Ascension

Hey everyone, it's my first time actually posting content on this site so I am a little new to this. Still, I've had some writing experience before and thought I'd give it a go. Hope you guys enjoy and I do appreciate all the feedback, reviews, and comments you all can give to keep me going! Now, without further a do, enjoy Percy Jackson: Ascension

Chapter 1: Wisdom's Daughter

"One last time Olympus shall call,

Upon her hero, the greatest of them all.

Immortality is what he must receive,
If we are to survive and he is to lead.

Moon and Mist will soothe Sea's Pain,
Less the world see chaos reign.

To see the Earth in endless death,
The hero's soul saved by love's last breath."

The throne room went silent, the Olympian Council shocked beyond measure. The cosmos seemed to loom above, with the normally glittering constellations appearing ominous and suppressed. The giant hearth before the assorted thrones burned a dull purple and reached no more than a few inches above the ground. And yet the atmosphere in the room was electrifying with so many emotions and thoughts emanating from the various individuals present. Fourteen Olympians stood standing in front of their respective thrones. Crouching on the floor before them was a tall, handsome boy with jet-black hair and brilliant sea-green eyes that were stricken with grief. Tears flowed freely down his chiseled face as he silently sobbed. Standing to his right was a beautiful red-headed girl with emerald-green eyes and a light splash of freckles on her face. She too sobbed silently, for before them all was the broken body of a blond haired girl.

The silence was broken at last by the red-headed girl.

"Percy…I am so, so sorry. I don't know what happened," she sobbed, "I thought I wasn't the Oracle of Delphi anymore since after the last war…I would never intentionally deliver a prophecy like this."

The girl couldn't hold back her tears anymore, and as if the floodgates were suddenly opened, she began to bawl her eyes out with reckless abandon.

The boy turned to her, a look of sympathy flashed into his grief-stricken eyes.

"Rachel, none of this is your fault," he said, "come here".

He rose from the ground and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she cried into his chest. Percy hugged Rachel closer as her touch seemed to make the painful emptiness in his shattered heart more bearable. He was trembling with rage, with betrayal, with grief. He glared at the gods.

"To hell with your prophecies," he snarled.

Zeus narrowed his eyes, "How dare you—".

"NO. YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!" Percy willed himself to calm down before continuing. "I am going to bury my her and give her her last rights. I am going to see her father and family and explain to them the gods she dedicated her life to were unable to protect her…that I was unable to protect her. And then, I am going to have my revenge on those who took her away from me. This I swear on the river styx."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the gods murmured amongst one another. Percy stared at them coldly, the spirit of vengeance barely contained in his eyes.

Poseidon cleared his throat and spoke.

"Percy, my son, you know my love for you knows no limits. You have done so much for Olympus. A tragic thing has happened today; a new threat has reared its head. Son, I implore you to at least attend this council meeting so that we can best decide what to do next. For if we do not, more people will die."

The sea god looked at his son meaningfully, and for a moment it looked as if Percy might argue. Then Rachel forced herself to stop crying and reached up to whisper something into Percy's ear. His gaze softened and the fire in his eyes abated.

"We will listen," he said.

The gods looked relieved, and some of them let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.

24 hours ago

"…for while high school graduation is a great mile-stone in any young adult's life, it is just the beginning…"

Annabeth bobbed her head absentmindedly as the dean gave the obligatory graduation speech. She was graduating. Part of her was proud and a bit surprised she made it all the way to graduation given her eventful and hectic life. From the days spent on the run with her friends Luke and Thalia to her years in Camp Half Blood, Annabeth could never truly claim to have been bored. Sure she had her fill of the mortal world, and the place normal people her age go to—school. In fact, she spent most of her years in the mortal world, only plunging herself back to the world of gods and monsters in the summer and winter breaks. And yet, here she stood on the stage with the rest of Goode High School's graduating Class of 2014. She had fought in two major wars, battled countless monsters, nearly died way too many times (her scars proved that), even…

She was broken out of her thoughts as she felt a sneaky hand finding its way up her thigh. She rolled her eyes and swatted the hand away, giving its owner a playful punch in the side while she was at it. Percy Jackson. Son of the sea god, Savior of Olympus…and a bunch of other titles, but most importantly, her best friend…and the love of her life. Save a few heart-wrenching occasions, Percy had been with her every step of the way as they braved the world of Greek mythology (reality?) together. She remembered accompanying him on their first quest, she remembered rejecting the Hunters of Artemis because she couldn't see herself without him, and she remembered their first underwater kiss at the bottom of Camp Half Blood Lake at the end of the Second Titan War. Then the second great prophecy came...and that brought along with it a whole new set of adventures and memories…

"You know, you look really adorable when you're reminiscing," Percy whispered into her ear, "you get this distant smile on your lips and your eyes glaze over."

Despite herself, Annabeth blushed…like she always did when Percy wanted her to. It's so unfair! He knows me so well he can pretty much push all my buttons.

She gathered her senses and tried to sound annoyed, "You are so dead once we get out of here Jackson! You think you're such a hot shot huh, yeah well I've got—"

"Yeah! Savior of Olympus at your service." He winked at her and flashed her a brilliant smile before looking straight ahead again.

Annabeth sighed and caved, slipping her hand into his and promising herself she'd get the better of him later.

Annabeth stared at herself in the mirror, giving her blond curls a last minute brushing. After examining her knee-length maroon colored dress and nodding in approval, she began touching up on her makeup, which she normally didn't use (she decided the occasion called for it). She and Percy were going on a date! Okay they went on lots of dates, but tonight they were celebrating their high school graduation and their future together in New Rome. Four years of college and then…well it didn't matter as long as they were together. She took a deep breath and turned around as Percy came out of his bathroom. He stopped, starred, and smiled.

"Might I say, my lady, that you look absolutely stunning…" he paused, "more so than usual".

Nice save…man he was good. I'm not gonna blush. I'm not gonna blush. I'm not gonna blush.

It didn't help that he was decked out in a super suave suit—black dress pants and jacket, a plain white dress shirt, and a stripped sea-green colored tie. With his tall and strong build, he looked like a god…of deliciousness…Annabeth!

"You look pretty good yourself," she replied coolly.

"You're blushing,"

God damn it!

"I am not…" Annabeth mumbled.

Percy walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him and smiled, cupping his face as she leaned up for a kiss. When their lips met, Annabeth shivered slightly with pleasure and pressed closer to Percy, deepening the kiss. After about a minute, Percy gently pulled away.

"So, do we want to spend all night kissing or do we want to go out for our amazing date?" he said softly.

Annabeth pouted, "Fine, will you finally tell me where we're going though?"

He grinned, "You know that new restaurant Apollo was talking about—Apollo's Steakhouse. Tonight's the opening night and I got us a reservation for two!"

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "He…don't tell me…we're…eating his sacred cattle?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't know man. It's his cattle. He can do what he wants with it."

"How are we going to get there?"

"Like this," Percy grinned, "CUZZZ, we're ready!"

The next thing Annabeth knew, they disappeared in a flash of golden light. They reappeared seated on an extremely fancy table for two made entirely of gold. The chairs were gold, the cutlery were gold, and somehow, the napkins were too. Annabeth took in her surroundings and saw an entire outside courtyard littered with tables such as the one she was seated at. It was clear they were at one of the palaces of Olympus (she would know, she re-designed the place). However, it appeared the place was converted into a restaurant as she saw a huge sign that read "Apollo's Steakhouse", waiters dashing all over the place, and lots and lots of patrons enjoying themselves. The courtyard overlooked the mountainside, which was filled with streets, palaces, gardens, and parks, all lit by burning braziers as the fire of Olympus illuminated the night. Looking up to the mountaintop, Annabeth could spy the throne room of Mount Olympus, the center of the gods' power.

"Hi there! My name's Isa, and I'll be your waitress today."

Percy and Annabeth turned to a pretty girl dressed in a golden skirt, golden shirt, and…golden shoes. She was pretty much entirely gold, save her pale skin, blue eyes, and silver hair.

"Isa?" Percy asked.

"It's short for Isapanoleia…I'm a minor goddess of streams."

"Oh…I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my girlfriend Annabeth Chase."

Isa flashed me a polite smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you daughter of Athena. You've done an amazing job with redesigning Olympus!"

"Thanks! It's been quite fun I must say," Annabeth replied.

Isa turned back to Percy, "and as for you, of course I know who you are, Savior of Olympus."

She gave Percy a wink and if Annabeth hadn't been so sharp, she would've missed the quick head-to-toe scan Isa did on Percy as she checked him out like a pro. Annabeth decided she didn't want Isa to stick around.

"Ummm Isa," Annabeth pushed on, "we haven't gotten a look at a menu yet."

Isa smiled, "that's okay! No one has; the menus haven't been done up yet. We're recommending the 'Sacred Steak of the Sun God with a side of fries and dash of mashed potatoes' for all our guests tonight. Sound good?"

"Sounds amazing!" Percy nodded enthusiastically.

"And can I get you and your lovely lady here a couple glasses of nectar?" Isa asked suggestively.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, "you're awfully considerate. Thanks!"

When Isa went off to the next table, Annabeth looked at Percy.

"You know, it's annoying how every girl we meet can't stop drooling over you," she whined.

"Annabeth, you're being ridiculous. Besides, just about every guy we come across checks you out."

Annabeth scowled, "that's true, but you they always back off like almost immediately for some reason."

Percy grinned wickedly, "that, my lovely lady, would be my wolf stare at work."

"What the hell is a wolf stare?" Annabeth asked, slightly incredulous.

"Hmmm…" Percy mused, "Just a little something I picked up from Lupa and her pack".

Annabeth sighed. It wasn't easy dating the Savior of Olympus. Even in the mortal world, girls were crazy about Percy because of his good looks and easy going nature. If the two of them weren't always at each other's side, Percy would've been snapped up almost immediately.

"Whatever, as long as everyone knows that I'm yours and you're mine." Annabeth couldn't help sounding possessive. She and Percy had gone through so much to get to this stage of their relationship.

Percy looked at her with surprising amount of love in his eyes, "Yes, they all know. They know that I love you with all my heart and soul, and that I'd do anything for you."

Annabeth felt her cheeks heat up and knew from the smile Percy was trying but failing to hide that she was likely as red as a tomato.

"You can be really sweet, you know that?" she reached over and took his hand, "I love you too Seaweed Brain. More than you'll ever know…forever and always: your Wise Girl."

The rest of dinner went smoothly. The food was amazing, and Percy ended up ordering another round. As the two demigods flushed down their meals with no small amount of nectar, Annabeth noticed a lot of their immortal friends in the area. She saw Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Hestia, Hermes…and she even saw Poseidon and Amphitrite, all have a good time and congratulating Apollo on his successful opening night.

Percy pulled up next to her and draped his arm around Annabeth's shoulder. She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "What's on your mind, Seaweed Brain?"

She looked at him and was surprised to see a little bit of apprehension on his face (though he hid it well). He grinned and she thought she must've imagined it.

"So," he began, "Four years of college at New Rome. Looking forward to it?"

She gazed at him happily, "You know I am. As long as I'm with you, I'll always be happy. Camp Half Blood, Goode High School, Ancient Greece, Tartarus…it doesn't matter. Okay maybe it does. I would rather not go back to Tartarus. But I would for you…cause I love you."

He laughed, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, their faces inches apart. She kissed him gently, drinking in the moment and tasting the sweet flavor of nectar still on his lips. When they broke apart, they were some "awwwws" from the surrounding tables.

Percy took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge.

"Annabeth," he started, "You are the most important person in my life. From the moment I met you, I've always thought you were the smartest and most solid friend anyone could ever have. You were there for me on my very first quest. We saved Thalia together. When I lost you to the manticore all those years ago, I felt so lost myself. We took turns holding up the world, Annabeth. We conquered the Labyrinth together…and we won the Second Titan and Giant Wars together. We've been through so much, I dare say we deserve our paradise. Wise Girl…when I fell for you, I fell for you hard."

Percy looked at Annabeth and saw her smiling. She and Percy had had lots of heart to heart sessions but that didn't diminish the happiness she drew out of them. He then surprised her by standing up and pulling her up with him. He led her a little distance away from their table and faced her again.

"We're going to go to college together soon," Percy murmured. Annabeth had rarely seen Percy so somber and serious before. Normally, he'd crack a joke or tease her by now. She was starting to get a little worried now.

"I guess four years is a long time to enjoy but for some reason I feel now is the right time. Do you love me, Annabeth?"

"…of course Percy, of course I love you," Annabeth stared at Percy in confusion, then nearly fainted at what he did next.

Getting on his knee, Percy took Annabeth's hand, "Annabeth, you're my everything. I've made many good decisions in my life but none are as good as the one I'm about to make."

The people around them all gasped and shuffled excitedly, the people of Olympus staring wide-eyed in anticipation. Annabeth's eyes brimmed with unshed tears, shocked at what she thought Percy was about to do.

Percy reached into his shirt pocket and took out a small silver box and opened it. Inside, Annabeth saw a beautiful, gleaming silver ring with the emblem of a feather crossed with a trident, the symbols of their godly parents.

"Annabeth Chase, I, Percy Jackson, want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you with all my heart and soul and I know you are the one."

Annabeth stopped fighting the tears and they streamed down her face unashamedly. She brought one hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing.

Percy looked at Annabeth with a mischievous look and purposely paused for several long, agonizing seconds, savoring the moment and holding his soon-to-be fiancée in anticipation.

"Annabeth Chase," he continued, "Will you marry me?"