Terribly short chapter, sorry guys!

SWEARING AN OATH ON THE River Styx, naturally, pissed Poseidon off so bad that the ground started to shake.

"Uh oh," Percy chuckled sheepishly. "Looks like my dad's pissed. Uhhh, where's the nearest exit?"

Göll let out a meek whimper from the back of her throat, raising a trembling hand to point at a nearby exit.

"Time to go!" Percy exclaimed, capping Riptide and grabbing each of the Valkyrie's hands and bolting out of there as the shaking grew worse.

"PERCILLA!" Poseidon roared behind them just as she kicked the doors open and burst out with the Valkyries in tow, leaving the entire Parliament in chaos.

She couldn't help it. A massive grin grew over her face and she let out an almost hysterical laugh as she ran down the labyrinth-like hallways of the building. She couldn't believe she just did that, but it felt good. So good she could hardly feel the budding pain starting to build up from her fracturing soul.

She finally slowed down to a stop with a satisfied, "Phew!" while poor Göll collapsed to her knees. Brunhilde, as always, looked perfectly maintained as usual.

"You both are crazy!" Göll wailed, flopping down to the floor in a starfish position. "I can't believe you two would piss off the gods like that...!"

"I concur," Mnemosyne materialized between them. She gave Brunhilde a hard look. "I was not aware of your intentions to incite Ragnarok. How long has this been your plan?"

"For a few centuries or so," the elder Valkyrie replied coolly. "I apologize for my lack of explanation, but I felt it was prudent to keep this between me and my sisters."

"And you?" The redhead turned to Percy with an arched brow. "Were you aware of this?"

"Nope," she replied. "I wasn't even supposed to be here. Loki took me here and had me hide behind a pillar. Kinda glad for it though, I never thought that the gods would actually hold a meeting to decide the fate of humanity..."

"It happens every thousand years," Brunhilde explained solemnly. "It's called the Gods' Council, where every god of every Pantheon joins together and decides humanity's fate by process of voting. All it needs is a majority vote and every human in Midgard, Valhalla, and Helheim will be erased. In the earlier Gods' Councils, saving humanity often leaned towards the majority."

Percy's face lit up but then fell again when Brunhilde went on.

"But don't be fooled," she continued, her face growing hard. "Even though humanity was spared, they'd settle in slaughtering a smaller number."

"Tower of Babel... the fall of Babylon..." Göll listed lifelessly, sitting up now.

"Wait... you mentioned that the Greeks went down to destroy Rome," Percy remembered learning about it during their sleepover that happened so long ago. "Was that what happened? They couldn't kill all of humanity, so they settled on the Romans for pissing them off?"

Brunhilde shook her head. "No. That wasn't related to the Gods' Council at all. But you see what I mean, don't you? Even when humanity was voted to be spared, gods still sought to kill them by the thousands... millions even."

Mnemosyne cleared her throat awkwardly, drawing their attention back to her. "Look, I didn't come here to discuss my fellow gods'... destructive tendencies and my own past self," she turned over to Percy. "Percy... you volunteered yourself to fight for humanity. You even swore an Oath on the River Styx, ensuring that there would be nothing to pull you out of this. Are you aware of what you've done?"

"Yup." She replied.

"You can die from this," Mnemosyne stressed out. "And I'm not just talking about the state of your soul, I'm talking about the actual fighting. You will be fighting a god. A real life god. This won't be like Ares where you two fought on a 'first blood draw' rule. You won't have any satyrs to help you like with Hyperion. Or the Hunters aiding you like with Atlas. This god won't be restricted in a mortal body either like Kronos was. You can really die, Percy."

"I don't mind," she assured her with a huge smile. "It's okay if I die."

Brunhilde, Göll, and Mnemosyne were now staring at her intently.

She quickly backtracked, "I mean that... well, if I die, I die, you know? At least this way, I'll die trying to do a good thing. Dying to save humanity... well, that doesn't sound too bad!"

Brunhilde and Göll nodded slowly while Mnemosyne continued to stare at her hard and that was when Percy remembered that the Titaness had seen all her memories, including every thought and feeling she ever had. Like, the really concerning ones where someone might contemplate sending her to see a therapist or put her on suicide watch.

Uh oh, she thought, immediately putting on a dazzling grin and a forced, feeble sounding chuckle that made her inwardly grimace.

"Listen," she insisted. "I'm not planning on dying in my match, okay? I'm 100% aiming to win, I'm just saying that if I—on the off-chance that it happens—do die, then well... that'd suck, but it's whatever, you know? Plus, my soul's already crumbling to dust as we speak anyway, and I got no clue if I can even go home at this point 'cause Beel's kinda pissed at me, and—"

Shut up. Oh my gods, SHUT UP.

"—No, wait, I mean like," she was rambling now, desperately trying to save face and NOT look like she needed to be sent to a mental hospital. "I don't wanna die, hahaha! Really, I don't! I was just—I mean, um, I'm fully aware of the risks I'm taking by joining Ragnarok, okay? I just, like, I want to help humanity! But I totally get it that I might die, and that's okay with me! In like, a normal way, not a sad way! And... and... yeah..." She finished lamely, giving them all a bright grin.

The silence that followed was very loud. Not even the constant shaking of the building was enough to block it.

Percy kept her grin up but the panic and embarrassment was written all over her face at this point. She swallowed thickly and opened her mouth in another poor attempt to smooth things over and reassure them that there totally wasn't anything wrong with her, when a feral voice came from behind them.

"PERCY! You stupid fucking BITCH!" Loki screeched, storming forward with his divine aura pouring out of him.

Percy whirled around, her huge grin turning genuine. "Oh my gods! Loki! Hey!"

And then to the shock of everyone in the hall, she ran up and hugged him. Loki's murderous intent disappeared instantly and he was stuck between pure bafflement, deranged affection, and irritation.

When she pulled away, the look on her face was downright devious. "Thanks for taking me here. You were trying to warn me about what the gods were planning right?"

His face fell comically and she had to hold back a laugh. "Huh?" He sounded hysterical.

"You wanted to let me know about the gods' plans to destroy humanity, didn't you?" She said innocently. "I really appreciate it. If it weren't for you, I never would've been able to volunteer for Ragnarok, so thanks! You're the best!"

She patted him on the shoulder for good measure.

The murderous look returned tenfold. "You annoying little shit!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her around so hard she became a Percy-sized bobblehead. "You were supposed to crumble in despair as you watched all the humans die and I was supposed to laugh at your stupid, pretty face! None of that was supposed to fucking happen! That stupid Valkyrie wasn't supposed interrupt and incur Ragnarok and YOU weren't supposed to fucking VOLUNTEER FOR IT! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

She gave him the most shit-eating grin ever and cackled before bringing him into another hug and patting his back. "You really are a great friend."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! I'LL KILL YOU!" He shrieked madly.

"Hey, that's a great idea! You should be my opponent!" She laughed even harder.

Loki let out a hysterical scream and went for her throat, but a giant hand placed on his shoulder stopped him.

Brunhilde, Göll, and Mnemosyne immediately dropped to a bow.

"Lord Thor," Brunhilde addressed.

"Enough, Loki," Thor said stoically. "Return to the palace. Odin's orders."

"ODiN's orDerS," Loki mocked in his deep voice. But he didn't cause a fuss. He gave Percy one last scathing look before teleporting away.

Percy thought Thor would follow, but instead, he merely started to walk past them as the others continued to kneel.

"Just what are you playing at, Brunhilde?" He asked monotonously as he walked past.

"I'm sorry...?" Brunhilde said politely, still looking down.

Thor turned his head to stare them down. Göll flinched, but Mnemosyne and Brunhilde stayed calm. Percy just hoped he didn't start swinging that unnecessarily giant hammer of his or else this building would have more to worry about than her dad's earthquakes.

"Whatever it is, just make it worth my while," Thor said. "Otherwise, I'll kill you."

He walked away.

"Well!" Percy cocked her head back. "He's definitely not gonna be invited to the next slumber party. Not with that attitude..."

Göll whimpered in pure terror. "I... I almost peed myself...! How did you stay so calm, sister?!"

"Did I seem calm to you? Good..." Brunhilde replied.

"Huh?" Göll turned only to see Brunhilde still kneeling, but she was breathing heavily, twitching, and shuddering with every huff of air.

"I need to return to Parliament," Mnemosyne rose to her feet. "They're still trying to calm Lord Poseidon down... among other gods..."

"Ugh..." Percy grimaced. She tried to recall the last things she saw before she ran out of the room with them. Her father losing his shit, Hades trying to calm him down—while also looking like he was losing his shit—Apollo wailing in his mother's arms, Loki screaming, she was pretty sure Anubis was trying to gnaw off Ra's hand so he could get off of him, and she couldn't even see Beelzebub since the entire section of the Philistine and Abrahamic Pantheon had been swallowed up by a creepy dark fog.

"Let's go then," Brunhilde said to Göll and Percy. "I fear this building may crumble any second now."

None of them had any arguments. They parted ways, Mnemosyne returning to the meeting room and Brunhilde, Percy, and Göll leaving the building entirely.

Percy was glad to see the clear blue skies up in the air. It's been months since she'd seen anything other than her bedroom ceiling.

"So," she began. "What exactly is Ragnarok? I thought it was like a whole 'end of the world doomsday' thing, but I take it it's another tournament like the Titanomachy was?"

Brunhilde nodded. "Each side has a team of thirteen fighters. Whichever side reaches seven victories first is declared the winner."

"If humans lose seven battles, then it's it for us then, huh?" She muttered.

Another nod. Brunhilde's face went dark. "Yes. But if we do win then humanity will at least be guaranteed another thousand years of existence."

"Wait, what?" Percy stopped walking. "Hold on, hold on, hold on... You mean... this isn't permanent? Humanity's still gonna be at risk of total annihilation AGAIN after a thousand years?!"

The older woman grimaced. "...Yes."

Percy gaped in disbelief. How was that any fair?! So every thousand years, a bunch of humans would have to fight the gods over and over again in order for everyone to live?! And if they failed even once, then it was bye-bye humanity forever! This was worse than the Hunger Games!

"There's nothing that can be done to change it," Brunhilde said sympathetically, like she was reading her mind. "It's a legal clause that was included merely as a joke, but it is still a law of the Valhalla Constitution."

"What dickheads..." Percy scowled.

Göll flinched, eyes darting around like she was expecting one of said dickheads to actually appear in thin air and smite them for that.

"Dickheads indeed," Brunhilde smirked. "Anyway, now that I have you and one other, I still need to select eleven more ultimate warriors from seven million years of human history. I have a couple that I'm thinking of already. Not to mention other preparations... we have at least a month to get ready."

"How exactly are you going to get them to actually hurt a god though?" She asked worriedly. Sure Riptide wouldn't do much damage, but she at least had her powers. "Will you give them Divine Weapons?"

"Yes."

She waited for her to elaborate but nothing was said afterwards. She looked over to Göll, who only shook her head. But there was a knowing in her eyes that told Percy that she knew the answer too.

"But... how?" She decided to just ask.

"I'll explain later," Brunhilde replied tensely, her voice becoming hushed.

Percy realized that she didn't want to risk any eavesdroppers and nodded in understanding.

"For now, I'll have you stay with one of the fighters I've selected," she continued, more relaxed now. "He's actually my first choice, and has already accepted my offer to join Ragnarok."

"Whoa, you want me to room with the guy or something?" Percy was stunned. "Uh... is that really okay? Have you even told the guy about me?"

"Not yet, but trust me, he'll be fine with the arrangement." Brunhilde replied, sounding strangely certain of it.

"Yeah, don't worry, you'll love him!" Göll gushed, beaming widely.

She frowned worriedly, "I dunno, guys... I can find my own place to stay, it's okay." She was planning on heading over to Valhalla's current-day New York and finding a vacant apartment—preferably the same apartment complex she used to live in with her mom and Paul.

Brunhilde opened her mouth to respond, but all three of them were suddenly struck by a burst of power that nearly pushed them to their knees.

"Percilla," came the voice of her father.

Percy turned to the Valkyrie sisters at once. "Go." She demanded. "Now."

"Get to a teleportation point and think 'Adam's house'," Brunhilde instructed hastily before the two teleported away.

Once they were gone, Percy turned around to face her furious father.

"You promised me," he seethed, thundering towards her so hard that the ground cracked underneath his boots. "You promised me that you would never utter that damned oath ever again!"

"I did," she nodded, rather cheekily. "Sorry, but I was never good at keeping promises. You were better off having me swear it."

He grabbed her by the jaw and it was only the Curse of Achilles that kept him from crushing her mandible. "What has gotten into you?! You've never disobeyed me so impertinently before! Volunteering for Ragnarok?! Fighting for the humans?! Have you lost your mind?!"

He shook her head around by the jaw, his eyes wide and glowing with madness.

"Why can't you just get it into your head already," He squeezed her jaw even harder. "That humans—must—die. They're nothing but parasitic worms, a blight to this once purely celestial universe that they've done nothing but dirty with their imperfection since the beginning of their creation."

Disgusting, weak, foolish, and worthless. Humanity was nothing but a stain in Poseidon's eyes. Seven million years ago his fellow gods had grouped together to forge them and Poseidon could never understand why they would waste their time with that. They were made to be inferior, down to the very thing they call 'atoms'. They were weaker, slower, dumber, relied on everything in order to stay alive, they could barely even live to a hundred years, and they provided nothing useful to the universe—though other gods might argue on the last one, claiming them to be somewhat 'entertaining' but to him, they were about as entertaining as watching zooplankton scuttle around.

But apparently his daughter didn't see it that way. To the bafflement of every being in the three realms, she adored humanity. She'd speak of them so fondly, as if she knew them personally which was impossible because he made sure to keep her away from those dirty cretins. He didn't know where this affection came from. It couldn't be Buddha or the Valkyries' influence because he made sure to limit her interactions with them. He feared it was an innate thing, something that she got from her half-human nature.

Percy managed to rip his hand away from her face, meeting his icy glare with her fiery one. "I'm a human," she replied tersely, spitting at him of the very fact he hated to acknowledge. Just as expected, his face scrunched up into a cold fury at the reminder of his daughter's status. "I was born half a human. A 'filthy half-breed', remember? Those were your own words."

She expected him to lash out at her. He never liked to be reminded that half of his own daughter was the very thing he hated. But strangely enough, the cold fury started to fade away, his shoulders now relaxing.

"...I understand now," he murmured, his voice softer now. "You see yourself as one of them. You think of yourself as one of those lowly creatures. My pearl, you are mistaken," he said, speaking to her as if he was talking to a confused child. "When we voted to have humanity killed, we weren't talking about you, my love."

He touched her face again, but this time it was more gentle, more loving. Not the crushing force from before. He cradled her face, making her look up at him.

"You will not be part of the massacre," he said firmly. "I will never let anyone hurt you, you know that."

"I know I wasn't going to be a part of it." She said, and she could feel him go still.

"Then..." His frown started to return, his eyes narrowing as if daring her. "Why—"

"—I told you all before," she cut him off. "Because it was wrong. I heard all the excuses back there; pollution, crime, disrespect, mass killing... It was all so stupid. I know you all want to kill them just because you can. Gods never cared about humanity. They made them and then discarded them once they were bored, and now a ton of you just voted to have them killed just because. Did you honestly think I'd get behind that?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said in a hard voice, the icy fury coming back. "Humans are rotten down to the core, stemming all the way back to their first progenitors. You've spent a year learning of their horrors, and yet you still defend them? What will it take for you to understand—"

"—I do understand, that a lot of that stuff was bullshit—"

"—Percilla!" He seethed, grabbing her by the jaw once more, his claws now out and digging into her skin, but never able to penetrate it, and at the moment, she was glad that he was too blinded by his anger to even notice it.

"It's those humans again, isn't it?!" He accused. "They've brainwashed you to go against me!"

"No they didn't!"

"You don't know anything, you foolish girl!" He snapped. He released her face to grab her arm. "I'm taking you back home, your head needs to be fixed."

"No," she said, more shakily this time. "I'm not going back home. I'm fighting in Ragnarok now, so I need to prepare. Or do you want me to die during my match?" She challenged.

"To fight a god in your state? No amount of preparation would ever be enough," he sneered. "Now don't make me repeat myself a second time, Percilla. We are going home. You will stay by my side and my side only."

"Poseidon, enough," Hades appeared in-between them. "Release her. Or are you trying to crush her bones?"

Percy didn't know whether to feel relief or dread at Hades' interference. On one hand, he was here to help, but on the other hand, Poseidon hated his guts and he was already pissed right now.

Hades angrily wrenched Poseidon's arm away when he refused to budge. "Have you lost it? You worry about her getting hurt and yet you go and harm her like this?"

"This has nothing to do with you. Leave." Poseidon glared.

"You put your hands on my wife, I say this has everything to do with me," he returned coldly. "Percy swore an oath. There is nothing we can do about this situation now. We have no choice but to accept this. Forcing her to back out will lead to her death."

"Having her fight in Ragnarok WILL lead to her death!" Poseidon's voice rose.

"You don't know that," Hades stressed out.

Poseidon let out a short, mocking laugh. "Oh, then you're just as much of a fool for thinking she could actually survive." He turned back to her angrily, "I'll take my leave then. Once you realize the fatal mistake you've made, I know you'll come back to me. I'll await your return, wife."

He disappeared in a column of water, leaving her alone with Hades.

"...He's dramatic as always," Hades grumbled, staring at the spot his younger brother once occupied.

He looked back to her in concern. "Are you alright, Percy?"

"Mmhmm," she mumbled, not really sure what to feel about seeing him again. It had been months since they last saw each other after all and the whole 'let's force my niece to marry me and keep her trapped in Helheim!' thing was still fresh in her memory.

A very heavy silence fell between them.

Two large hands squeezed her shoulders gently. She looked up instinctively, meeting with his worried gaze.

"I really hope you know what you're doing, Percy," he murmured. "I really, really hope you understand what you've signed up for."

"You abstained from your vote," she recalled.

"I did," he nodded, having the decency to look a little apologetic at least. "I care not for the lives of humanity. Whether they live or not impacts me little."

It was blunt and honest, but at least he wasn't waving a fist around and ranting about how much he hated them. Hades had always been the most indifferent when it came to humanity—which she sorta appreciated. When humans died, their souls went straight to Helheim first for judgement. Good souls went to Valhalla, bad souls remained in Helheim where they had to fight for survival. Spending eons living amongst the worst of humanity would've driven anyone to hate them, but for some reason, Hades held no hatred.

"I know you're... attached to humanity," he began carefully. "That's why we decided to keep this meeting a secret from you. You were never supposed to know of it. At least, not until after, when it was too late." He admitted. "You must understand, it wasn't to deceive or hurt you. With the fragile state of your soul, we feared the shock or despair you'd feel would cause it to... accelerate."

"Finish me off, you mean," she clarified.

He winced at the description but nodded. "A crude way to put it, but essentially yes."

"Well, my soul doesn't feel much different," she assured with a shrug. Or maybe it was because the effects of Poseidon's ichor were still in her system—gradually fading as of now, of course, but still there. But honestly, she didn't really care if this whole situation caused a huge chunk of it to break away. It'd hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it.

"...I... see..." He replied reluctantly, scanning her soul as if to double-check. He was still frowning, but he wasn't arguing with her at least. "You can still back out of this, you know."

She sighed, "Uncle, I already swore—"

"—You swore to be a contender, yes," Hades agreed. "But you didn't say anything about actually fighting. You can still drop out or forfeit the match—and please do not try to swear another oath again or so help me," he scowled lightly, having had to place a hand over her mouth before she could blurt out another crazy oath to keep herself trapped. "You really ought to be banned from ever uttering those words, Percy..." He sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

He looked down at her with a very stern stare. "I'm going to remove my hand and you better not try to swear another oath. Do you understand?"

She nodded, like a liar.

Hades counted to three in his head before slowly pulling his hand away.

"IswearontheRivermmph—!"

"Good gods, why did I even tell you this," Hades grumbled, regretting everything at this point. His niece(-wife) seemed to be obsessed with using that gods damned oath.

"Okay, okay, I won't say it!" She promised, voice muffled by his hand, bringing her arms up in surrender.

He gave her an unimpressed look, like a mom whose kid had just promised to stop stealing cookies from the cookie jar knowing damn well they would try to reach in for it again. He begrudgingly pulled away and when she didn't speak those dreaded words again, allowed his shoulders to relax.

"Please just... keep this loophole open should you ever change your mind," Hades pleaded, and he rarely ever needed to beg but he was ready to drop to his knees at this point. Percy was dead set on running straight to her certain doom and she didn't seem to realize it. Or care.

"Alright," she said, just to appease him.

He managed a small, albeit apprehensive smile. "Good. I'll take my leave then—"

"—Wait!" She quickly stopped him, remembering something very important. "I... I need your help," she said hesitantly.

"Anything," he straightened up immediately.

"My dad confiscated my phone a long time ago. Could you maybe... please... call Aphrodite?" She began nervously, the color gradually draining from her face. "I, um, need to ask her for something."

"Aphrodite?" He echoed, confused before it suddenly dawned on him. Poseidon's sudden marriage just a few days ago. Obviously they had to have consummated it, a thought that Hades didn't like to think about since his own marriage to her had failed to complete that last part and—oh. Ohhh.

Percy had been displeased when he had married her because of her own beliefs on how family was supposed to work. If she didn't want her uncle marrying her then she definitely felt sickened to the thought of marrying her own father.

She was trying to prevent any babies from coming to fruition. That had to be it. Aphrodite loved to meddle in Percy's love life—she had helped him in their wedding and he later found out she had helped in Percy's wedding to Poseidon. It was made abundantly clear to him that the pesky goddess was getting a kick out of marrying Percy off to whichever desperate god came to her for help. A baby would only put a damper on her fun.

A part of Hades felt furious at Aphrodite's meddling, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Aphrodite was rarely ever loyal to one pairing; if she found a better pairing, she'd make it happen.

But this was fine. Because Percy was now looking to him for help in getting rid of Poseidon's babies and he was more than happy to help. Ecstatic even! After all, what sort of uncle would he be to turn down his poor little niece seeking his help?

"Of course, darling," he crooned, dark satisfaction welling within. "I'll summon her right away."

And with a snap of his fingers, a frazzled Aphrodite appeared in a poof of dark spirals.

She recovered quickly when she realized who had brought her forth. "Lord Hades!" She beamed, as if she hadn't just gone behind his back and had his wife marry another man. "And Percy too! Oh my, have my dreams come true? Are you finally offering yourselves up to a threesome with me?" She squealed, hearts literally glowing in her eyes.

Percy blanched and Hades heaved out a sigh. "No, this isn't the case. Percy here has asked for your aid in... something," he smiled a bit. "I'll leave you two ladies be.

He disappeared, and now Percy was left with a grinning Aphrodite. "Oh, what a pity," the buxom blonde sighed. "Maybe Lord Poseidon would be open for a threesome?"

"Can you please just give me the tea already?" Percy sighed.

Aphrodite sniffled daintily but the tea formed in her opened hand. "Oh fine. Here, drink up. You're lucky you got to me so quickly, by the way. Any later, and the eggs would've started to form inside you."

The younger girl grimaced. She really didn't need a reminder of how close she was to being forced to carry hundreds, maybe even thousands of little mer eggs inside her body thanks to her dad fucking her in his mer form.

"You sure are gutsy by the way!" Aphrodite giggled as Percy drank the tea down. "Interrupting the Gods' Council, declaring yourself a fighter of humanity, and even swearing an Oath... Ohhh, I cannot wait to hear about how Poseidon punishes you for that~!"

"Thanks for the tea, bye now," she grumbled, handing the teacup back and scurrying away before she could hear any more of this.

"Don't die during Ragnarok, Percy! I want to hear all about the rough sex he puts you through afterwards!" Aphrodite called out, and Percy wanted to bury herself.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Brunhilde and Göll were waiting for when she stepped outside of the teleportation point, but she couldn't focus on them. Instead, she focused on her surroundings.

She had no idea what country or era 'Adam's house' was located in, but it was beautiful. She felt like she just walked right into a Pinterest photoshoot for the 'cottagecore' aesthetic. She stood on a small hill of colorful flowers and she could see a small glittering blue lake farther into the distance. At the top of the hill was a cute little cottage that had plants climbing on the walls and growing from patches on the roofs. In the surrounding area, she could see adorable animals peacefully lingering around. A little lamb baa-ing at a butterfly, rabbits hopping by, a cute fawn laying on a patch of flowers...

"Oh good, you've arrived," Brunhilde said as she joined them. "I just informed Adam and he's more than happy to take you in."

"Uh, yeah," she replied, still distracted by the beautiful scenery. "So, um, this Adam guy..."

"He's the first ever human," Brunhilde began, and Percy almost tripped going uphill.

"Huh?" She said dumbly. "Wait... we're meeting Adam-Adam? The Adam? This is that Adam's house?"

"Yup!" Göll beamed. "This is where Adam and Eve have been living after they died in Midgard!"

Percy's jaw dropped.

She had heard of their story—or, more specifically, the story the gods wanted her to know. According to both Beelzebub's and Proteus' lessons, Adam and Eve were the very first humans to be created seven million years ago. The gods had graciously allowed them to stay up here in Valhalla, where they lived in the Garden of Eden amongst the rest of gods' creations like animals and insects, and all kinds of wildlife.

They had one rule: to never take anything from the Tree of Knowledge. But a serpent demon had witnessed Eve eat one of the apples and she was promptly taken to Heaven's Court to pay for her crime. But then Adam interrupted the trial and violently killed the witness in front of everyone. For their wickedness, the gods banished them from Valhalla and cast them down to Midgard as punishment for the rest of their lives.

She was 99.9% sure everything about it was fabricated like all the other stuff the gods have tried to tell her about humans, and she wondered what the true story was, not that she had any intention on prying of course.

But anyway, she was about to actually meet them now. She had no idea what to expect. What were they like? Were they really okay with her staying with them? She was a demigod after all and he agreed to fight in Ragnarok. What did Brunhilde even say to him about her? Any normal person would've been ticked off if some random girl had to freeload off of you. Actually wait, did she have to pay them rent? How does one even get a job in Valhalla?! She couldn't use her old resume here! Did people even get paid here?! Everyone was dead!

"Uh, actually guys," she spoke up tentatively. "I don't think this is a good idea. I should just head over to New York—"

"—It's fine, Percy!" Göll assured. "Adam's more than happy to have you stay with them! Trust us! He's a great guy, you'll love him!"

Brunhilde nodded in agreement. "He really doesn't mind. Come on."

The Valkyries proceeded to drag her up the hill and knocked on the cottage door. It opened and Percy found herself needing to look down. The guy who opened the door was pretty short—about 5'7" it seemed—but man was he breathtaking.

He had fair skin, wavy blonde hair, and big blue eyes that reminded her of a clear sky. He was just so pretty that she couldn't help but wonder if he was a god. It shouldn't be possible though, everyone in the house was supposed to be human, but his presence before her had a peculiar unearthly, divine tone to it. He had an almost ageless quality to him too. She just couldn't seem to pinpoint how old he was. He looked like he could be a high schooler, or maybe a college student, hell he could even be a grown man filing taxes. It was a trait many gods seemed to have, where they could be anything and everything all at once.

She was so distracted by his beautiful face that she almost failed to register everything else about him.

The guy was small, but he was built with a defined set of six pack abs and everything, and he was naked. Like, completely naked save for a single leaf that somehow managed to stay in place right over his junk. Percy's face of admiration turned into horror when she realized this.

Brunhilde, however, was completely unfazed. She grabbed Percy up by the waist and held her out like she was presenting her prized puppy. "Hello, Adam. This is Percy. She's your new daughter now."

"Huh?" She tried to crane her neck back to look at her.

"Okay." Adam said simply before taking Percy and pulling her inside the house.

"Wait," she blinked in disbelief. "Hold on, wait, uh, Brunhilde—?"

"Thanks. Bye now," he said bluntly before closing the door.

And that was how Percy got adopted. 

— author's note —

*KICKS POSEIDON OUT THE DOOR* STEP ASIDE PEASANT, THE TRUE FATHER IS HERE! 😍😍😍

Meme from distinguishedwhispersqueen:

Percy fanart by WmmapEmpresss:

Fanarts from honeydew-mint: