CATHARSIS, jason grace¹

𝟬𝟭𝟱. you presume much

"From now on..." Percy's voice resonated through the deepest pits of her despair. It was because his voice was such nails to chalkboard to her ears that she tuned back into her surroundings. "I want to you properly recognize the children of the gods. All the children...of all the gods."

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably. Aera's attention was seized at once. What was making them so nervous?

"Percy," Poseidon boomed, "what exactly do you mean?"

But Percy wasn't even looking at his godly father. His eyes were on Aera.

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," he had the nerve to say while in steady eye contact with Aera. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royal nostrils flared. "You dare accuse—"

"No more undetermined children," Percy cut him off, staring Zeus square in the eye. "I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

Aera studied the reaction of the gods, who seemed just as astonished as she was at his request. What was Percy Jackson playing at now?

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo said, but Percy wasn't finished.

"And the minor gods," he added. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe—they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be forgiven too. And Hades—"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed, deathly eyebrow raised as if ready to blast him to ash.

"No, my lord," fishbones said quickly. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that. No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work anyway. You've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is my wish."

Zeus snorted. "Is that all?"

Percy hesitated. He exchanged a momentary glance with Annabeth, who was standing at Athena's feet. She was starting to pale for whatever reason. Then Percy did something that really shocked Aera.

He turned away from his father's throne to stand next to her.

"For all her crimes against Olympus," he declared, "Aera should be pardoned."

Another civil war almost broke out among the gods. The gods all started protesting at the same time, a thundering and rustling cacophony of powerful noise. The particles in the air turned hot like a nuclear bomb was about to explode at any moment.

"Aera Kim was one of the main agitators of the war," Ares growled. "To let her go would be asking for another." He rolled his shoulders back, flexing his biceps. "Which I wouldn't be entirely opposed to."

"Some of my oldest huntresses have perished by her hand," Artemis added grimly, rubbing the silver circlet around her wrist. "This kind of massacre cannot simply be forgiven."

"Percy," Poseidon said, the most amicable of the gods, "you ask much. You presume much."

"Aera saved Olympus," Percy argued, seeming unfazed by the rage of the gods. "If it wasn't for her, none of us would be alive."