Percy was thanking every God he knew when the school bell rang to signify school was over for a multitude of reasons. The most prominent one being the fact that Fredrick's call had reminded Percy of some very important calls he would need to make to the godly side of things.
He was distracted throughout the whole car ride home, figuring out which order he should make calls and how he should word his requests. If Annabeth had noticed anything, she seemed to think it was school related. The only thing she did was take his hand and squeeze it lightly, and Percy smiled lightly before doing it back.
When they got back home, Sally called Annabeth into her study so that she could help with something. Sally had recently been asking Annabeth for help with logistics in her books, and Annabeth always loved helping out.
Taking advantage of the next hour or more he would have to himself, he rushed upstairs to start his homework. Thank Gods for him actually having a reputation for doing his homework now, because no one seemed to doubt him.
"Who first, who first, who first?" He muttered to himself as he searched around their room for the stash of drachmas they kept. "Okay, Owl Lady first, because she's Annabeth's mom, then Cow because she'll be pissed if she's last, then Lady H for a thank you, then Pipe's mom because she'll want to know," He eventually decided.
Percy grabbed his water bottle out of his bag and walked over to the window where Apollo had decided to be nice, and there was a warming autumn sun shining through. Percy proceeded to throw the water at it, pausing it in mid air with just a thought.
After manipulating it into a rainbow mist, Percy tossed in a drachma and made an IM, asking for Lady Athena. The mist rippled as he waited for the call to connect, before it cleared into an image of Lady Athena standing somewhere in Olympus.
She looked down on him with disdain, "Poseidon scum, never a pleasure,"
Percy rolled his eyes, "Could say the same,"
Lady Athena glared at him, but Percy just gave a winning smile back. "Why have you called? I have work to be doing,"
"As do I, but this is important. I wanted to let you know that I'm going to propose to Annabeth soon, and depending on if she says yes we are going to get married. I've mostly given up on wishing that you'll bless us, but I thought you should know," He informed her.
Lady Athena pursed her lips, her grey eyes scanning Percy up and down. It would have been unnerving except for the fact they were the same as Annabeth's eyes when she was sizing you up for a fight, so he smiled slightly at the thought.
"You're thinking of her now," Athena noted "You get a certain look on your face when you are thinking only of her,"
Percy met her eyes, surprised that she had picked up on something so small that many people who saw them everyday had missed. "I do?"
"Yes, you do," She paused, looked back down at the work she had been doing. "You will ask her to marry you no matter what I say, so I don't see the need for you to be calling me,"
Percy nodded, "Yes, I would," He replied simply. "But you are her mother, and with all we have done, I hope you care somewhat about who she ends up with. And I also hope you know I don't think there would ever be anyone else for us. So with that, I thought I should at least ask that you will accept us and not interfere, if that is as much as you are willing to do,"
Athena looked at him thoughtfully, considering something. It seemed she had come to a conclusion and she started speaking, in a softer tone than before.
"You know, Aphrodite sometimes asks for my help when designing soulbounds between souls. It is a rare request and I don't always accept it, but this time, however, I'm glad I did,"
Percy's mouth dropped open slightly when her words registered and she looked down on him, a slightly approving gaze in her eyes. She opened her mouth to carry on, and Percy clamped his mouth shut on any questions that were bubbling up inside him.
"You have my blessing. It would be disappointing to see one of the most beautifully constructed bonds go to waste," And with that, Lady Athena slashed through the IM, leaving Percy standing in shock as water drifted to the floor.
Well. That had not been at all how Percy expected that conversation to go. I thought it would involve a lot more name calling and a lot more convincing, he thought, running a hand through his hair as he processed what had just happened.
"Annabeth and I are soul bonded? What the hell does that mean?" He whispered to himself, flipping a drachma over in his hand as he thought about it.
"It means you two have a set of souls matched so perfectly, that if you were to meet, would be bound to have a connection with," A voice said from behind Percy.
He jumped up and spun around, Riptide drawn before he could even register the person standing behind him. "What the fuck? Aphrodite?"
"Hello, Perseus," Aphrodite smiled at him, her eyes rippling from rainbow to a shimmering grey.
"Holy Hades, you scared me," Percy recapped Riptide and took a moment to recover. "Well I was going to call you, but this makes it easier I guess,"
"Yes well, you seemed confused so I thought I'd pop by to answer your questions. Athena wouldn't, despite her seemingly not wanting to smite you,"
Percy shrugged, "Well I do have a lot of questions, and I was also going to call you to thank you for convincing Lady Athena,"
Aphrodite gave him a blinding smile, "Well if you must know, I think she was finally convinced by the all-nighter you pulled for the exams last week. Me and Hestia helped, of course, but that was the tipping point,"
Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise, "An all-nighter? That's what it took? Dam,"
"Mmh, surprising, yes?" Aphrodite sat herself down on one of the chairs by their desks. "Well, if you have any questions, please ask away, I have to leave soon,"
"Oh, yes right," Percy took a minute to think of the most important one, "Are me and Annabeth soulmates?"
Aphrodite chuckled, "Similar, but not quite. When making souls, Psyche sometimes asks me to make the relationship part of things, so how the person will act around family, friends and lovers.
"Soul bonding is when I decide to make two souls that compliment each other perfectly. The people may never meet, never have one interaction, but if they do, they are bound to have a connection for life. It can be platonic, romantic, or anything of the sort," Aphrodite explained.
"Sometimes, I ask for Athena's help, when two souls are particularly complex. I don't think she liked the fact that the two of you would inevitably be together somehow, or the fact that you are a Son of Poseidon, however, she cannot deny that you both have been nothing but a force of good.
"Another theory of mine is that she was worried what your fatal flaw might make you do if a person you are literally perfect for was taken away from you. With your power, there is nothing you wouldn't do to get Annabeth back if she was taken and that worried Athena, and a few other gods as well. It is a reasonable fear, but nothing we could do would stop you two, so we figured we might as well just make sure you are as safe as possible from now on," Aphrodite finished, glancing at Percy who was quiet, slowly taking in everything she said.
"...That makes sense. Thank you for explaining," Percy replied, his thanks sincere for once.
"Glad to clear things up. Make sure you enlist my daughter's help for setting up a proper romantic evening, when you do propose," Aphrodite said with a wink. She stood up then, her dress flowing around her, "Close your eyes,"
Percy shut his eyes tight as a flash erupted from where Aphrodite had been standing. When the light behind his eyelids faded Percy opened his eyes and she was gone.
"Well. That was certainly enlightening," Percy said to himself. And it was; it had explained a lot of things. However, he looked at the clock and saw he didn't have much time, so he could have a mini crisis about it after.
Percy turned to where there was a puddle on the carpet, and pulled the water up and into the air. The sun was still in the right position, so he once again turned it into a mist, throwing the drachma he had been fiddling with into it.
"Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Lady Hera," Percy waited impatiently for the call to connect, not looking forward at all to this conversation.
"Perseus Jackson," Hera greeted when the call connected.
"Lady Hera," He replied, his tone slightly cold. "I called you to let you know that I'll be proposing to Annabeth soon, and possibly marrying her in a few months,"
Hera raised her eyebrows, "All the gods are aware of this, Perseus, what is it?"
"I would like to ask for your blessing that we have a happy and long marriage," Percy informed her. He had nothing else to add, the only reason he was talking to her was because she was the goddess of marriage. Otherwise he would have been happy to never speak to her again.
Hera sighed and seemed to debate something in her head. Then she spoke, "Yes, fine, you will have my blessing, Perseus. Anything else?"
"Plea- Wait, really?" Percy was rather surprised, as he was by almost every conversation today apparently.
"Yes, anything else? Or can we hang up before I change my mind?"
"Um, no," Percy looked at her closely, trying to find something to see if she was joking. "Thanks, I guess. Bye," Then he slashed a hand through the Iris Message before she could take back her blessing.
I have no fucking clue why the gods are being so relaxed about this, but I am not one for complaining, Percy thought as he pulled one last drachma out of his pocket. He held the water in its mist formation, adjusting it slightly to catch the sun better.
"Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Lady Hestia," He asked, throwing the golden coin in.
The water rippled for a moment before Hestia immediately answered. She smiled at him as soon as the water cleared enough for them to see each other.
"Hello, Percy," She greeted him warmly.
"Hi, Lady Hestia," He replied with a smile.
"How have you been lately? I hear you've been making calls?" She asked, her smile widening when she saw him grin in happiness.
"Yep, I've been making some very important calls that have gone surprisingly well," At this Hestia smiled knowingly, though the mist obscured it so Percy couldn't see.
"I'm doing a lot better, thank you for asking," Percy replied. "I just wanted to call you to say thank you for fighting for me and Annabeth. We really appreciate it, even if Annabeth doesn't actually know it yet,"
"No problem, you do deserve it," Hestia responded, "A hero's life rarely is a happy one, so you should have whatever happiness you can get,"
Percy smiled at her, "I'll make sure to burn some blue cookies next time I eat them," he promised.
"Thank you," Hestia tilted her head to the side, "Someone is coming up your stairs, I assume you want this call to be kept private?"
Percy's eyes widened and he nodded, "Okay, well, thank you, and bye!"
Hestia smiled at him in amusement and waved goodbye as he dispersed the mist, ending the IM. Percy sent the water to the sink and ran to his desk, taking a seat.
He pulled out a piece of homework he had done while Annabeth was at volleyball, then pretended to be putting it back into his bag as though he had just done it. He looked up when Annabeth walked into the room, greeting her with a smile.
"Hey, Wise Girl! Mom appreciate the help?" He asked. She walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his forehead, nodding. She slumped into the chair next to him, eyes falling shut as she leant back.
"Tired?" He asked and Annabeth nodded again. "Let's move to the bed," Annabeth nodded sleepily. She had had a bad night yesterday when it came to nightmares, and while she had pretended she slept, Percy knew that wasn't the case. So, now he picked her up and placed her on the bed, curling up next to her while she fell into a peaceful sleep.
A/N
Halo everybody!
I hope you enjoy this chapter, but I feel as though it's not up to my usual standards for some reason. Not sure what it is, the pacing maybe, but I might do a little touch up of it at some point, when I have the time :)
thank you so much for your comments and votes, ive said it before and I'll say it again, I love seeing them!
Hope you readers all have a good day, and I am now reminding you to go complete a requirement to maintaining a healthy life. Go drink some nice cold water, it will be refreshing :)
updated / fixed slightly on 17/06/22 :)