Seeing Olympus as the pegasi circled around it was even more breathtaking than the first time he'd seen it. He was also glad that Cressida was riding with him, because flying as a son of Poseidon was bad enough, but flying up to Mount Olympus, Zeus' house, was even more terrifying.
The pegasi set them down in the outer courtyard, just before the huge silver gates that led to the Hall of the Gods.
Blackjack wished them good luck, and terrified Percy a bit more when he asked for his cabin as a stable if he didn't make it back. He'd never seen all of the gods assembled before.
But side by side, with his best friends next to him, they walked into the throne room.
Twelve enormous thrones made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. The ceiling above glittered with constellations – even the newest one, Zoë the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn. All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about five metres tall, and if you've ever had a dozen all-powerful super-huge beings turn their eyes on you at once... Well, suddenly, facing monsters seemed like a picnic.
"Welcome, heroes," Artemis said.
"Mooo!"
That's when they saw Bessie and Grover.
A sphere of water was hovering in the centre of the room, next to the hearth fire. Bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out of the sides and the bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble. Grover was kneeling at Zeus's throne, as if he'd just been giving a report, but, when he saw them, he cried, "You made it!"
He started to run towards them but then remembered that he was turning his back on Zeus and looked for permission.
"Go on," Zeus said but he wasn't really paying attention to Grover, rather he was staring intently at Thalia.
None of the gods spoke. It was simply silence save for the clopping of Grover's hooves. Cressida looked relieved as she stared at her father whose eyes were shining with pride as if he knew exactly what his daughter had done.
Percy received no such look from his father. Instead, Poseidon let the corners of his eyes crinkle with smile lines as he nodded at his son, telling him that it was ok.
Grover gave all of the girls big hugs before he essentially tackled Percy.
"Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!" Grover exclaimed.
"Do what?" Percy asked.
"Heroes," Artemis called. 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 Olympians. "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 voted 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 Titans' cause. Lady 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 cruise ship 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 and none protested.
"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 favour of not disintegrating them?"
"Wait just a minute," Ares growled. He pointed at Thalia and Percy. "These two are dangerous. It'd be much safer, while we've got them here –"
"Ares," Poseidon interrupted, "they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits."
"Nor my daughter," Zeus grumbled. "She has done well."
Thalia blushed. She studied the floor. Percy knew how she felt seeing as they hardly ever spoke to their parents, much less got a compliment.
The goddess Athena cleared her throat and sat forward. "I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk here, with the other two."
"Mother!" Annabeth said. "How can you –"
Athena cut her off with a calm but firm look. "It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods... such as Thalia and Percy... are dangerous. As thick-headed as he is, Ares has a point."
"Right!" Ares said. "Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin' –"
He started to get up, but a grapevine grew around his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down, making Cressida smile.
"Oh, please, Ares," Dionysus sighed. "Save the fighting for later."
Ares cursed and ripped away the vine. "You're one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?"
"Watch how you speak of my daughter, you imbecile," Dionysus warned, still slightly bitter about all that business two years ago. "And asides from her, I have no love for them. Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?"
"Papa-"
"I do not pass judgement," Athena interrupted. "I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide."
"I will not have them punished," Artemis said. "I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favour, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."
"Calm down, sis," Apollo said. "Jeez, you need to lighten up."
"Don't call me sis! I will reward them."
"Well," Zeus grumbled. "Perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?"
A lot of nodding heads and silence until Percy spoke up.
"Bessie? You want to destroy Bessie?"
"Moooooo!" Bess protested.
Poseidon frowned. "You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?'
"Dad," Percy said, "he's just a sea creature. A really nice sea creature. You can't destroy him."
Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. "Percy, the monster's power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or –"
"You can't," he insisted before staring Zeus in the eye, unflinching and unmoving. "Controlling the prophecies never works. Isn't that true? Besides, Bess– the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. It's just as wrong as... as Kronos eating his children, just because of something they might do. It's wrong!"
Zeus seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to his daughter Thalia. "And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."
"You have to trust them," Annabeth spoke up. "Sir, you have to trust them."
Zeus scowled. "Trust a hero?'"
"Yes, Lord Zeus," Cressida added.
"The girls are right," Artemis said. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoë Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately."
Zeus beckoned Artemis forward. He leaned down and listened as she spoke in his ear.
"Cress," Percy said under his breath, his voice completely panicked. "Don't."
"Don't what?" she asked as she turned to him, her purple eyes full of confusion.
"Look, I need to tell you something," he said. "I couldn't stand it if...I don't want you to- you can't-"
"Whoa, Captain Nemo," she said. "You look like you're going to be sick."
Annabeth turned at that, equally worried when she'd heard her words, but Percy physically couldn't say more before Artemis turned.
"I shall have a new lieutenant," she announced. "If she will accept it."
"No," Percy said again and Cressida furrowed her brows.
"Thalia," Artemis called. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"
Stunned silence filled the room as Annabeth and Cressida smiled at her both of them squeezing Thalia's hand before letting go as if they'd been expecting this all along.
"I will," Thalia said firmly.
Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. "My daughter, consider well –"
"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again." She knelt before the goddess and began the words Percy and Cressida remembered from Bianca's oath, which seemed like so long ago. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men..."
Afterwards, the girls laughed as they watched Thalia hug Percy, making him blush. After that, Cressida and Annabeth pulled the newly minted Hunter into a group hug. And those three girls seemed rather intimidating together.
"Now for the Ophiotaurus," Artemis said.
"This boy is still dangerous," Dionysus warned. "The beast is a temptation to great power. Even if we spare the boy –"
"Di Immortales, Papa," Cressida sighed as if she was about to go off at him again and Percy decided that that might not be the best course of action in a room with all the gods.
"No," he interjected, earning a glare from his friend. "Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe. My dad can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here in Olympus. But you have to protect him."
"And why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.
"I'm only fourteen," Percy said and it kind of dawned on Cressida how much all of them had been through at such a young age. "If this prophecy is about me, that's two more years."
"Two years for Kronos to deceive you," Athena said. "Much can change in two years, my young hero."
"Mother!' Annabeth said, exasperated.
"It is only the truth, child. It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the boy."
Poseidon stood. "I will not have a sea creature destroyed if I can help it. And I can help it." He held out his hand, and a trident appeared in it: a six-metre-long bronze shaft with three spear tips that shimmered with blue, watery light. "I will vouch for the boy, and the safety of the Ophiotaurus."
"You won't take it under the sea!" Zeus stood suddenly. "I won't have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession."
"Brother, please," Poseidon sighed.
Zeus's lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole room with an ozone storm smell.
"Fine," Poseidon said. "I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honour."
Zeus thought about this. "All in favour?"
Surprisingly a lot of hands went up, save for a few, Ares, Athena and Dionysus.
"Papa! I swear on your name..." Cressida growled, her eyes aflame as she stared him down and yes, it was a gross act of insubordination, but she couldn't help the fact that she was her father's daughter - she had a thing for dramatic flair when making a point. Which actually gave Percy an idea for a new nickname for her.
The other gods were actually quite interested by the show as Dionysus sighed before raising his hand lazily and Cressida's eyes returned to normal as she calmed.
"In that case," Zeus said pointedly but Cressida was unapologetic about it. "We have a majority. "And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes... I imagine we should honour them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"