A/N: Guys...500 votes before 20k.
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It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again
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3rd Person POV:
Nobody moved for half an hour, not even the monsters. Artemis had held her tears, trying to stay strong for Percy in his last moments. She knew from the moment he had spoken about Primordial power that he would be sacrificing himself. Her heart had already shattered beyond repair, still, she helped Percy pass in peace. The moment he closed his eyes for the final time, her dam broke. She howled for her loss, sobbing hysterically, still cradling Percy's lifeless body. It was an ugly sight, Artemis was not crying lightly, she was sobbing badly, all tears, snot, and saliva. This was the second time she had her heart broken. This time, it was the love of her life. She knew she wouldn't be able to love anyone else the way she loved Percy. Now he had given up his soul to protect what she called home and family. Artemis broke into sharper sobs as she realized that Percy could never go to the Underworld or try for rebirth, he was simply gone.
The Olympians were distraught beyond belief. What started out as an asset to complete the prophecy ended up as an immortal's mind-changing force. No one was happy when they had to make Percy an Olympian, and especially not since they saw Percy as a threat to their rule as he was so powerful, but since the prophecy called for it, they had to grudgingly agree. Turns out, this was the best decision they ever made. In the 50 years he served on the council, time and again he proved himself to be a valuable addition to the council. His presence and his endearing ways made even the prideful Olympians change. Percy had made them more...human, for the lack of a better term. He made the Olympians a family, the way it should have been from the start. Those who knew about the prophecy also knew they had to let go of him one day, but they couldn't help themselves but get attached to him. And now, with him gone, all this was falling apart.
This was the reason, every god and goddess, major and minor, bar Ares and Zeus, who were out from the battle, had tears in their eyes, some barely managing to keep them in while others were full out crying. Seeing Artemis lose her soulmate and her reaction wrought their hearts into ribbons of sorrow. The Olympians had gingerly come down to the bottom of the crater, surrounding Percy's body and Artemis had rued the tragic loss. Apollo gently tried to wrap his sister in a hug but she grabbed him tightly and started crying into his shoulders, while Apollo himself let a few tears fall for the demise of his friend. "No sun will rise today, let the world know that a great hero has passed" he said and the sun stopped in its tracks, right by the horizon, not rising anymore. Hermes was trying to console Dionysus, both crying silently as they mourned the loss of their closest friend. Aphrodite had tears gushing down her beautiful face, not being able to believe the fact that the only man she had loved and called a brother was gone. Hephaestus, though sad, managed to reign in his tears. Percy was one of the few people who had never judged him by his looks.
Athena, the most prideful one of the Olympians, hated to admit it but she indeed favored and somewhat adored the boy. She had assumed him to be dumb, just like any other child of Poseidon, but boy did he prove her wrong. Even with her severe case of hubris, she still had to agree, that boy was smart, maybe even smarter than some of her own children. He still infuriated her at times. Initially, she got very angry with him and felt like she wouldn't miss him at all when the prophecy comes to pass, but as time passed, she did too. With good competition from Percy on battle plans, which they would compete about until they ran into a deadlock, Athena managed to reign in her ego too. Percy had been like a little brother to her, very annoying, but yes, a brother. Now she just stood there, as a lone tear fell, seeing Percy's body, maybe the only child who wasn't hers but could take on Athena in battle planning and hope to win.
Demeter and Hera just held each other as soft tears stained their regal cheeks. Demeter just lost the one boy she had taken a liking to and had actually started treating him like her nephew. The time they spent together had them come closer and she became the aunt she had always dreamed of becoming, spoiling Percy rotten, fussing over him. Hera was crying for the loss of one member of the council that had actually managed to bring together the other Olympians as a true family. He had made her realize that however much painful it was to see gods cheating on each other and creating demigods, it was necessary for the world, and in no way was it the demigods' fault. He made her see that even though Zeus cheated on her a lot, she was the one he loved above anyone else, otherwise, he wouldn't have made her his queen. The result of this acceptance was noticed by everybody else, since her cold demeanor had all but vanished. But the one who had changed her beliefs entirely was now gone.
Poseidon was hysterical. He wouldn't believe his son was truly gone. He was still thinking that this was some kind was silly mindscape prank. He was sure he would wake up in his bed and would meet Percy again. When the realization set in, his eyes welled up with tears. A light rainstorm hit the area as tears began to trace their way down his face. He had aged up almost 50 years in a matter of minutes. Poseidon blamed himself for his son's death. If and only if he had not lost his fight with Alcyoneus his son would be alive. Small tremors gently shook the battlefield as Poseidon's domain of earthquakes reflected his emotions.
Hades too just stood there frozen in shock. There had been many who lost their lives in this war, he knew Percy would die, and he was prepared to put his soul directly in the highest reaches of Elysium. What came as a shocker was the fact that he couldn't detect Percy's soul at all. He had come to believe that somehow, this prophecy would leave Percy alive. But oh cruel Fates. He had started seeing Percy as his son instead of being his uncle. That boy was everything he wanted as a son, loyal, respectful, mirthful, and serious in times of need.
Hestia was no better. She had lost a symbol of hope. It seemed Elpis herself had died with the hero. Hestia could feel the embers of the hearth running at an all-time low. As the goddess of families, she felt the pain of everyone who lost somebody and it was so overwhelming, she almost blacked out. In the back of her mind, she knew this would happen, yet she still blamed herself. She was so focused on keeping the heart burning that she never saw Porphyrion sneaking up behind her. Hestia cried as she lost the boy she would happily call her son.
It became even uglier as the hunters broke through the people surrounding the crater. For a while, there was a pregnant pause as the hunters took in what happened, and a split second later their reactions showed. While the others rushed to where Percy's body lay, Zoe sank down on her knees right there, feeling like her heart had stopped beating altogether. Artemis was right, she thought. Men always broke women's hearts. Why did that blockhead have to save everyone by sacrificing himself, leaving those he loved forever? Then again, his selflessness was what drew the hunters to him, a trait not present even in them. Tears streamed down her face as she recalled every moment they spent with him. The rest of the hunters just stood beside Percy's motionless being and cried silently. He had really grown on them like the brother they never had.
Once Artemis's heart-wrenching cries slowed down to mere sobs, she extracted herself from Apollo's embrace and unsteadily went over to where Percy's body lay. She cleared her voice and got everyone's attention. "Does anyone have any problem if I give him a gift?" she spoke, though the crack in her voice was quite noticeable. Since no one argued, she continued, "This is my final gift to you Percy." Gently, she removed all the weapons Percy had, Riptide, Katoptris, and his twin daggers, and laid them on a side. Artemis brought both her hands over his body, hovering a foot over it, and started an incantation. As she continued to chant, Percy started emitting a soft glow, and just like that, a wisp of the glow separated from his body and into the waiting hands of Artemis. She aimed her hands at the sky and blew into them. As the eyes of all others present on the battlefield turned up to the sky, they gasped.
Spanning across almost a quarter of the sky was the largest constellation ever seen by anybody, dwarfing any other by a big margin and even had other constellations inside it. About a hundred stars had aligned themselves such that it looked like a male crouching down with a bow in one hand and a sword in the other. Ironically, the sword was aimed right at Orion's constellation, which was tiny in comparison to the new constellation. "Valiantis, the valiant one" Artemis said as everybody nodded subconsciously in recognition.
"I will retire to my palace with my hunters" Artemis said shakily before the whole Hunt gathered around Artemis as they vanished in a flash of silver light. Apollo tried to follow but Hermes stopped him with a look that said leave her be for a while. In the meantime, the remaining monsters slowly started creeping away from the battlefield, seeking refuge in the shadows as they missed all their leaders. Hestia was the one who noticed this fact.
All those present were suddenly equal parts scared and surprised as Hestia rose to her godly height of 28 feet in her 30-year-old form, much higher than any other god, showing that she indeed was the strongest of the children of Rhea and Kronos. She extended her hand and a flaming sword started appearing, starting from the hilt in her hand and slowly extending until she was holding a 20-foot long longsword. Her next words made everyone swear never to be on her bad side. "You have nowhere to run monsters. I can see you well enough. You killed the beacon of hope and now hope will defend itself. I, as the goddess of hope, will cleanse the world of scums like you who cost me my dearest one" she bellowed.
Even though they weren't the ones she was talking about, the demigods almost pissed themselves when they heard Hestia speak with such venom in her voice. Hestia flashed in a swirl of flames, only to appear right in the midst of the escaping monsters. She caught fire and charged at the enemies as flames wreathed around her. All that could be seen was a flash of orange fire powering through the ranks of the fleeing enemy forces, and the screams echoing in the air. In just 3 minutes, the goddess of the hearth had decimated the 400 hundred monsters like they were mere insects. "Let this be a lesson for the world to see. The Hearth is a home for everybody. But you harm it, it will retaliate twice as much" she said as she flashed back right next to Percy's body, back in her 8-year-old form.
"Apollo go and take out Zeus from the rubble and put him in the infirmary on Olympus along with Ares. We will give Percy a proper funeral right there on Olympus once all the gods and demigods have recuperated from their losses" Hestia said and flashed everybody back to Olympus. It was visible from her attitude that she would be the one taking charge of things while Zeus was out. When everything was lost, they sought the hearth, it was only natural for her to take the lead.
Once everybody was back on Olympus, the mood was gloomy. The price of winning the war had cost them a lot. Out of the 700 demigods who had been gathered to aid Olympus, only 300 remained, a mere 120 Greek demigods remained, while the rest were Roman. Fortunately, except for Percy, no one faded, though 70 minor deities were sent to Tartarus to reform. Apart from Zeus and Ares, none of the major deities sustained any major injury. Phoebe's sister, Phoela, though, died a heroic death when she took an arrow to her chest which would otherwise have hit the youngest hunter, 7 years of age. As per Percy's last request, Chiron and Lupa were given Percy's weapons, but Lupa returned them saying it was too much, so Chiron was the one tasked to find the heroes fit to wield them.
That day, the demigods at once went to their accommodations in the arena and fell asleep almost instantly, the fatigue from fighting an 18-hour war and the emotional trauma took a huge toll on them as they slept the whole day waking up before dinner and proceeding to fall asleep right afterward. Since Apollo didn't let the sun rise that day, it was a constant sunrise from morning till actual sunset. Artemis put out a blood moon that night, commemorating the loss of the love of her life. The gods themselves were brooding over the loss of a member of the council. Zeus when he woke up, actually shot Apollo with a lightning bolt when he told him that Percy had faded, believing it to be a prank. But when he realized that Apollo hadn't lied, he was crestfallen and broken. Ares didn't cry over Percy but he did call him a true warrior.
The next day, sharp at 10, every living soul on Olympus gathered in the amphitheater in Olympus, dressed in funeral attire, where many shrouds littered the area. But what stuck out most was the shroud of Percy Jackson. A beautiful sea-green shroud that had silver and blue inserts. Engraved on the top of it were 2 tridents, a crescent moon, and a bolt of lightning. The side had murals depicting some of his life, sparring with Artemis, hunting with the Hunt, dancing with Artemis, waging war on the monsters, etc. Artemis had a deranged and disheveled look on her face as she stared at the shroud longingly. Zoe, Aphrodite, and Hestia were no better, closely followed by the look on Poseidon's face.
After a short speech by Zeus, the shrouds were lit one by one, except Percy's. His was the last that remained. Zeus called forward Zoe first, who placed a laurel wreath on his shroud and said a few words about her brother. Aphrodite left an apple, a leaf of lettuce, and a rose and delivered a small speech that had everyone in tears by the end. Poseidon couldn't say anything as he felt even one word would cause him to cry. Artemis too didn't say anything, she just broke down in tears and cried, hugging his shroud, until Hestia came and helped her up. Together, Artemis and Hestia lit up Percy's shroud, as everybody watched the last remains of the legendary hero turn to ashes. By the time the last rites were complete, it was well past noon. Slowly, the amphitheater cleared out as everybody went back to their places. Duty forced everybody to return to their normal state, yet everybody knew that the damage couldn't be undone, those gone would stay gone.
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After the funeral, Artemis was standing at the edge of Olympus, peering down the railing as she thought of the time she and Percy kissed here after the solstice meeting more than 5 years ago. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of Percy. She was angry at all the other gods except Poseidon for knowing that Percy would die by a prophecy yet didn't tell her. Still, she understood their reason, if she knew, she might have never fallen in love and missed out on the chance of dating someone who literally faded to save the world, loyal to his end.
She didn't know how much time had passed, nor did she care. The only thing that she cared about right now were her hunters but they were back at her palace, mourning the loss of the only male they approved, one they found their younger/older brother in. Olympus was turning out to be too much for her in her state of loss. Everything reminded her of Percy, the streets they walked together, hand-in-hand, the dates they had in the restaurant, the dances they did secretly in the vast gardens at the dead of the night, everything. Though hunting would once again remind her and her hunters of Percy, it was still better than staying on Olympus.
She was about to leave when she felt the presence of another immortal, quite bright at that, almost like..."Sister, I am so sorry. Please forgive me...I could have told you...maybe we could have saved Percy" Apollo stuttered. "No, it wasn't your fault Apollo. I understand why you didn't tell me" Artemis said, wiping away some tears. "What brings you here brother?" Apollo looked really downcast and uncomfortable. "He knew he would die Artemis. He gave me these a day before the battle and made me swear on the Styx that I would give you these after his passing" Apollo said, his voice cracking at the mention of Percy's death. More tears filled Artemis's vision. This was why she had fallen for him, Percy had figured out he would die, yet instead of running away, he faced it valiantly.
Apollo took out a small cloth bag along with a parchment. Slowly he handed them out to Artemis. Delicately, Artemis opened the cloth bag. The twins gasped out in surprise. Gleaming and glowing in the small bag was an exact replica of what Percy had given Artemis so long ago to protect her, except this one held even more power. Missy, no harm shall fall you, I promise, onwards forever. The little note on it said. Handing the necklace to Apollo she turned around and exposed her neck as he helped her wear it. As soon as the clasp was locked, a blue a silver glow spread out from the necklace and covered Artemis with it. when it died down, Artemis had a shocked and bittersweet look on her face. "That lovable bastard. He transferred power from his soul into this. It makes the wearer more powerful and harder to capture" Artemis sighed.
The small parchment was opened by Apollo. Tears streaked down his cheek as he stared at the content. Artemis too was crying as she looked upon a painting of herself and Percy in the meadow facing the Aegean sea. It was angled such that both of them could be seen sitting beside the cliff. Percy had his legs stretched out in front of him while Artemis was leaning on his side, both with the goofiest love-struck smile ever seen. And above them, the moon shone brightly. Artemis knew Percy was skilled at almost everything, yet she never saw much of his artwork, except today.
"Apollo, I need a favor. I can't stand to be on Olympus without being reminded of Percy. It hurts me when I see reminders of him everywhere. The hunters too, have the same problem. We need to clear our minds. We need a break from Olympus. Brother, will you cover for us if we are gone for some time. We need solitude" Artemis said as she kept studying the painting Percy had made for her, subconscious tears still tracing her cheeks. Apollo turned solemn too. "Take as much time as you need" he said as he composed himself. Artemis gave her brother a thoughtful look and left. Apollo sighed as he watched his sister lave and himself left after a few minutes.
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When Apollo told her to take all the time she needed, he certainly didn't expect Artemis and the hunters to cut off all ties with Olympus for 5 years. She had left shortly after her talk with Apollo on Olympus and didn't return for 5 years. The hunters had lost just 3 members in the war, courtesy of Percy, and they were back to hunting monsters and seldom leaving the forests.
Zeus was furious that she had cut herself off from Olympus, meaning she wouldn't even attend the Solstice meetings. Yet he couldn't say anything, he understood the state of crisis and loss Percy left her in when he died. Heck, everybody was feeling the loss of a vital member of the council, something he had proved over the years. Every meeting, the empty seat of the legendary hero, which everyone had voted to keep even though its master was gone, would stare at them hauntingly, reminding them of the sacrifice that he had made. Indeed, Artemis would haven't been able to cope with it.
In the 5 years that Artemis was not present, many major alterations had been made to Olympus. Hestia was the first one to give up her throne from the Olympian Council. She found it discerning that Percy had given up his life to save hers, the only thing she could do for him was to sacrifice her throne and place in the council. Another reason was that the world was losing hope, ever since Percy had died, the hearth was burning low and needed vigilance 24/7. To protect her own domain, she had to give up her throne. Instead of having a throne, she preferred to sit near the hearth at the center of the Throne room.
The same announcement of the resignation of their throne on the council came from Hades a day later. Hades too, said that he had to focus on work and the access to the underworld from Olympus wasn't the best. Hades reasoned, more like reassured, Zeus that he was in no way plotting against Olympus and that he was quite happy with his realm, which needed a lot of attention, hence why he was resigning his throne here. He did promise to visit every Olmpus every winter solstice. This was however one of the reasons. Frankly, he was sorely missing the most lively member of the council, Percy was like his son and friend, and without him, the council felt dull. With his sister, whom he respected and adored a lot, resigning her throne, he too felt the same way.
After some discussions, Hestia and Hades requested that their names be cleared from the Greek records as being Olympians. They didn't want anybody asking around why they even gave up their thrones in the first place. Hecate along with Athena and Morpheus, put together what was the biggest for some time and the second biggest afterward, spell ever, cast over every mortal, even the demigods. They made them believe that Hades was never part of the council and that Hestia had given up her throne for Dionysus. Dionysus was not at all happy that his name had to be spoiled but he agreed nonetheless.
Without Percy to manage the Romans and greeks, petty fights turned into huge conflicts, and it came to the point that each side was pressing their blade into the other's throat. The Praetors had retired after the war, choosing to accompany each other out into the world, far from the half-blood stuff. The ones that took their place were nothing but power-hungry bastards. This drove a wedge between the relations of the 2 camps, about which no one could do anything. Chiron did try but failed miserably. It became so severe that one day, the Romans left, vowing to never speak to the Greeks again and vice-versa. It took 8 months for Camp Half-blood to be rebuilt, after which the demigods shifted back to their home.
When Artemis and her hunters returned, it was a shock for both parties, Olympus and the Hunt. Artemis was surprised to see the new arrangement of the Olympian council, with only 12 thrones and the whole removed from history thing. But the real shocker was Artemis herself. Even Apollo almost didn't recognize her, her silver eyes were the only giveaway. Instead of being in her 19-year-old form, the one she used when Percy was around, or her 16-year-old form before Percy showed up, Artemis was in her 12-year-old form. With the loss of Percy, she vowed never to fall in love again and thus assuming this form, so no one could fall in love with her anyway.
Artemis had become much colder than she ever was, so did her hunters. Everyone thought that being with Percy, she would be able to tolerate men more than before. Yet with Percy dying, she turned into a husk of what she had been. She hid her face beneath a mask. She never cried anymore, neither did she laugh or even smile. Artemis's face was always hidden under an expressionless, emotionless mask. Her hunters were no better, turning into cold-hearted beings, much like their mistress. They hated men with a new passion, especially since they started comparing them to Percy. Since it was common knowledge that Artemis had been dating Percy, many unfortunate males thought she was open to the idea of dating. Let's just say, things got hairy for them.
Hear turned colder too. Earlier, while she only showed displeasure to demigods and hate was reserved for Zeus's kids, she was now generally cold to every demigod. She hated them with a passion because she too compared them to Percy. However much she hated others cheating on their spouses or doing one-night stands, she had come to accept that demigods indeed were necessary for the survival of the gods. She hated demigods not because they were born out of cheating, no, she hated them because none of them could ever be like Percy. They were too engrossed by themselves and thought they were all-powerful and the best. Over time, they even started forgetting about Percy and clouded his achievements with bloated fantasies of their own.
Demeter would not talk to anyone nowadays without reason, well except maybe Hestia. She started focussing on her duties rather, just to forget everything and that started her cereal mania. Everything she related to agriculture or cereal. Athena was the only one who changed the least. Yes, she missed Percy. She missed how he would be the only one who could talk at her level and keep up until they reached a standstill. She mourned him too, but she knew he would want them to move on. Ares didn't show any emotion, to him Percy died valiantly on the battlefield and the only way to respect him was to move on for the sake of the world he saved.
Aphrodite, she went to what she was earlier, going back to her slutty self. With Percy's counsel, she had stopped sleeping with every other man she saw and had almost broken off her relationship with Ares. Now, she sought to bury her loss by sleeping around every night. She would purposefully inflict heartbreaks on mortals to express her loss. All in all, she became a person that made her hate herself. Apollo, Dionysus, and Hermes did the same, drinking around to drown their sorrows and sleeping with every other mortal girl. This affected polls the worst, seeing that it drove a wedge between him and Artemis.
Poseidon and Zeus wallowed in their own sorrows. Ever since Percy died, the seas had been restless, sinking ships here and there. It took the whole council to convince him to stop inflicting harm on the mortals. Though this didn't mean he didn't send occasional storms or earthquakes, or at times cyclones too. Zeus's paranoia grew. Since it was apparent there was nobody who would have as much power as Percy and be content like him, he thought anyone with even a little bit of power would be trying to usurp him. His paranoia grew to the point he started suspecting his own brothers and their children, creating the conflict the world has come to know.
Sometime around a century later, people started to drop the greek and roman deities as their idols for worshipping. No one knew how this happened but it spread like wildfire among mortals. The gods had to stop themselves from fading so they did what would be the biggest change known to the Greek and Roman worlds. Since people weren't actively worshipping them, Athena devised that it would be best if people remembered them as part of history. If they did, the Gods would still be remembered, just not actively, but hey, it was still better than being forgotten and fading away.
So Hecate was once again called and with Athena's instruction and using the power of the whole council, the biggest layer of Mist was put upon the world. It removed the ability of the mortals to see the divine beings or any other creature from the divine world. People thought they had faded and started remembering them as beings of the past. Only demigods, the people who sired demigods, and some rare clear-sighted mortals could see through the Mist. This turned out to be a superb move since it worked in their favor a lot. Unfortunately, the gods withdrew from the world before they could know about Perseus Jackson. So he stayed a lost legend, missing from the records, yet the greatest being to ever grace the earth. His constellation, much like him, stayed unknown to the humans. Unfortunately, the incomplete history of Heracles spread in the mortal world and he, instead of Percy, came to be known as the greatest hero, far from the truth and to the great displeasure of the gods.
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No No No! This just wasn't right. It was impossible. It had to be. There is nothing after the ultimate death. Fading means nothingness. It means one loses their consciousness forever. That's what happens when you fade. Then how do we explain when one retains their thoughts and consciousness after they fade, after they feel their soul getting destroyed. These were the very thoughts he was having. It didn't feel like death. Quite far from it, actually. One moment, his insides were burning with pain, his organs were pretty much destroyed, hanging onto the thin rope of life with sheer willpower. He remembered his final talk with her. He could still feel the lingering taste of her lips and mouth after they kissed what he thought would be the last time ever. The next moment he feels like he woke up from a blackout, all groggy and disoriented. Then it hit him like a falling rock. It was impossible. This can't be, he thought as he sat up.
Somehow, by some miracle, in the middle of nothingness, Percy Jackson had regained consciousness.
A/N: Short asf, but get used to this. Seriously.
You know, imma cut the crap I write here. Just enjoy this chapter without clutter.
Enjoy guys. Please vote people. No cap.
Me after begging for votes:
STONKS
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-KK42069
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