717 Years Ago

Beyonds

"Please," Hestia asked of them. She shivered. The flames of the Hearth have had a cold warmth to it. Recent events have made the Olympians shaky, confused and disoriented as to their ties to family. "I have been honest with my intentions. It's been two weeks and given the current situation he is in, this is the best course of action to protect him from the gods," she explained. And then, added in a soft and sad whisper, "and from himself."

They've been arguing about this for almost an hour now and Thalia was not happy with Lady Hestia. The fact that the goddess had asked of them that at this moment made distrust brew in her gut. Yet, she could not be too sure. Perseus was not alone in her grief. Their deaths weighed down her heart heavily too. She did not trust herself to make the right judgement. Hestia must know that. Despite the goddess's logic, why does she insist on asking them of this when they were in such a vulnerable state?

Nico, on the other hand, portrayed a perfect picture of calm and neutral, if not somewhat empty. He sighed. "Lady Hestia," the first thing he uttered in the conversation, unless you counted the grunt he made as to stop Thalia from respectfully (if one could actually say the following phrase in such manner) saying what he assumed to be a Don't be a bitch. Yes. That's how heated this was going on.

" Yes, it is no secret that you had wished to make one of us your Champion. Thalia and I can see the logic you present us. But," Nico said, pursing his lips. "I'm going to be honest, Lady Hestia. You know what we are, what Thalia represents. And what the Council's betrayal to Percy means. And let us be frank, you have never been sure who to choose between the three of us. Not once have you made up your mind nor cleared your hesitation. Not once have you resolved your feelings about what causes your hesitancy—yes, we know the slight contempt you feel about us. So we can't help but question your timing."

Nico's neutral façade finally broke. And he hadn't been this raw since Bianca died. "Please, try to level with us." His voice quivered. "We are mourning and in grief. Beyond that, the three of us are just alone. So, I'm sorry if we are hard pressed on questioning whether or not your intentions lies with mine and Thalia's or yours."

Nico hoped Hestia did not misunderstand. He was egging her to assure them. They needed it with the state all three of them were in. And if she could not assure her loyalty, then they had no choice but to cut off everyone as soon as they could and hope to get through this alone.

And it gnawed at Hestia.

Bia had warned her and she had not listened. She of all people knew that building mistrust with the three of them were not going to get her anywhere. She of all people knew that mistrust between kin ends in blood. Sally and Paul Blofis' blood. She resisted the urge to grimace. She had to take the first step, the gentle nudge. Her hesitancy was making ripples in the stability of the Fifth Age, and it did no one any good. She had already come to terms of the inevitability of end, so now that she could ensure that the when and where were not here and now, why has she been anything but firm? She had found the answer weeks after the deaths.

Fear. The goddess was afraid of the three immortals presented to her.

Distrust. The three immortals were not the same gods and goddesses that were with her in the belly of her father. The three immortals were not the same demigods—individually too powerless to usurp and harm her family's safety and rule.

In the end, she had thought:so this was the wedge of emotions so powerful enough to drive the Olympians apart, enough to make the Olympians borderline oppress the minor goddess. To encase Zeus's skull with paranoia. It was insightful. Now, she had a clearer vision of her family.

Hestia looked at Nico straight in the eyes for a few moments, and then Thalia. "Sweet child, I promise you." She began earnestly. "It's in our best intention to do so." Thalia had raised her eyebrow at her. Nico remained still. She smiled at them, never has she felt more human than before: sympathy, grief, guilt—so much guilt, love.

If you would just stop seeing him as this pawn you happen to favor...

"I am ready for your Accords."

717 Years Ago

Camp Half-Blood

The Beach

It's been two painful months since Sally and Paul's deaths. Storms have been coming and going all over the world. The sea seemed to be warring with itself. And the sky kept grumbling. A handful of the gods and goddesses were not happy about the news of the death and Percy's disappearance. Poseidon was in the hot seat. No one could understand what the lord of the sea was thinking to just unleash several monsters on the island searching for something—something that he refused to tell anyone.

It also rained most of the time in Camp Half-Blood—a lot of the demigods in Percy's generation (those who fought with him in the Titan War and the Giant War) knew Sally and Paul. Somehow, the Jackson's apartment had become some kind of must-visit place whenever the demigods were out in New York.

The search for Percy Jackson was on—Annabeth made sure of that. She could not lose any more than she did, and she could not let her best friend suffer this alone. Someone grasped her hand and she stiffened—almost tempted to flip whoever attempted to touch her. But before she could, another person held her other hand, and someone hugged her from behind and placed their chin on her shoulder. It was Malcolm who was hugging her. Piper and Clarisse were holding her hand (surprise to her). Jason was beside Piper, and she sees Frank, Hazel and Reyna coming towards them. On the other side, the Stolls, Will and the other demigods were present.

"We've found it," Hazel said when they arrived. Annabeth could only nod. They had to prepare for the funeral, and Hazel has just located where Sally's parents were buried. She knew Percy would want to bury her with them. And because there was no Percy now, she took up the responsibility to take care of Sally and Paul for once—for the last time. She cringed. She hates that Thalia isn't here. It wasn't new for Nico to just disappear in moments like this but Thalia. Thalia came to her in moments like this. Stop, Annabeth chided herself. It's more than just their deaths. Percy was missing, and she knew Thalia wouldn't be able to sit still while Percy was lost. She understood why she's with the hunt. Annabeth could only hope Thalia would come here with seaweed boy in tow.

717 Years Ago

The Successor's Room

"URGH I, swear, if I could just drag that stupid kelphead and tow him back to us!" Thalia's voice was angry, but the tears in her eyes betrayed her real emotions. The past two months have been a wreck. Artemis had given up trying to reel her in and allowed her half a year to mourn. That was good. She didn't know how worse things would be now if she wasn't available for the things that went down.

Hestia casted her a worried look, and Thalia made herself calm down a little. They had forged trust for the past months, ever since Hestia decided that she would take the Accords. She had expressed her guilt to them. And in turn, she had sworn that she was done being careful about them, instead, she wanted to care for them. She had confessed how she didn't want her intentions of keeping her immediate family safe cloud her judgement from being fair to the rest of her families. And in turn, Thalia and Nico had softened up to Thalia. But the actual accords would have to happen after they get to Percy. Yes, they lost Percy. It's not like they don't know where he is, it's just that…well, it'll be hard to get to him. Percy had disappeared after a month of their death.

The first month was pure torture. Between Percy and his father, they had created the typhoon of the century, and several devastating ones in other countries—no causalities. The storms were always out in the sea, but that did disrupt international transportation for almost the whole month. At first, Thalia had thought that nothing could be worse than Percy's crying and his broken state. But then, after a few weeks, the blame came. And, boy, was it worse. So utterly and painfully worse.

How many times did she find Percy attempting to kill himself? How many nights did Hestia and Thalia have to hold Percy down so Nico could knock him out? How many screams did she listen to each night? How many times did one of them find Percy bleeding to death? So. Much. Pain.

Thalia could remember the worst of it:

For once, Percy wasn't in his icy chambers, but before the panic could settle, Nico had appeared out of a shadow, grabbed her by the waste and plunged them to darkness. They had appeared in the Underworld in a second.

"Nico! Your—!"

"Father knows we are here, yes. No one else does. He has called for us." Nico said grimly. Something was too wrong. She grabbed Nico's hand and halted his movements. He faced her. Nico's face softened, seeing Thalia's eyes mirror his. He pulled her closer—too hell with death electrocution, now was not the time for the pretense of independence and strength. Thalia yelped, but allowed him to embrace her. He murmured, "He went too far, Thals." So. Utterly. Broken.

He did not let her hand go until they arrived at their destination—until Thalia fell to her knees. She could not take the sight she was looking at, yet she could not make herself look away. There he was, Percy Jackson. And he was groveling at his knees and elbows, begging the judges of the dead for the worst punishment they could think of. She did not know how long she listened to Percy beg, and confess all the deeds he wanted to be punished for. She did not know how long she stayed watching.

I killed my mother. And my father. And my sibling. It was all me. All me. Let me spend the eternity in the fields of punishments. Or throw me in to Tartarus. Please let me atone. I'll take anything. Please. Please. Please...

On and on. She did not know how long it was till Nico squeezed her shoulder gently and unleashed his energy locks. She could here multiple gasps at the sudden change of air. Every step Nico took, the Underworld shook. Every soul, every entity present bowed as he made his way to the broken boy.

"Percy" Nico demanded. It was hard for Nico not to break at his friend's reaction. Percy's eyes widened at the sight of Nico, but he had shut up. And all the son of Poseidon did was shake his head over and over again, as if pleading with Nico. Nico grunted and carried Percy over his shoulder like some sort of sack of rice—the screams started.

LET ME GO. THIS. IS. WHERE. I. BELONG. LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!

Nico ignored him. You have a lot of explaining to do, son. Nico ignored Hades's voice inside his head as he offered his free hand to Thalia who was still there on the ground. This time, there was no need to find the shadows. This time, the shadows came to them. And the next thing they knew, they were back in the base in Alaska. Nico threw Percy to the ground hard enough that Percy gasped at impact.

"Nico!"

"Find. Hestia." Nico growled. Thalia was going hysterical.

"No! This isn't funny, death breath! You're going to kill him!"

Nico looked at her with dead eyes. "I will not. Trust me. So please, Find. Hestia. And bring her here."

There must have been something in his voice because the next moment, some of Thalia's energy locks were broken. A flash of light. A clap of thunder. And Thalia was gone, probably whizzing through the world. That left Nico with the son of Poseidon currently in the fetal position. Why does this need to be so painful?

"Get up." Nico commanded. Percy was shivering uncontrollably. "Only if you promise to kill me if I do." It was barely a whisper. Nico shook his head. This wasn't going to work. He summoned two skeleton soldiers and ordered to hoist him up. Percy had his head hanged. And with a speed that Percy's mental state could not keep up, Nico lunged at him and slammed him to the nearest wall, his palm at Percy's chest, holding him up and making sure he couldn't move.

"Listen to me." Nico whispered. "It wasn't your fault." Percy's eyes were wild. All he could here was your fault, your fault your fault.

"And right now? You haven't lost everything. You have us. We need you to be strong. Me. Annabeth and the others? They're searching for you. And Thals? Percy, the greatest sin your making is not letting us help you! Enough people has promised her a family, hasn't there?" That made a new emotion surged through Percy. "And right now, she lost three members. Right now, you're making her watch agonizingly as she lose another: yo—"

Nico never got to finish that sentence. Percy had screamed, and along with his scream, the earth underneath them shook. And the whole base started falling apart. In surprise, Nico had let go of Percy and Percy ran. And made sure to bring everything down with him.

Thalia shook her head. That was a month ago. And obviously, both Nico and Percy survived—though their base did not. Also, Alaska has been repositioned in the map a few millimeters, causing a lot of changes in its climate and geography. The gods were now getting more attentive to their moves. Damn it, Alaska. Why couldn't it just take a stand like a man...well, er...land. Nico had managed to find Percy's whereabouts but his retrieval would be trick.

"He will come to us when he feels...ready," Hestia insists.

Thalia scoffed. "I just hate the kelphead for being such as smartass—why there? For god's sake, if he wanted to get away from all the gods' shit, why go to another set of hoo-ha gods! Why couldn't he just let us help him!"

Ah. There it is. Hestia's heart ached. She put a hand on Thalia. "Yes, it was quite clever for him to go the the 360th nom—"

"Antarctica! Just say, Antarctica! I refuse to think that he finds solace in some ice wasteland w-with...magicians! As if they can wave all his problems away!" When in reality, it was just that it was a shot to Thalia's heart that Percy found his family incapable of helping him and his problems. Besides the mourning and the hurting, Thalia was also very offended that Percy abandoned his family. She was scared that Percy blamed himself and also the Greek side of his life, and that he no longer so any of them as family. Thalia's face hardened.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Hestia gave her some kind of...poking stick?

"Come. Help me tend the fire place here. It will calm you," Hestia said and Thalia could see the worry in the goddess's eyes. Thalia mentally shook her head. She had to get a grip. She couldn't add to Hestia and Nico's worry. She was in pain. But it didn't mean she was fragile. She was not weak. "Calming your mind would be best while Nico and Hades find a secure place for us to converse. You two have a lot to tell us about yourselves, don't you?"

717 Years Ago

Four months since the deaths

21st Nome

"You're back."

Percy's eyes widened. He turned to the voice (so did the nosy crocodile, Philip, he as previously talking to) and there she was, indeed. Of course, his response was, "Holy shit!"

Hestia smiled as warmly as she could, despite her discomfort. "What the hell are you doing here, Lady Hestia? Don't you god types try to avoid going to each other's territories?"

Hestia walked towards him and sat down beside him. The crocodile looked at her suspiciously for a moment before deciding to ignore her. "Yes, well," she said. "Priorities."

Percy narrowed his eyebrows. A pause. "You know, don't you?"

She nodded. "They told me."

And all defensive and accusing thoughts left his mind. They. "A-are they...do t-hey..."

"Thalia and Nico are anxious for you to come home."

Home. A tear streaked through Percy's face. And the dam broke. "I am so sorry." He sobbed into his hands. Hestia brought up his chin gently and looked at him warmly. "They still don't know that you've left Antarctica." She smiles. "You can spare yourself more time, dear boy. And then, we can all talk—when you're home." Percy looked at Hestia's eyes to see any hint of ill or grudge. None. He nodded his head, closed his eyes and steadied his breath. When he opened them, Hestia was gone.

JESUS CHRIST, PERCY DID YOU SEE? THE CHICK JUST DISAPPEARED.

Great, Percy thought amused. A Christian crocodile named Philip owned by hosts of Egyptian gods and who talks to Greek immortals. He shook his head at his friend, his thoughts far off. Yes. He had time. Time to thank the Pharaoh and his sister for their kindness. Find Annabeth for a final goodbye. And then. What next?

Move on.

717 Years Ago

Woods in Alaska

He felt like it was the right time to stop running away. They needed him and he failed them. He can't allow himself to fail them more. He already took his time. And he already healed himself as much as he could alone. Now, he needed to be whole again. He was ready to try being whole again. So as he was making himself comfortable in the woods, he offered to Hesta, to Hestia alone, this is my new home now, with myself, and I offer it to you, Lady Hestia, that since hope survives with you the best, you may have hope enough for me for I have none now.

And that's when Hestia appeared to him smiling hugely.

"Lady Hestia." Percy had bowed. He had smiled too. He wonders if Hestia had told Thalia and Nico.

"Tell me, Percy, why have you no hope?" she asked kindly and amused. He came back. It did not sound as if he were hopeless at all.

"The gods have made me stop aging of Olympus..." he explained bitterly. And their disgusting gift, they had robbed his family a chance to live. "...Now I have forever to roam around without a purpose."

"What do you say, if I give you a purpose?" Hestia smiled. This was what Percy was trying to find—confirmation that after all he made Thalia and Nico suffer through, they, beyond the things he thought in his head, did indeed need him. That he could still earn their forgiveness. Hestia's response proves that.

"Then I shall serve you even against the world." percy automatically said. No more pushing what he has left away. No more wasting time.

Satisfied, Hestia asked him, "I shall make you my Champion. Do you accept?"

This surprised him. He was prepared to crawl his way back to Thalia, Nico and Hestia's good graces. So why did she ask that of him? Now? After everything he did? After all the darkness inside him? She would...? Percy felt something warm in what he thought was his dead heart.

"I accept, and wish to change my name Shay."

A/N

de ja vu, isn't it?

3chapters in one day! If you've given up on this seemingly never ending saga of a story, quite sorry wasted your time :( I understand!

I'm just glad you guys stick with me as long as you can!

THANK YOU AGAIN :) :)