The gods fanned out in a semicircle as Zeus approached. None of them seemed particularly joyful about their victory.
Apollo and Artemis stood together in the shadow of a column as if trying to hide. Hera and Poseidon were having an intense discussion with another goddess in green and gold robes – perhaps Demeter. Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate's head, but the goddess of magic swatted it away. Hermes sneaked close to Athena, attempting to put his arm around her. Athena turned her aegis shield his way and Hermes scuffled off.
Percy was standing with his arm around Cressida's waist as she talked with her father, her father who didn't seem to have a problem with the contact which was surprising to everyone.
"Brethren," Zeus said, "we are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in this temple, now stands at Camp Half-Blood. It has united our offspring, and thus our own essences."
"Lord Zeus," Piper spoke up, "is Reyna okay? Nico and Coach Hedge?"
Zeus knitted his cloud-coloured eyebrows. "They succeeded in their mission. As of this moment, they are alive. Whether or not they are okay –"
"There is still work to be done," Queen Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. "But my heroes ... you have triumphed over the giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully."
Zeus turned on his wife. Thunder shook the Acropolis. "Hera, do not dare take credit! You have caused at least as many problems as you've fixed!"
The queen of heaven blanched. "Husband, surely you see now – this was the only way."
"There is never only one way!" Zeus bellowed. "That is why there are three Fates, not one. Is this not so?"
By the ruins of the giant king's throne, the three old ladies silently bowed their heads in recognition. And it was worth it to note that the other gods stayed well away from the Fates and their gleaming brass clubs.
As for Cressida, she made it two steps before Percy caught her, planting his feet as his arms wrapped around her waist as he braced himself and lifted her off the ground as she fought his grip.
"Let me go! I just want to thank Hera for her beautiful plan. Percy! LEMME GO!"
"Cress, as much as I would love to thank her as well, we still have a battle to fight."
"Yeah, we do against the queen of heaven! Percy, she sent us to Tartarus! Tartarus! Bob and Damasen was HER FAULT!"
"Crazy Girl, I know! I KNOW! But we have to get home first," he strained. Annabeth took a step forward, about to jump in to help him because she was the only one who knew that after hearing about Cressida's aversion to being tied down, Percy would only ever hold her back by her waist so she never felt like that again, but Athena put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "If you fight Hera now, you leave Pollux to fight Gaia by himself."
Her fighting ceased after that and even Dionysus seemed impressed that he was able to do that.
"You good?" he asked apprehensively, and she crossed her arms over her chest, still held off the ground.
"No, but you can put me down," she huffed as he carefully set her down but kept a firm arm around her as she death glared Hera who was still facing Zeus.
"Please, husband." Hera tried for a smile, but she was so clearly frightened, yet, no one seemed sorry for her.
Her fear now was nothing compared to what the two of them felt in Tartarus.
"I only did what I -"
"Silence!" Zeus snapped. "You disobeyed my orders. Nevertheless ... I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valour of these eight heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom."
"Debatable," Cressida huffed as Percy just sighed, knowing that he was lucky enough to have her staying in one place - being quiet in Hera's presence was definitely pushing it too far after everything.
Hera looked like she wanted to argue, but she kept her mouth shut.
"Apollo, however, ..." Zeus glared into the shadows where the twins were standing. "My son, come here."
Apollo inched forward like he was walking the plank. He looked so much like a teenage demigod it was unnerving. The fear in Apollo's face, however, Cressida felt sorry for because it was real human fear that seemed to glisten in his eyes.
The Three Fates gathered around the god, circling him, their withered hands raised.
"Twice you have defied me," Zeus said.
Apollo moistened his lips. "My – my lord –"
"You neglected your duties. You succumbed to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendant Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may yet destroy us all."
"But –"
"Enough!" Zeus boomed. "We will speak of your punishment later. For now, you will wait on Olympus." Zeus flicked his hand, and Apollo turned into a cloud of glitter. The Fates swirled around him, dissolving into air, and the glittery whirlwind shot into the sky.
"What will happen to him?" Jason asked. The gods stared at him, but Jason didn't care. Having actually met Zeus, he had a newfound sympathy for Apollo.
"It is not your concern," Zeus said. "We have other problems to address."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the Parthenon.
"Father," Jason said, "I made a vow to honour all the gods. I promised Kymopoleia that once this war is over none of the gods would be without shrines at the camps."
Zeus scowled. "That's fine. But ... Kym who?"
Poseidon coughed into his fist. "She's one of mine."
"My point," Jason said, "is that blaming each other isn't going solve anything. That's how the Romans and Greeks got divided in the first place."
The air became dangerously ionized. Jason's scalp tingled. He realized he was risking his father's wrath. He'd known his dad for five minutes and made a good impression. Now he was throwing it away.
"Jason's right," Cressida spoke up, and all eyes turned to her.
"Jewel," her father warned but she waved him off.
"Jason is right," she said more firmly. "It's the reason why so many demigods joined Kronos. They blamed you and you blamed them."
But Percy and Annabeth and Piper, actually, all of her friends knew that she reserved the right to be a hypocrite. She reserved the right to blame Hera for everything despite the fact that she was backing Jason up.
She gave Jason a supportive nod and he kept talking.
"Apollo wasn't the problem. To punish him for Gaia waking is –" he wanted to say stupid, but he caught himself – "unwise."
"Unwise." Zeus's voice was almost a whisper. "Before the assembled gods, you would call me unwise."
All of them were on full alert. Percy had dropped his arm from around Cressida as he was ready to jump in and fight at his side, even Cressida seemed itchy to reach for her sword.
Then Artemis stepped out of the shadows. "Father, this hero has fought long and hard for our cause. His nerves are frayed. We should take that into account."
Jason started to protest, but Artemis stopped him with a glance. Her expression sent a message so clear she might have been speaking in his mind: Thank you, demigod. But do not press this. I will reason with Zeus when he is calmer.
"Surely, Father," the goddess continued, "we should attend to our more pressing problems, as you pointed out."
"Gaia," Annabeth chimed in, clearly anxious to change the topic. "She's awake, isn't she?"
Zeus turned towards her. "That is correct," Zeus said. "The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious."
"Oh, come on!" Percy complained. "I get a little nosebleed and I wake up the entire earth? That's not fair!"
"Story of our lives, honey," Cressida said bitterly.
Athena shouldered her aegis. "Complaining of unfairness is like assigning blame, Percy Jackson. It does no one any good."
"Nope but it feels good," Cressida retorted.
She gave Jason an approving glance. "Now you must move quickly. Gaia rises to destroy your camp."
Poseidon leaned on his trident. "For once, Athena is right."
"For once?" Athena protested.
"Not to mention that Cressida's blood was also spilled, giving Gaia added power," Poseidon added and Cressida bit back a comment about Percy's unhelpful comments being a genetic trait that he definitely didn't get from his mother.
"Why would Gaia be back at camp?" Leo asked. "Percy's nosebleed was here."
"Dude," Percy said, "first off, you heard Athena – don't blame my nose. Second, Gaia's the earth. She can pop up anywhere she wants. Besides, she told us she was going to do this. She said the first thing on her to-do list was destroying our camp. Question is: how do we stop her, especially now that she's juiced up with Cress's blood?"
Frank looked at Zeus. "Um, sir, Your Majesty, can't you gods just pop over there with us? You've got the chariots and the magic powers and whatnot."
"Yes!" Hazel said. "We defeated the giants together in two seconds. Let's all go –"
"No," Zeus said flatly.
"No?" Jason asked. "But, Father –"
Zeus's eyes sparked with power, and Jason realized he'd pushed his dad as far as he could for today ... and maybe for the next few centuries.
"That's the problem with prophecies," Zeus growled. "When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Eight to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it had only so many possible outcomes, so many solutions. You eight, the demigods, are destined to defeat Gaia. We, the gods, cannot."
"I don't get it," Piper said. "What's the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?"
All the gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter. "My dear Piper, don't you think we've been asking ourselves that question for thousands of years? But it is what binds us together, keeps us eternal. We need you mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it's the truth."
Frank shuffled uncomfortably, like he missed being an elephant. "So how can we possibly get to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it? It took us months to reach Greece."
"The winds," Jason said. "Father, can't you unleash the winds to send our ship back?"
Zeus glowered. "I could slap you back to Long Island."
"Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or –"
"No," Zeus said, "I mean it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved ..."
Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanic's uniform shook his head. "My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won't sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner."
Leo straightened his tool belt. "The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship."
"Dangerous," warned Hephaestus. "Perhaps fatal."
The goddess Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. "Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this." She stared pointedly at Leo.
"Leo," Annabeth said, "what is Nike talking about?"
Leo waved off the question. "The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this."
"As for you Jewel," Dionysus said as he stepped up to his daughter's side. "Your blood gave Gaia power, but what can be given can also be taken away. Remember the prophecy."
Cressida blinked as confusion etched her expression. "I don't understand. Papa, what does that -"
"Enough!" Zeus thundered and they supposed that was all the help they were going to get from the gods. And as much as Cressida knew that she'd be able to push her father for further answers, she didn't want to risk condemning him to the same fate as Apollo. However, the God of Wine did place his fingers on his daughter's sword as it shimmered under his touch and disappeared.
Cressida instantly started to panic. "My sword! Papa, I -!"
"Calm yourself, Jewel," Dionysus said with a raised hand and Percy squeezed Cressida's in an attempt to help her with that. "I have simply placed your sword within the pinecone charm on your bracelet, so that you may always carry it with you."
Cressida gave her father a final hug and kiss on his cheek before Jason spoke again.
"Leo's right," he announced. "All aboard for one last trip."