It was quite simple really. He was just a boy and she was just a girl. The problem is that people are inherently complicated, these two more than most. Perhaps it would've began much more simply if they hadn't hated each other, she hadn't tried to kill him, and he hadn't hated himself. But really, simple stories don't make very good ones, now do they?

Percy

Percy felt himself shaking as he kneeled in front of the gods in the tattered throne room. Olympus lay in shambles, but Kronos was gone and that was all that was supposed to matter. It should all be worth it, he should feel like he won something shouldn't he?

The battle had gone on for days, had seemed to go on for years; the last four years of his life had been dedicated to stopping Kronos, even when he didn't always realize it. His life had revolved around this, and now, it was all gone. Relief and exhaustion were his most pressing emotions, but he felt still felt a niggling sense of doubt trembling in the back of his mind; what was he supposed to do now? The only thing he knew for certain was that he was making the right decision about this proposal.

"Are you sure? My son, immortality is quite an offer to turn down," Poseidon asked from his throne. His expression was easy to read. He was confused, and maybe a little disappointed, but he knew his son, and he would just have to understand that Percy wasn't that person. He didn't have to know that death didn't sound nearly as awful as being trapped with this guilt until the end of time. Immortality would have been far more of a curse than a blessing, whatever his morals said was just a very important side benefit. Allowing himself to be painted as a martyr wasn't that difficult, since he knew that he was just a coward.

"Yes, father, with all due respect, I think I made the right decision." Zeus looked skeptical as his steely eyes appraised the boy in front of him, judging him harshly. His eyebrows were drawn low, and he was scowling. Aphrodite cleared her throat from the end of the other side of the room, propping herself forward in her throne to peer around the thrones. She gave Zeus a pointed look, reminding Percy of the face second wives whip out when they try to get their way on bad reality shows. Zeus frowned some more.

"It is our decision that we should entrust you with one more thing, a spoil of war, you could say." Zeus announced. Aphrodite beamed, and Hera's eyes widened as he lips pursed. The air between the goddesses seemed to crackle with hostility. Percy glanced down the row of gods and goddesses, trying to gauge what was going on. On one hand, Athena looked stressed beneath her thin veneer of steely resolve, on the other Artemis was certainly not staying quiet on the issue.

"Really, Zeus, you will entrust something so valuable, so precious, to a teenage boy?" Percy thought he and Artemis were on okay terms since December, but apparently, he was wrong. Apparently he had lost his "man" status in the past few months, which was kind of a good trick if you thought about it. He didn't see why he couldn't be trusted with a trophy, especially since they trusted him with a war.

"He deserves the reward, he is the reason we are here today. He is exactly the right person, he can help change the threat into an asset, and a teenage boy is precisely right for handling and manipulating something so, off balance." Aphrodite made sure to slip her two cents in, and shot a pointed look at Artemis, who barred her teeth in a gesture that was more animal than human. It was never a good sign when debates dissolved into primal displays of aggression. It was kind of hot if he was being honest.

"The job should be entrusted to me and my hunters, we have the most experience dealing with matters like this," She argued. Artemis's merry band of man hating teenage girls should probably not be in charge of any sort of spoil of war in Percy's opinion. Something tells him they wouldn't hesitate to turn whatever it was against any male in a three mile radius. They weren't big fans of him, they listened to him and followed his orders because of Thalia's friendship, but they would stab him the first chance they got. They weren't exactly fans of his dating habits. "Athena, don't you agree with me?"

Artemis was looking for allies, but it didn't appear she'd be finding any.

"I do not have a say in the matter," Athena responded, and while her words were diplomatic, her tone was defeated. Artemis was surprised, but she searched the council for sympathizers, and found none.

"Zeus, you are on my side, correct?" Aphrodite's tone was challenging and when Percy looked back at Zeus, his expression was exhausted. He actually rolled his eyes before continuing. The boredom was becoming ridiculous as he couldn't follow the conversation and Percy realized his knees were beginning to hurt.

"Yes, do you accept this small reward, Perseus?" Zeus asked finally, and when Percy nodded, Poseidon seemed to be appraising his son.

"Then it is done, good luck," Zeus finished with an air of finality. Percy's gut twisted, and he wanted to get back to his cabin as soon as possible. The only thing he needed now was sleep, and whatever the mysterious reward was, it could wait until he could feel his legs.

…

Percy sighed as he crossed over the top of Half-Blood Hill. The fighting had been brutal and taxing, and now all he wanted to do was sleep in his own bed. Tomorrow would be filled with burning shrouds and mourning, and for Percy there would be lots of time alone trying to not think. He knew he would have to deal with everything that had happened eventually, and he knew he would have to consider his role in everything that had happened, and he knew that he would have to deal with the guilt, but now was not that time.

Everyone around him was celebrating, at least those who weren't sobbing over dead friends, but Percy just couldn't feel. He couldn't consider the offer the gods had laid at his feet, or why he turned it down, and he couldn't even begin to process whatever Zeus had offered.

...

He tried hard not to think about the empty bed on the other side of the room that was meant for Tyson and flopped onto his own bed without much awareness. He shifted, reaching to turn off the light on his headboard, and froze. Right there, inches away from his nose, was a mass of blonde ringlets. He propped himself up on one arm and stared down at what definitely didn't belong there. The girl's hair covered the majority of her face and the rest was tucked away into the pillow, his pillow. Percy felt both incredibly invaded and shocked out of his mind. She was a pretty girl, and she was in his bed; too bad he had no real control over how she got there. He carefully slid out from under the sheets and stepped outside, silently freaking out with zero shame. This was not normal. He looked around at everyone who hadn't moved out of their post war reactions and searched desperately for one person in particular.

He knew the girl wasn't from Camp Half Blood, he definitely would've recognized her. Random girls didn't usually crawl into his bed without his knowledge, so this was definitely a new experience. Finally, right before he was about to literally run around screaming, he saw the scampering satyr he was looking for.

Grover Underwood was not a large personality. He was not obnoxious, or outspoken, or outwardly brave, but he was loyal, and Percy could appreciate that. The boy pranced over with his hooves clapping along. Percy imagined that being half goat would be inconvenient, but for Grover, it worked. Percy couldn't picture it working so well for him, but there were a lot of things like that.

The excitable guy bounded over to him with a grin a mile wide, but Percy couldn't even remember the emotion that would cause his expression.

"So..what is it?" He asked, nudging his friend gently. Percy just raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You know what I'm talking about, everyone's heard about the reward they got for our own war hero!" Grover sounded excited, the last time Percy had seen him like this was when they came across a food truck selling 2 for 50 cent enchiladas. Grover nudged him again, and the facts hit him like a Mac truck barreling down the interstate. He ignored Grover's excitable blathering and yanked the door to his cabin open. He burst into the room and skidded to a stop right at the foot of his bed, making a gesture as if he was revealing the answer on the Wheel of Fortune, rather than this train wreck. His friend clopped in behind him, and Percy could practically feel the confusion billowing off his companion in highly nervous waves.

"What is that?" Grover made her sound like a very ugly painting that no one wanted. The memory of how Zeus had described her was just as sickening.

"A spoil of war."

AN: Hello lovely readers, this is my newest story. It's been in the works for over a year now, so I really hope you like it. I have a bunch of chapters already written, so I should be posting again soon depending on the interest this story gets. If you have any questions, please drop me a review.