Continued from Part 1 of The Joining

Percy ignored her, and called out to the adorable redhead.

"Hey there, little one. You can come out, we're not gonna be mean."

An adorable voice came out of the adorable body.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Okay, Mister."

The girl walked slowly towards them. Annabeth's breath felt more and more labored as the girl came closer. What was her problem? This girl was adorable.

In the back of his head, he remembered that there was no member of Cabin U under the age of fourteen. Weird.

The girl stopped right in front of them, looked up, and unleashed an adorably bright and innocent smile.

Of course, the girl was cute and adorable to Percy only.

To Annabeth, it was a demon, plain as day. A demon inhabiting the body of a little girl.

The intent behind the smile was so ferocious that Annabeth immediately lost consciousness. Percy had seen the smile, but it was just the innocent smile of a little girl.

However, Annabeth collapsing was not a trick. He grabbed her as she fell, and tried shouting, are you alright, what happened, and so on, but there was no reply. She was breathing, but just barely.

The adorable girl whispered loudly, "Woah, incredible!"

With her full voice, still adorable, she exclaimed, "Just as expected, even the girl was strong enough to live. Mister, your girlfriend is really strong!"

Though Percy was a bit confused, he still replied, "Oh, thank you, but she isn't my girlfriend, she's my... hmm, what would be okay for a little girl to hear?" He quietly mused.

"Your slave?" the cute girl suggested.

"No no, she likes to think that, but- wait, what!?"

The innocent girl did not lose any of her purity in Percy's eyes, but her words were obscene.

"Do not think we gods of the Mountain did not hear your little rant earlier today. Hoho, really now, Mister, you sure are arrogant. However, I guess I can agree that your slave really does stand at the pinnacle of mortals, if she was able to withstand such an attack."

"Hold up. What now? What's your name, little girl?"

"While I greatly enjoy being referred to as a little girl by most beings, somehow from you it sounds like an insult. Almost like you really believe it. Amazing. Such impertinence. It's so... sexy."

"WHAT!? Don't say that, little girl, you'll be tainted!" Percy involuntarily shuddered when he heard the kindergartener call him sexy.

Somehow, either through exceptional ignorance or unbelievable impertinence, he had not yet arrived at the conclusion that this girl was a god.

"Tainted? Please. But I must give credit where credit is due, I suppose." The little girl sounded just as cute as the first word she spoke, Her visage was likewise still just as cute.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Percy asked, still oblivious to the divine presence in front of him.

"Well, even though I sent my most powerful killing intent directly at you, from point blank range, you didn't so much as blink. Even your little slave passed out instantly. Were she any less powerful, anyone other than herself, she would surely have died. Many apologies, I sometimes forget ants when conversing with people. But you acted as if you didn't even notice my power. How is that possible? Anyway, I didn't come here to test you or your lovers of the night. I, Hebe, goddess of youth, just came to talk."

Percy stopped listening after he thought the girl had intentionally hurt Annabeth. He didn't hear her say she was a goddess. The spirit, however, did hear this. The spirit stayed silent for now, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

"Huh? Killing intent? Wait, did you hurt Annabeth?"

"Yes, duh, Mister."

Perseus's eyes glinted darkly. It looked as if his soul had left his body. This little girl was still as cute and adorable as ever. But she was the enemy. She hurt Annabeth, so she could not be forgiven. Perseus could not feel the presence of any water in this room, nor his surroundings. He couldn't even sense the presence of the ocean outside. Strange. On the first floor... At any rate, without water, he was as good as weaponless. Well, almost. He had a back up weapon. He could tell this child was stronger than Luke. Many dozens of times stronger, hundreds even. He could not win without a weapon. However, with a weapon...

He estimated his chances to be less than a thousandth of one percent.

Perseus did not hesitate. She hurt Annabeth. She must be punished. This was not an opinion. This was fact. This was an undeniable, immutable law of dealing with Percy Jackson. Hurt those he loved, and you would be punished. It was that simple.

Though Perseus was a mortal, he was the son of a combat oriented god. Hebe, the goddess of youth, who stood before him, could be said to be the opposite of a combat oriented god. As a goddess, even a weak one in terms of combat, even a minor one, minor enough to be given to Heracles as his wife when he ascended to godhood for no apparent reason, her killing intent was enough to definitively kill any mortal she came across. Annabeth was the first ordinary case demigod, so to speak, who dared survive Hebe's killing intent.

But Perseus was no ordinary case.

Perhaps due to the bizarre meddlings of Aphrodite, perhaps due to some extraordinary circumstance, he had formed an unshakeable bond between himself and Annabeth Chase. He loved her to the point where he would not hesitate between a choice between her and the survival of humanity. Coupled with his ridiculously strong sense of loyalty, it could be said that it was indeed an immutable fact of life that those who harmed the beloved of Percy Jackson would be punished for their indiscretions, without regard to any other factor.

Even without access to seawater, even without access to any water at all, even without access to the spirit who resided within him. Even with nothing but himself, any and all who harmed her would pay the price.

This would be true against a mosquito or the creator of the universe. If someone who was loved by the man known as the Savior of the Undetermined was harmed, those who perpetrated it would be obliterated indiscriminately.

Perseus's rage prevented him from hearing anything but the blood pounding in his ears. At a time like this, the importance placed on the odds of victory was not a single iota. Perseus made his move.

Perseus's fingernail on his right hand was slightly longer than the others. The reason why is inconsequential, but its worth was monumental. As Perseus swiped his right hand across his left wrist with the speed of lighting (or so it seemed to Perseus), the veins were ruptured and crimson blood flowed out. Time was not slowed down in any way. Perseus was not doused in water, so he had no unnatural speed. Time was not slowed down at all. But this was meaningless.

As the blood flowed from his left hand, he formed it into a sword, hardened it, and grabbed with his right hand. It was not as sharp as celestial bronze. It was not as hard as even iron. There was absolutely no way the goddess could ever be defeated by this weapon.

However.

The goddess Hebe's eyes began to tear up. She sank to the ground. Her cute voice was entirely defeated, and had no life.

"I... surrender... my life is yours... do with me as you please..."

Sitting on the floor with her legs splayed slightly to either side of her body, the once proud goddess of youth looked like a broken doll. There was no energy in her words. She could not move a muscle. If the man known as Perseus Jackson were to attempt to behead her on the spot, not only would she have no objection, she doubted she would be able to move a single inch to defend herself.

To those who have never seen battle, what had occurred would be incredibly difficult to describe.

No, it would be impossible to describe. It was inconceivable. The mortal who was not even close to his strongest, the man whose ability was reduced quite literally by a factor of over 15,000, the man who even at his maximum strength would have only been able to win fifty percent of the battles with this goddess, had utterly defeated her without even attempting a single blow.

For those heavily involved with hand to hand combat, the scene was infinitely easier to understand. From the moment Annabeth collapsed by her hand, Hebe had absolutely no chance of obtaining victory.

The reasons for this were two. The first was a difference in motives. In a fight between someone whose sole objective was slight personal amusement and one whose sole objective was vengeance, even a large gap in power could easily be overcome.

But the power between them was too great for this to be the sole reason.

The second reason was that Hebe could not have possibly comprehended the fact that Perseus was going to fight her. Never would she dream of a mortal, even one as impertinent as him, attacking her, a cute six year old as well as an immortal goddess. Even if her will was like a steel cable, at the time of the attack, it had been slack, and offered significantly less resistance.

With this, Perseus was able to subjugate the goddess.

But how precisely was it done?- that is the question the people who have never feared for their lives may ask.

It was simple.

It was the same as what had defeated Annabeth.

Pure killing intent.

Put simply, killing intent was the indomitable will that was transmitted to opponents. It announced 'We will fight, and you will die.' That was the most common feeling demigods describe.

However, it could be said that the more complicated the sentiment, the weaker the killing intent would be. 'If we engage in battle, it will become evident I will be the victor and you will be the loser' could never compete with 'I will kill you.'

If one well versed in battle were to watch the battle between Percy Jackson and Hebe from a safe distance, it would not be a stretch for them to translate their killing intents into totally, humongously different leagues.

As Hebe approached Percy and Annabeth, her killing intent was along the lines of, 'You will fall.'

When she reached them and smiled, her killing intent read 'You are dead.'

Percy was entirely immune to the effects of such weak killing intent. This was due largely to his complete and utter obvliviousness, as well had amplified impertinence. What did it matter to him if someone wanted to kill him? Such complete negation of killing intent without similar intent was not something any living being, mortal or immortal, could achieve. Before now. Percy was alone at the zenith of this mountain that others could not even begin to climb, much less conquer.

This goddess could have well killed any mortal on earth aside from these two with this intent. But it was not nearly enough for Percy to even notice. He found it cute.

As killing intent grew stronger, the number of words and length and simplicity of the translation compressed. This means there was a world of difference between Hebe's 'You will fall' and 'You are dead' killing intents, despite the fact they seemed relatively equal when compared with the difference between a five and ten word killing intent. The difference between 'You will fall' and 'You are dead' was enormous. The change from future to present tense alone was huge, coupled with the fact that the word fall was much more complicated than dead. Fall could also mean defeat, where as dead held a certain meaning. Thus, even the difference between two three word intents could be massive.

The difference between the strongest three word intent and the weakest two word intent was likewise a massive difference in favor of the two word.

Any one word intent would certainly be enough to kill anything not immortal. Intents like 'Fall,' 'Lose,' 'Kneel,' these were killing intents that mortal warriors could never hope to possess, much less counter. The only thing that could fully counter killing intent was equal or stronger killing intent. Annabeth, who possessed massive pride, held a massive killing intent, among mortals. The one she attempted to project to defend herself was along the lines of 'I will defeat you.' This, compared even with 'You will fall,' was next to useless. It saved her from certain death, but she kept not even her consciousness.

However.

The most perfect of all killing intents, the most powerful of one word intents, was something only combat oriented major gods held. This was how they defended the Olympian Council. Any usurpers would be severely weakened by the intent, and lost their ability to challenge the council. Against the six combat oriented Olympians(Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Athena, Artemis, Apollo)' killing intents, no challenger could stand before them.

No mortal could ever hope to achieve such a perfect killing intent. The one every killing intent attempted to imitate, the one which derived the term, the one which was famous amongst warriors.

Aside from infallible faith in one's abilities, along with the skill to back it up, it could only be achieved with perfect unity of the mind, every aspect of oneself united in a single goal. Even then, no fear, no heed for the consequences, no silly pretenses like protecting someone else, none of these things could be held in any degree if one were to hone such a perfect mastery of the art as to possess the ultimate killing intent.

Percy had none but pretenses. He promised he would protect Annabeth. However, seeing her crumpled on the ground, he left the promise in the dust. Every particle of his being burned with concentrated hate, focused on a single point. His every action exuded perfect efficiency towards the goal of ending his opponent's life, of seeking vengeance for his beloved.

This is why it would be so easy for a veteran warrior to determine the outcome of the exchange.

At the time Perseus's killing intent reached Hebe, due to complacency hers had dropped as low as 'If you attack, you will fail.' It was still enough to instill fear in the heart of anyone but Percy. Even this six word, two phrase intent would be enough to reach the heart of any intelligent being. All but one.

This mortal adolescent, as he cut open his own flesh and summoned forth a sword of his own blood, every movement he made, his entire face and body, his mind, his heart, his soul, and especially his eyes, screamed a single word. The strongest word. It was a simple command. The most straightforward, concise intention possible. Utter perfection.

Die.

Faced with such perfection, the life drained from Hebe. How could she save herself from one with such focus? It didn't matter how he had obtained it. In her mind she knew his sword could not harm her, but rationality had left the goddess entirely. All thoughts drained from Hebe's mind. Her entire divine energy was utterly spent in preventing her soul from relenting to Perseus Jackson's demand.

Every ounce of her strength had been devoted to her protection. If he were to repeat his intent, she would fade from the world entirely. She was certain. At the moment, she was a powerless as a real human 6 year old girl. A minor, noncombat goddess could not withstand this type of punishment, this immense power that seemed as if it flowed directly from the Olympian council, this direct command. It was all she could do to disobey even a single time. She could never hope to stand against this man. She could only beg with the rest of her strength, only pray. Only pray to this man. Yes, all she could do was worship this incredible man who had routed her so thoroughly. As soon as she recovered enough power, she would immediately change her form to the one he most desired. His every wish would be her command. There was no question. Her loyalty to this man who had defeated her without a single blow from his sword was absolutely unshakeable. She was convinced even the killing intent of all the council at once would not be as difficult to withstand as the intent from this one, lowly mortal.

No. No. No. No. No. She frantically mentally punished herself for continuing to believe such a thing about this existence. It was a crime that could not be forgiven even through death to believe this being before her was a lowly mortal. Surely, he was greatest among the gods. Even the creator of the universe would surely fall beneath his might. She lightly joked in her mind, weakly. There was no creator of the universe. Khaos was erased when the universe emerged from it. For there was order. Here. This man was order. This man was surely greater than the gods, greater than all the gods combined. Even the fates could not withstand his almighty power.

Surely... surely she was still breathing because this man had spared her. Any more killing intent whatsoever and she would have ceased to exist. Such a thing could not possibly be the result of luck. Yes, it must be the benevolence of her great master that allowed her to retain her life. It was by his grace she was not erased from existence. It would be treason of the highest order to do anything with the rest of her life but serve her master. It was decided. He would be her master. She would be his slave. She was so happy. So happy she finally had meaning to her existence. Tears filled her eyes. She finally understood. Her whole life was in preparation for this moment. It was all training to be the slave of her master. Her mind was completely addled. Broken. She lost all rationality when faced with such unreasonable might. With her last vestiges of power, she spoke, not even able to inject any liveliness or emotion into her speech.

"I... surrender... my life is yours... do with me as you please..."

Percy blinked. Huh?

"If... if you wish it... master... I will be... your slave..."

What. the. fuck. Percy couldn't believe his ears. His blood sword immediately fell to the ground, but he didn't notice.

Another person wanted to be his slave? And this time it was a six year old girl!? He did not think about his answer at all.

"Absolutely not! One person who wants to be a slave is already way more than enough! It's already too much! There's no way I can accept another one! Especially not a six year old girl! No way!"

Hebe closed her eyes. If she had any power left to feel emotion, she would have been fully crushed. If her master did not want her, what reason was there to continue staining her master's world with her meaningless existence?

"Then... I shall... die now... master..."

Hebe gradually started to let go of her immortal soul. She wished she could leave her master faster, to provide him with the one satisfaction she could bring him even slightly more quickly. But she had lived for so long... it was not that she wanted to remain in the world of the living, it was just impossible to relinquish something held so long so quickly.

As she spoke her final words, she finally let go of her divine soul. Her authority she held as goddess of youth remained within her, for it was not connected with her immortal soul, but rather her essence. People still worshiped her. A few. Just one, actually. Her daughter, was the only person left in this world who prayed to the goddess Hebe for guidance. What would she think of her mother now... surely she too would wish to become even a slave to this supreme being. It was only logical to this defeated goddess. She was not sure if she would be able to hold on to her authority if another immortal were to try to claim it for their own, as her new mortal soul was not nearly strong enough to retain her hold on it. It could be possible if she were insanely strong, like her master, but she could not possibly claim her mortal soul was at all comparable to her master's. Though their mortal souls were roughly the same age, she was nothing more than a human. Her master was the strongest demigod to ever live. Her own mortal soul could not even be compared to the demigoddess slave her master already possessed. Even that upstart slave possessed a soul in an entirely different league from this one. This body would age half as fast, but her soul actually held power much weaker than that of even an ordinary human. She was so horrendously weak that she was doubted she'd be able to lift more than a single pound. She could eat, sleep... not much else. A sword would require twice as much strength as she possessed to even hold. A gallon of milk... she could forget about it. It was a good thing she was about to relinquish her life, for she could not possibly be of any use to her master in this state.

Percy saw before him a six year old girl transform into a sixteen year old girl. But, the little girl had been a redhead and a bit tan, but this girl had startlingly white hair, that ran down to her hips in waves, and skin almost as fair. Both her hair and skin seemed almost glowing. Of course, it was not much compared to the little girl's presence, with her fiery red hair that seemed like a flame that could never burn out, and a vigorous cuteness that only little kids with boundless energy could show.

This new girl was in the same position as the little one, which looked a bit odd to Percy, but he could at least tell that this girl was very... well endowed. Her bust threatened to escape from the chiton that was clearly too small, and her waist and hips were... even better. Her face was not in his field of view, but he immediately knew it would be on par with Annabeth. Yes, it seemed this girl was Annabeth's equal in every regard.

He told himself he could not possibly think these things. That little girl had just offered to become his slave, and he refused, and she told him she would kill herself. Then she disappeared and this new girl took her place. Was the little girl dead? Or was she still in here? The girl had been so cute, he couldn't believe she was dead. But if she was, and this one too wanted death just because he would not let her be his slave... he had to save her. Convince her, somehow. He would do anything to save her.

"...goodbye, master..."

Percy wasted not even a second. Actually, this was not truly Percy. This could not be said to be the same person as the Percy who treated everyone equally. This-yes. This could be none other than Perseus. This was the spirit and Percy, working together. Combined knowledge and skill, working as one. An entity different from either the spirit or Percy, Perseus could be said to be the ultimate fusion of the two. Percy's care for everyone, and the spirit's temperament and ability to ignore anything in pursuit of his goal. This was who had exuded such dangerous killing intent, not Percy. When Percy's soul darkened when he heard Hebe had hurt Annabeth on purpose, the spirit had seized its opportunity to take over.

See, the deal the spirit made with Percy was a complete sham. The spirit did not have the authority to take total control of Percy's body unless Percy allowed him too. But because the spirit had the irksome tendency to be overly honest for dramatic effect, Percy discovered it was an evil spirit. Percy would never allow him to take control. The so called week a year was just a diversion. As soon as Percy allowed the spirit to take over, the spirit would never let go. But the spirit knew that because of Percy's loyal personality, he would do anything in his power to resist the spirit's control. In reality, only the desire to retain control of the body was enough to prevent the spirit from trying anything. So, when Percy's soul darkened, and lost all desires other than revenge, the spirit made its move. When would it have a better chance?

But it was not strong enough. This failure resulted in the creation of a third personality, entirely separate from Percy and the spirit. It possessed the full power of both, and combined both personalities and knowledge. This perfect harmony created a new, perfect being, so to speak.

Perseus was an amalgamation of personality traits. However, entirely opposing traits could not coexist. Percy's humble nature and the spirit's arrogance could not both exist within Perseus. It was essentially random whose trait was taken in these cases.

The amplifying ability of the spirit, all of Percy's abilities, the nature that cared for everyone from Percy, the arrogance of the spirit. The kindness towards the weaker, from Percy, the bloodthirstiness of the spirit. This new personality lost the ability to understand protection. Perseus replaced Percy's brand of loyalty by protection with a new type of loyalty, loyalty through vengeance. Perseus had no fear, he lacked any hesitation, was as cunning as the spirit, and as impertinent as Percy. It seemed like an older, more mature anti hero form of Percy. And it was this man who was able to exude such a perfect killing intent. This was who defeated Hebe. Perseus inherited Percy's fierce love of Annabeth, but it seemed the spirit had a side he kept hidden. He was easily smitten. Perseus immediately fell in love with the beautiful new Hebe. He would have her as his wife, since he could not have Annabeth. Annabeth had sworn loyalty to Percy, not Perseus. Perseus desperately wanted a wife, and he longed for Annabeth, but could not have her. He would continue to long for her, but he also inherited the spirit's sense of romance. Or perhaps they shared this trait, which was why he felt it so strongly? Only one woman could never satisfy him. So the loss of Annabeth was not a great matter. He would take this new, incredibly weak woman to be his wife. There would be no argument from anyone. If Percy could be said to act with kindness even when it clashed with his own desires, Perseus was held back by no such restraint.

If Perseus wanted something, Perseus would take it. If Perseus wished for Hebe to live, then Perseus would simply make it impossible for her to die.

"I forbid it, one-who-was-once-Hebe. You now belong to me, so I forbid it entirely. If you die, you will be betraying your master in the highest degree. Betrayal so great, death could not atone. Tell me, for I would like to know... how exactly would you be able to atone for your betrayal once dead?"

It was a simple question. Emotion overwhelmed the new human. Anger and happiness exploded in a shower of tears. Gratitude that her master cared about her after all, anger he had waited until she lost her immortality. She quashed the anger. It would certainly not be permitted for one so weak as herself to be upset towards her absolute master and beloved's actions. He must have a reason. As the true supreme being, it could be no other way. Understanding what he wanted her to say, Hebe mustered her voice, and spoke. Her new voice was sultry, to say the least. Even emotionless, even the most resistant towards womanly charm would have crumbled before her new seductive power.

"There is no way I could atone, master. I will live to serve you. I will be your slave from now on. For the insolence I have already shown, even this may not ever be enough."

Perseus smiled gently and shook his head. Perseus always had his way. He did not want to take her as a slave, but as his bride. Perseus's will would be done.

"No, it is not so. If you spend your life in servitude, you would certainly earn my forgiveness. However."

The hopeful new Hebe had a puppy dog look until Perseus said however, at which point a look of hopeless devastation returned to her body which was gradually absorbing power from Perseus, who was exuding magical energies as a result of his return. When he completed his thought, Hebe looked as if she may die from happiness.

"However, it is extremely unsightly for a man to ask for his slave's hand in marriage. This is why I hereby release you from your solemn vow of servitude. In return..."

The new-Hebe was crying thoroughly, not sobbing, but weeping tears of joy. She could not keep herself from smiling, though it was disrespectful to her former master for her to assume she knew his thoughts. This was why she waited for him to finish.

"In return, will you marry me?"

Perseus had bent down on one knee, offering his hand in place of a ring.

The new Hebe put one hand over her mouth to prevent her from openly sobbing, nodded quickly, and grasped her beloved's hand.

Perseus pulled her to him, used water control to instantly remove all the fluid from her beautiful face. Tears only marred her perfect countenance. As he kissed her ruby lips deeply, something incredibly strange happened.

A great power suddenly left the new Hebe and flowed directly into Perseus. It was the authority she had held onto. Having found a suitable bearer, it immediately left Hebe and took up residence within Perseus. As the same number of people worshiped Perseus and her, each at one, Hebe worshiped by her daughter, Perseus worshiped by Hebe, the authority chose the stronger host. This direct physical contact made it easy for the authority over youth to be transferred. But Perseus was... was he truly an entity? Wouldn't the authority be absorbed by Percy instead?

No, it was definitely Perseus. He felt the authorities Hebe had ruled over become distinctly his own. He could not relinquish this power to Percy even had he wished to do so, which he did not. However, he had had no idea this was possible. Such a thing was utterly unprecedented. As he did not understand it, he ignored it, and continued to kiss his beloved fiancee. However, she grew faint in his arms.

"My love, what is wrong?"

"Perseus, I... I am too weak... I cannot remain conscious when engaging in such a strenuous activity. I am so sorry."

Perseus understood. His aptitude as a warrior was utterly perfect. The skills of Perseus combined with the knowledge and experience of the spirit, he was utterly unstoppable. He could also judge others' fighting aptitudes with great accuracy. The woman who was to become his wife was weak. Unimaginably so. A kitchen knife would be too much for her. It was not surprising kissing was considered to be a strenuous activity by her. Troublesome. He wanted to continue. But someone's constitution was something even he needed to abide by.

"Pay it no mind, my love. When you regain your strength, we shall continue."

"Perseus, please, give me my new name. I cannot bear not hearing my beloved call my name. My old one was tied to my immortal soul, but my mortal soul never received a name. As her husband's property, a wife with no name should receive their name directly from him."

Perseus inherited Percy's belief on whether a wife was her husband's property, to which the answer was quite obviously no. He informed her of as much.

"My love, it is not so. In days long past your words were true, but no longer. Marriage has become a union of two equals. Worth is not the same as strength. I am vastly stronger than you, but as living, intelligent beings, we are worth the same. Engrave this upon your heart so that I may never hear such pitiful words from the mouth of my beloved again. You are not my property any longer. I cannot control you with a clear conscious with anything but my love."

"I am so sorry, Perseus. Please forgive my rudeness. I will always stay by your side, not as property, but as one of your beloved women. Please, may we swear our oaths to each other now? I know not how much longer it is possible to wait."

"Very well, but first, I shall give you your name. You were once Hebe, goddess of youth. I name you, Wisteria, for the cascading white flower that intoxicates all with its scent. With your voice you draw others in, and your hair rains down upon your back, pure white, as lovely as anything can be allowed. I name you this."

Wisteria could scarcely believe it.

This supreme being, this Perseus, who she decided would be her master, saved her life, freed her from her self imposed slavery, bestowed upon her a beautiful name, and was about to take her as his first wife. She wept openly from the indescribable joy. She had caused such an existence an inconvenience, and should have been wiped from the face of the planet. Instead... so much has happened.

"I also bestow upon myself a new name. I cast off my progenitor's surname, and instead take on the name of my birth. I was born of the need to punish the one known as Hebe, now gone. Therefor, my new name shall be Perseus Hebektasia, Perseus, Hebe-killer!"

Perseus, for some reason, was never embarrassed, no mater how ridiculous he was being. It could be said to be his greatest, perhaps his only, flaw.

"Wisteria, my love. Please continue to never be ashamed of tears, no matter the source. I shall be the one to dry your eyes. If someone were into injure you, or use you in any way, rest assured I will promptly remove their utter existence from this reality. This I swear, on my name, Perseus Hebektasia. I hereby take you as my wife. I shall love you eternally."

"Then Perseus, my love. Please avenge me if I were to suffer. Please take care of me from now on. I swear upon the river Styx to love you eternally, to be obedient forever, to never spill a single secret, to never show another man affection, to never cause you pain, to be loyal for all eternity. This I swear, by the Styx and by the name my husband has given me, Wisteria Hebektasia. I give you myself to be your wife."

Perseus kissed his wife deeply, but felt he would soon return to being Percy and the spirit once again. He needed to inform his wife, and make mental preparations. Percy would retain the memories of thinking these things, but he could not think like Perseus. His judgment did not come from as much vast knowledge as the spirit, unlike Perseus. Percy would think what he would do in Percy's situation, not what Perseus would do.

"Wisteria, this is very important. In a few short minutes, I will cease to be. Do not fret. I will be back before the sun sets tomorrow. I would never leave my wife on her own if I could help it. But you must know that the one called Percy, who will inhabit this body while I am gone, is absolutely not me. If you show him affection, even if it is an accident, the Styx will treat is as breaking an oath. With your constitution, it wouldn't be impossible for it to be fatal. I would never accept such an end for my beloved first wife. Percy may treat all his wives equally, but you will always hold the dearest place in my heart, Wisteria. So be proud, proud of the love of Perseus. Percy is a great man as well, but he is nothing like me. Even if I am half him, and half another, I am nothing at all like either of them. Regardless of whether Percy is a great man, I am sure you will not find him agreeable. He will likely irritate you greatly. Please, forgive his stupidity. Also, regarding his slave, Annabeth. He does not recognize her position as such, except while making love. Though, it is only for her benefit then. But if you refer to her as such, there will be great backlash from him. He may yell, and hurt my precious wife's ears. You cannot protect yourself from him, so please do not provoke him. It would be better if you cooperate, and stay where he is not at other times. I will instruct him to care for you, since you are much too weak to do it yourself. In other instances, always act according to your oaths on the Styx. You have made me happy beyond belief by swearing them, though I fear your safety. Additionally, since he and I wear the same face, it will only be I who will refer to you as Wisteria. He may call you Hebektasia, or something else, but when you hear the name I have given you, know it is me. My time is running short. Remember what I have told you. I will return before the sun sets tomorrow. I love you, Wisteria."

"I love you, too, Perseus."

The two kissed for several seconds before Perseus pulled away.

"I would like Percy to never feel your lips. Forgive me. Goodbye."

Percy shook his head. He exuded a totally different aura from before. Though his body had not moved a single muscle, it was abundantly clear his aura was wildly different. It was not at all confident, nor cool, nor heroic, or anything Wisteria loved about Perseus. Indeed, she could not imagine just what parts of Perseus were made from this boy. She puffed out her cheeks and turned her head to the side.

"Sheesh, Hebektasia, what'd I ever do to you? It's not like I can lay a hand on you."

Wisteria looked at the body of her husband briefly, but returned her stare to across the room.

"By the way, Hebektasia... Where are we? There's no staircase, and there's no bunk beds, either. Can we even get back?"

Wisteria narrowed her eyes. What a fool this boy was. He was not even one tenth the man her husband was. No, it was possible that they were on entirely separate scales in the first place. Percy Jackson was a powerful 16 year old demigod. Perseus Hebektasia was a supreme being of ultimate power, with thousands of years of knowledge and experience. Comparing the two was totally unfair. Still, she harbored great resentment towards the one her husband was forced to yield to.

"Of course, little fool. The bane of illusion magic is awareness. Once you know you're in an illusion, the spell will break. Perseus would have known that. As long as you don't move, there is no danger. We're standing in the same place you were when you came upstairs."

Suddenly, the air shimmered and the grotesque scene from earlier returned, with the racecar beds and everything.

The girl called Dawn was standing in front of them. She was the daughter of Hebe. She was 16 years old. Now the same age as her mother, and her... this was going to be complicated.

"Hey, Percy... what happened to Annabeth? And who's... that... I feel like I know her from somewhere, but I can't figure it out..."

Wisteria answered. "Well, that is simple, Dawn. It's because I am closely related to Hebe."

Dawn's eyes widened, but Percy interjected, "Hebektasia, don't give her any wild ideas. Let me finish this chapter off with a cool sort of cliffhanger one liner thing, okay?"

Dawn froze when she heard the name of this beautiful girl. Hebektasia in ancient Greek carried the meaning, 'Hebe Slaughterer.' This could not be good. If she was strong enough to kill her mother... Dawn's mind raced.

Percy continued.

"Please don't be worried, Dawn. This woman didn't kill your mother. Sort of. I guess she did, but it's getting in the way of the one liner, so just forget about it. You see, what happened was that, in a way... I sort of... became your stepfather."

"...dammit, it was totally ruined, I just sounded lame. Perseus wouldn't have sounded so damn cringeworthy if he said it. Son of a bitch."

Hahahahahahahahaha!

So... this story is fucking insane, right? I mean, it's still day 1. Percy hasn't slept a wink since he woke up yesterday afternoon. He liberated the Undetermined, killed Luke, made a contract with the Fates themselves, became literally immortal, then molded together with the spirit to become his alter ego, who then married the first woman he saw within five minutes while somehow managing to make it sound romantic. What the fuck just happened? I seriously don't know. The plan was for this to happen much later in the story, and his alter ego wasn't even planned. He just happened.

These things do tend to occur when one writes recklessly. Honestly, the MC has gone to sleep three times this whole story and it's already over 50k words. What the fuck is going on here?

It's utterly absurd.

But Perseus is so cool isn't he? I didn't even cringe when writing him. I was like 'no yeah he's fuckin cool as shit absolutely this chick becomes his slave in a matter of seconds and he marries her five minutes later. Isn't it obvious that would happen?

So, clearly, there's gonna be a harem off. Who gets pulled to the magnetic anti-heroism of Perseus the Godslaughterer, and who gets pulled into the comfort of Percy the Protector? The battle begins 1-1, Annabeth vs. Wisteria, evaluated by Percy and Perseus to be equally beautiful (I prefer pale girls to tan girls so Wisteria wins in a heartbeat for me, lol, sounds weird now that I'm writing it.). I'm guessing that ordinary girls and girls with older sensibilities will fall for Perseus, while exceptional women (excluding insane ex-goddesses) and more modern women will fall for Percy, but seriously even I don't know. The appearance of Perseus has me scrambling.

BTW Hebe + ktasia comes from the Androktasiai which translates to man-slaughterers, singular androktasia, so I took a gamble and said adding -ktasia made the word into blank slaughterer. I don't think anybody here speaks ancient greek, but if you do, I'd love to here what you think his last name should really be.

Anyways, wondering what Perseus's one liner would have been?

"Ah, hello there, Dawn. My name is Perseus Hebektasia, and this is my wife, Wisteria Hebektasia. It seems that, due to a series of fascinating circumstances, I have become your stepfather. It is wonderful to make your acquaintance."

Notice how it was actually four sentences? That's because Perseus ain't a li'l bitch.

Wow this took forever to edit, holy shit.

Remember, review or I'll kill you.