well, what about my fathers? They weren't paying attention."

Hestia gave him an incredulous look, "Percy, Neither Poseidon nor Ares have ever been known for their paying attention skills, so they are moot in this discussion." Ignoring the indignant protests from the mentioned Olympians, she sat at the hearth and had Percy do the same.

"As my champion, you have to make decisions that are best not only for yourself but those around you. You may be the Hound of War, but you are also the Guardian of the Hearth, and you cannot always do things with brute force. You have to be a warrior of both body and mind. Do you understand Perseus?"

At his nod, she smiled before frowning, "Speaking about your father, you may want to go check on him."

Percy's eyes widened before he flashed over to Ares, who looked exhausted. He stumbled, only to find his son supporting him. Percy guided his father to his throne before he collapsed, earning him a tired smile from the God of War. Returning the smile, he turned and was met by a red faced Dionysus. The god raised his staff to blast him, but a bow cracked against his head, knocking him out for the second time that day.

Percy raised an eyebrow at the furious looking Hesperide. At his questioning glance, she shrugged.

"I am the only person who is allowed to smack you." She stated simply.

Percy grasped his heart in fake shock, "Why Zoe, you do care."

Zoe rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head before giving him a peck on the cheek, drawing a few wolf whistles from the gods who had been paying attention. Blushing furiously after noticing the gods watching, she scowled at them, causing them to cower in their thrones. Satisfied, she motioned to Ares, who waved a hand and transported the Maidens of War along with Zoe back to Lemnos.

Zeus, who had been cracked across the face by his brother's trident on 'accident' and knocked unconscious, rose unsteadily and walked over to his throne. Taking a few seconds to compose himself, he cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.

"Now that we've gotten that out of our systems, we can actually finish this council meeting. Who votes that we kill the Hound of War for attacking my son?" He raised his hand, but seeing as how only Apollo, Artemis, and Athena raised their hands, and the rest of the council (save Aphrodite and Dionysus, with one abstaining and the other unconscious) were glaring daggers at them, Zeus decided he wasn't in the mood for another brawl and quickly ended the meeting.

Percy was about to flash back to Lemnos when a firm hand gripped his shoulder. Spinning around, he was met with the face of his birth father. Calming down immediately, he was about to speak when Poseidon cut him off.

"There is someone you must meet Perseus." His tone was sullen, and the Hound of War wondered who exactly they were going to meet before a sea-green flash took them away.

Line Break

Zoe paced the sea shore, every once in a while recognizing a constellation when it revealed itself as she waited for a certain demigod.

There had been very few things to do in the Garden of the Golden Apples, and the Hesperide often found herself watching the stars in her downtime, naming each star and memorizing the location of every constellation. The only person who had ever shared her interest in the sky was her mother, but she had faded away soon after her birth, leaving her alone in her struggles.

Zoe sighed. There was no use dwelling on that now, and she was quite happy with how the Fates had played their hand. She may have been exiled from her home, but she had a new family in the Maidens of War. Ares had surprisingly taken a fatherly role to both his new warriors and her, and Eros was like a playful older brother who was there when you needed him.

And then there was Perseus.

Just thinking about the Hound of War made heat rise to her face. There was no doubt that she loved him, and not just because he could give most gods a run for their money in looks. No, he did what most men didn't seem to be capable of: showing kindness. Not once had he asked for anything in return for saving her from Hercules. He had even gone as far as to give back Anaklusmos, the last thing she had left from her mother, without even asking for a thank you. Truly, there wasn't anyone like him.

But something still bothered her. Why had they fallen for each other so quickly? Sure, he was all the things she thought he was, but they still had only known one another for a few weeks at most. So how was it she felt for him more than any other she had met before (not that there had been many, and they were usually eaten by Ladon before they could make conversation anyway.)

While she was still deep in thought, a pair of arms snaked around her waist from behind, causing her to yelp in surprise. Twisting around, she landed a blow on her attacker's face and sent him to the ground before leaping onto him with a knife in hand. The attacker quickly moved out of the way of the strike before disarming her and pinning her to the ground.

Zoe eyes widened in fear as memories of Hercules and the look on his face came to the surface. She trembled in rage and fear and suddenly there was an immense strain on her gut as an enormous wave rose from the sea and struck the attacker, sending him flying into the nearby rocks. Zoe quickly recovered her knife and pinned it to the dazed attacker's throat, only to recognize the face in shock.

There was the subject of her thoughts sitting on the ground, still dazed from the force of the wave. Blood dripped from his now broken nose, and as he unsteadily rose to his feet, Zoe winced at the sound of him pulling himself off of the jagged piece of rock that had impaled him.

After getting to his feet, Percy did the most surprising thing.

He started laughing.

Loudly.

"O-oh g-gods Zoe! That was hilarious! And I didn't know you had power over the seas!" he continued laughing, not noticing the look of anger that grew on her face until it was too late.

A loud smack echoed over the sea as Percy stumbled back under the force of the slap. Snapping his head up to meet Zoe's furious gaze, he tried to speak but she beat him to it.

"How can you think this was funny?! I tried to kill you! And do you even know why?! It's because I thought that you were Hercules coming back to…to…" her sentence trailed off as a few tears began to fall.

She was suddenly wrapped up in a tight embrace, one that was filled with guilt and apology. Zoe tried to break free but found herself too drained to do anything but protest.

"Let go of me."

She felt Percy shake his head, "No, I won't ever let you go."

Zoe snorted, "What if this whole 'love' we have is a lie? What if this is just some ploy from Aphrodite to weaken and hurt you? What then?"

Percy pulled back and locked eyes with Zoe before speaking, his face completely sure of the words he spoke.

"If this love between us is a lie, then I would gladly live a lie. If this is Aphrodite's plan to hurt me where it would hurt most, then she's already won. Don't you see Zoe? No matter what happens, I'll never let go."

Zoe's eyes widened before she kissed him softly, trying to show him how much his words meant to her. Percy wrapped her into his embrace once again, but this time there wasn't a single doubt in his mind as he spoke into their kiss, too soft for anyone else to hear but him and Zoe.

"I swear on the Styx I won't let you go. Not in this life or the next."

Thunder crashed ominously, signaling the promise's truth, but neither of the two played it any mind.

There were a little busy after all.

A/N: So.. Yea i was really tired and im sorry for the late update. I'll try to be up early and work on the bext one. Cya peeps.