Poseidon stood alone over the fountain at the center of his palace on Olympus. It was more of a guest house, because he rarely stayed there for extended periods of time. He would rather remain in his underwater kingdom, where his power was strongest, unless his presence was required at a council meeting. The constant bickering of the portion of his family that resided there permanently also unnerved him. It was a disease that Poseidon had no desire to catch.

The fountain he was looking into was massive, standing three times his height. Four marble jets stretched from the base into the air. Each jet faced a point on the compass. The base was covered in the map of the world, with longitude and latitude lines drawn in.

With a wave of his hand, an image appeared before the god. He watched the demigods carry Percy and Annabeth to the lake and throw them in. A smile spread across Poseidon's face. His son was home, happy and safe, hopefully for the last time.

"I hope you know I'm not giving him the same offer." A voice echoed behind the sea god.

"You still bitter about that? I hope you know that we'd be talking in Tartarus right now if he'd accepted." Poseidon replied.

Zeus ignored him and walked forward. "I had an inkling that you'd be watching this too."

"You didn't want to watch this with Hera did you?" the sea god asked. His tone was only half mocking.

The god of the skies was quiet for a few moments. Poseidon saw his brow wrinkle in thought. Odd, he rarely thinks that hard in times of crisis. Hera's theft of Percy and Jason's memories had taken a tougher toll on Zeus than his brother. Poseidon always knew Annabeth would never have let anything happen to his son. Zeus, on the other hand, didn't have a mortal to trust with Jason's life, and his own wife was the one who had put him in danger.

"I still have much I need to discuss with Hera. This moment is not one of them." Poseidon nodded in understanding. He'd rather not watch this with Amphitrite either. Zeus's brow furrowed even more. Hades, what is wrong with him?

"Brother, I wanted to thank you. Without your son's help, we all would have suffered terrible fates, especially my own children." Zeus said quietly. His face was unreadable.

Poseidon allowed a smug smile to creep onto his face. It wasn't everyday his brother gave anyone else credit, especially one of his nephews. He looked up at him, "What, are you afraid to say that in front of the council?"

Zeus glared at him, "That's a funny idea, brother." There was no humor in his voice, "No, I told you because someone deserved to be told, and I sure as Hades wasn't going to tell your son myself. No, I'll leave boosting his ego to you and Chiron. Even Athena will have to thank him for his performance this time." Zeus shook his head.

Athena thanking Percy Jackson. Now there was a sight Poseidon would make sure Hermes recorded. Maybe he would put a live feed of that moment on repeat in his palace.

"I suppose I owe Athena's daughter a 'thank you' as well, and probably an apology. I'll make sure to tell her personally. Maybe even in front of the entire council."

Thunder roared outside. Poseidon grinned, satisfied.

In the image, Poseidon watched his other descendant, Frank Zhang, walk around the beach hand in hand with the daughter of Hades, Hazel. Now there was an odd couple, but they seemed to work well together and Frank's shape shifting had proved invaluable.

A crack sounded behind them, and the two gods turned to find their third brother, Hades, dusting himself off, "If you two are going to have brother powwows without me, please don't use my name so much. You know I can hear you. I would have come earlier, but I was helping Thanatos with the final repairs and upgrades to the Doors." Sarcasm dripped from his voice but his smile was warm. Hades looked around the palace, "Poseidon I absolutely love what you've done with the place." His grin turned wicked but the sarcastic tone remained.

"Always a pleasure, brother. It would appear your invitation got lost in the mail. You know how unreliable Hermes is." Poseidon smiled good-naturedly.

"It's good to hear about the Doors." Zeus said flatly. He wasn't quite frowning, but he certainly wasn't smiling.

Hades strode to Zeus's side and elbowed him in the ribs, "Lighten up, brother. It's time for a celebration!" He laughed and pointed into the fountain, "What's going on? What did I miss?"

"Well, the sea spawn and his girlfriend are sitting at the bottom of the lake and the rest are waiting for them." Zeus explained.

"Typical, it's always about Jackson." Poseidon glared at him and Hades changed the subject, "Where's Nico?"

Neither Zeus not Poseidon looked at him. "He wandered off." Poseidon offered.

Poseidon could see worry replace the smile on Hades' face. Hades got a bad rap as far as caring for his children went, but Poseidon knew it was difficult to take adequate care of them from the Underworld. It was hard enough for Poseidon to take care of one from the sea, but Percy was a special case. Looking at Zeus, it was clear their youngest brother didn't notice or care about Hades concern. Typical.

Hades' face grew pained, "Did either of you happen to see…" His voice trailed off and his eyes searched his brothers' for answers. Zeus pretended not to hear him, but he momentarily winced. Hades cringed and turned to Poseidon, who held his gaze.

"Yes, and I'm sure our brother saw it too, considering his child was actually present." The sea god's glare was frightening. Zeus still stared at the fountain. Poseidon walked over to place a hand on Hades' shoulder, "I'm sorry Nico is so troubled, and I wish that he would learn to trust the others. I'm glad Jason was able to be there for him."

"I appreciate it, I really do, brother. I just wish Nico did. He underestimates his friends." Hades replied solemnly.

Laughter erupted from Zeus, "Poseidon, my daughter just shocked the lake."

Poseidon and Hades raced to the edge of the fountain in time to see Thalia blasted off the dock. They both laughed and Zeus pouted. The king of the gods' sense of humor did not apply to him or his children.

The three watched in patient silence as the motley crew of teenagers made their way to the Argo II. Even Zeus smiled a bit when Annabeth and Percy hugged Connor Stoll. He tried to hide it when he realized, but Poseidon caught the twitch. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

The happiness returned to Hades' eyes when Rachel dragged Nico into the room and everyone showered him with praise. Pride flowed through Poseidon as he modestly began telling his story. Zeus had been noticeably quiet. He was probably miffed that his son wasn't getting much spotlight.

"Hey Zeus, for what it's worth, it would've been harder for Percy to complete this quest without Jason's help." Hades grinned and surprisingly, so did Zeus.

"For what it's worth, Poseidon, go to Tartarus." Zeus's grin nearly matched Hades'.

"Athena, stop the presses! Please let this go down in history as the first time in a millennium that the almighty King of the Gods responded to a joke about his own son, with another joke! Oh, Fates!" Hades' cried dramatically, "Where is Hermes and his blasted video camera when he's needed?"

Thunder boomed outside, but Zeus' smile had miraculously grown even wider. He threw his arm around Hades, "Well, brother, I decided to take your advice. It's time to cel–"

All three brothers' smiles evaporated as their attention was pulled back to the fountain. The daughter of Ares, Clarisse, was on her feet, screaming at Nico. Hades snarled. Zeus steadied him with a hand.

Poseidon had mixed feelings as he watched the scene. He was proud as Clarisse rattled off Percy's achievements, but he, like Percy, hadn't fully appreciated what the idea of Percy Jackson meant to the campers. He looked at Hades as Clarisse turned her attention back to Nico. The king of the Underworld's face was contorted with rage. Anytime our family tries to repair itself, we crumble. Sometimes the Fates are too cruel. They all let the scene play out in silence.

"We even forgave you after you betrayed Percy to your father. We tried to support you when you pushed us away, but you aren't one of us! We trusted you, and you let us down,again!"

Part of Hades' anger melted into sadness as he realized he bore some of the blame for Nico's lashing. Poseidon pitied him now. Hades' actions seemed to follow his children closest of all the gods. This was the last thing Nico deserved.

Zeus received a thankful look from Hades when Jason admirably stood up. Poseidon wished Percy had done more, but knew it was hard to stand up to someone who was defending you so admirably.

"I'm going to kill Ares." Hades snarled.

"Brother, Ares is not to blame." Poseidon replied calmly.

"You're just saying that because she's defending your son!" Hades yelled, pointing at the image. It pained Poseidon to look his brother in the eyes. This seemed to resonate with him, because he calmed, "You are right. We try our best to avoid judging demigods based on actions of their parents. We must do the opposite here. Now is not the time to return to our hypocritical ways." A single tear rolled down his cheek when Jason and Annabeth picked the crumbled ball formerly known as Nico di Angelo from the ground and carried him into the next room.

Poseidon's chest swelled with pride when Percy was bombarded with another group hug. Zeus smiled proudly when they observed Jason watch over Nico as he slept. Hades's face bore no expression. His anger had faded now that Nico was, at least temporarily, out of the line of fire. Poseidon hoped Percy and Jason could fix this.

While Percy and Clarisse made up, the gods watched with confused expressions. "I will never understand demigods." Hades commented coolly.

"Why is she pretending to hate him again? How could she after she just defended him so viciously?" Poseidon questioned.

"I once asked a woman why mortal adolescence was so confusing and seemingly painful," Zeus volunteered. His brothers could not believe he had noticed, let alone cared to ask about this stage of their childrens' lives, "She laughed at me. She said 'They're teenagers. They wouldn't learn if it was easy' as if that was supposed to explain it." He snorted.

Poseidon thought for a moment about his own family. They often pretended to hate each other because they felt they were supposed to. His own rivalry with Athena had become boring, mainly because of their children. Percy and Annabeth's latest adventure had forced the two gods together in grief and anger. Poseidon saw the underlying tenderness in their nicknames, not so unlike his and Athena's. The Stolls constantly pranked Katie and the Demeter cabin, even though Kaite and Travis were in love. Despite Percy and Clarisse's banter and threats, they had proven time and time again that they would fight and die for one another. An immortal family family will never be easy, but hopefully we can still learn from our children, Poseidon mused. Maybe we are just big, powerful, immortal teenagers. He laughed, but didn't think many of the other gods would find that funny.

Poseidon was yanked out of his thoughts by a gasp from Zeus. Refocusing his gaze, he watched Jason grab Nico as he shadow traveled to the Underworld.

"Your son is very brave for doing that." Hades commented to Zeus, who nodded gratefully.

As they watched the scene, Poseidon found himself admiring both demigods. Nico's strength was nearly unending and Jason's loyalty was unwavering. Poseidon and Hades winced when Nico mentioned Percy. The pain in his voice was almost unbearable to hear. Zeus wore a stoic expression. This was one demigod he could not relate to.

It was Hades turn to gasp when Jason hugged Nico and the younger boy brought them back to the Argo II.

"Your son is very brave for doing that." Zeus returned the compliment. Poseidon smiled.

When Jason went to fetch Percy and Hazel, all three brothers had white-knuckled grips on the edge of the fountain. This was better than Hephaestus TV, even if their emotional health was on the line. Percy entered the room with Hazel on his tail. She was so different from Nico that Poseidon had forgotten Hazel was Hades' child as well. The other god must be so emotionally torn between feeling anguish for Nico and happiness for Hazel, who should be dead but instead was happier than ever in the strong arms of Frank.

Even Zeus winced when Percy embraced Nico. All three felt their guts wrench when Nico returned the hug and began to cry.

"But that, my brothers, is the bravest act of all." Poseidon offered. Zeus nodded and Hades looked like he was about to tear up again.

Silently, they watched Clarisse's awkward apology and the subsequent departure of her, Percy and Jason. They decided not to eavesdrop on Nico and Hazel.

As Percy and Annabeth hurried off to be alone, Zeus backed away from the fountain, "I believe the show's over, as they say, and I do not intend to watch your son's make-out session." He pointed a finger at Poseidon.

Hades backed off as well, "Yes, well this was," he paused looking for the right word, "enlightening, shall we say?" he chuckled a little, "I'm glad I didn't have to watch it alone." The Lord of the Underworld took a step backward and bowed to each of his brothers. "Thank you both, for everything your children have done for Nico, Hazel, and Bianca. I'm not forgetting about Thalia either Zeus."

Both of his brothers respectfully nodded at Bianca's memory. "Hades, feel free to return to your domain. I am lifting the seal over Olympus. Only the Fates know howwe let Dionysus be the first one out." Zeus huffed and Poseidon grinned.

"Thank you brother. I need to find my son. It's about time I started acting like a father." With a flash, Hades was gone.

Zeus turned to Poseidon, "I see that grin Poseidon, but don't think you are getting another thank you. I will, however, say that you should be very proud of that boy of yours. He's grown up a lot since returning my Master Bolt, even if he's still a bratty upstart."

"Jason's not so bad for a walking spark plug either." Poseidon laughed heartily at the mental image of a walking, talking spark plug. Hephaestus would love it.

The Lord of the Skies turned to leave but stopped as he neared the door, "Oh, Poseidon one more thing. I have no idea what Hades was talking about. This new wallpaper you have is absolutely dreadful." Zeus winked and walked back to his own palace.

Maybe there was hope for this family yet.

Poseidon turned back to the fountain to watch Percy and Annabeth hold each other in the moonlight for a few moments before erasing the image.

Yes, there most certainly was.