𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏.

A part of her was nervous he wouldn't be pleased with her, but when she caught his own purple eyes, the girl felt okay. He had admiration in them, but it was wiped away quickly, but she knew he meant well.

Grover gave Annabeth, Thalia, and Ariadne big hugs. Then he grasped Percy's arms. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Heroes," Artemis calles.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympian. She walked towards them, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

"The Council has been informed of your deeds," Artemis told them. "They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas's attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have opted to act."

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren't all happy with this plan, but nobody protested.

"At my Lord Zeus's command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titan's causes last Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes..."

She turned to face the other immortals. "These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?"

She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually. Zeus in his dark pin-stripped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful women with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered like peacock feathers. Lady Hera.

On Zeus's right, Percy's father Poseidon. He was dressed in beach shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and sandals. He looked the same since she saw him last. His face was weathered and suntanned, with a dark beard and deep green eyes. He looked extremely fatherly. The god gave her a secret smile, and the girl resisted her own blush.

Next to him, a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head, and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers. The Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus.

Hermes winked at Percy. He was wearing a business suit, checking messages on his caduceus mobile phone. Apollo leaned back in his golden throne with his shades in. He had iPod headphones on. Her father looked bored, twirling a grape vine between his fingers. And Ares, well, he sat on his chrome-and-leather throne, glowering at Percy and Ariadne whirl he sharpened a knife.

On the ladies' side of the throne rom, a dark haired goddess in green robes sat next to Hera on a throne woven of apple-tree branches. Demeter, Goddess of Harvest. Next to her say a beautiful grey eyed women in an elegant white dress. She could only be Annabeth's mother, Athena.

Then there was Aphrodite, who smiled at Percy knowingly and made him blush in spite of himself. She winked at Ariadne and the girl gulped, her cheeks flushing.

All the Olympian in the same room. She had seen it many times over the camp visits, but it still amazed her at the power they held.

"I gotta say"—Apollo broke the silence—"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "Heroes win laurels—"

"Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry. "All in favor of not disintegrating them?"

A few tentative hands went up—Demeter, Aphrodite.