Previously:
"So you are going to act like we betrayed you like everyone else here has, okay?" Conner continued. "Chiron, Travis and I are going to act all...betraying...like...Okay?" He asked slowly.
Percy took a deep breath in and out. Nodding, he put on a convincing smile and followed the Stolls into the van outside Half-Blood Hill.
Percy was standing in the middle of the Olympian throne room expressionless. So far all the gods have been doing for the last half hour was pretend to debate about whether or not to kill him. Even without the warnings from Connor and Travis, he would have been able to tell that they had already made up their minds. The only ones who didn't seem to be agreeing with the motion to kill him was Hestia, Hades, Apollo and Artemis who were all glowering at the ones electing to kill him.
Mr. D was there but he was reading a wine catalog at the moment, not even participating. Athena and Zeus were having a shouting match, pretty much saying the same thing; Percy deserves to die. Aphrodite was hardly paying attention, and like Mr. D, not participating. Ares and Hephaestus were pretending to debate with each other, with Hephaestus pretending to be on the fence. Hermes seemed to be taking advantage of this time to answer missed calls and sign paperwork. Poseidon and Hera were almost as adamant that Percy was to be executed as Zeus and Athena. Demeter was not even there.
Their acting skills weren't all that great.
"Enough!" Zeus finally shouted over the noises of the other gods. "If you are all done arguing, we will continue with the meeting to decide Perseus Jackson's fate."
Percy snorted quietly to himself so quietly only those next to him would have been able to hear him. Which just happened to be the Stolls. They had a hard time keeping their composures at that.
Zeus continued, unaware of the disrespect being shown towards him. "Perseus Jackson, you are accused of spying for the enemy in the Giant War and causing the deaths of countless demigods and the mortals caught in the cross fire," he said. Apparently everyone blamed him for his own parent's death. He had found them the day he returned home after the war, laying in their own blood. From what he could tell, they had been that way for a few days already.
Percy's heart got stuck in his throat. He could not fault the gods for that accusation. He felt the truth of those words penetrate his stiff posture. His face softened, tears starting to collect in his eyes and he felt his knees buckle.
Fortunately, he righted himself before he collapsed.
Unfortunately, the Stolls noticed his weakened posture.
"Percy?" Connor whispered worriedly.
"I'm fine," Percy whispered curtly.
Travis and Connor shared a look, and although Percy did not speak their silent language, he knew they didn't believe him.
Before anyone could say anything else, Percy regained his composure and spoke up. "Forgive me, My Lord Zeus, but I believe that I had made myself clear when I said that my name was Percy." He paused to bow in his direction, hoping that the show of respect would soften the heart of his uncle. "And may I ask about the evidence for these accusations?"
"Poseidon, keep that brat of yours under control!" Zeus shouted. He appeared to not have even noticed the increase of respect towards him.
"He is no longer my son, brother, I thought we went over this already," Poseidon snapped. "Boy, you have no right to speak at this time."
"N-not your son?" Percy stuttered. This was news to him. His knees grew even weaker, and he knew he wouldn't last long before he fell to the ground.
"Silence!" Zeus interrupted. "Perseus Jackson you are here by sentenced to death!"
"B-but-" Percy silently kicked himself. Why must he be stuttering so much? It isn't like he was't expecting this. But he was somehow in too much shock to muster any emotion than denial.
Again, interrupting him, Zeus yelled, "Silence!" He struck his hands out towards Percy. His master bolt appeared in his right hand and he shouted again, "Farewell, Perseus Jackson!"
There was no time to do anything but stand there even as a searing pain as a result of the lightning covered his body. He felt his body disintegrate from the inside out and his vision turned white. It took barely a second but Percy felt as if it went on for ages.
He heard someone shouting in pain, not realizing immediately that it was himself.
Then nothing.
- - - -
Percy was not yet fully conscious when he registered angry voices talking around him. He mildly wondered what Zeus would punish him eternally with and hoped it didn't have anything to do with any of the things he regretted when he was alive.
"Hades, Percy, you were so close to creating the change they needed. Then they had to go and loose their common sense!"
Oh, no, that sounded like Luke Castellan. Was he going to have to relive his worst moments? Was this an imitation of Luke or did they get him to come visit the Fields of Punishment just for him?
"Yeah, and you had a promise to keep!"
Leo? He came too? A wave of guilt rushed over him. He had planned on talking to the gods about Calypso for Leo when the aftermath of the war died down. He'd made a promise right before Leo went and got himself blown up.
Then Luke's words registered.
That didn't quite make sense in the setting he was imagining so he forced his eyes open. Blinking at the sudden light, he looked around the small room he found himself in. There was Luke and Leo, but there was also Charles Beckandorf, Michael Yew, Will Solace, Nico di Angelo, the Stoll brothers, Apollo, Hades, and a couple faces he didn't know.
"Beckandorf? Apollo? Hades?" He asked skeptically. "What on earth is happening?"
"That, Mr. Jackson, is an excellent question," the figure Percy didn't know spoke. His voice tickled something in the far reaches of his memory but he couldn't quite grasp it. It was echoey, as if the person were speaking in a very large, and deep cavern.
"Who are you?" Percy asked, staring at the strange figure in front of him. He was tall and had dark eyes but they were filled with sparks and they seemed endless, like the universe it's self. When that thought struck him, he knew exactly who this was. His eyes widened. "Chaos," he muttered, in utter shock.
"Percy, now is not the time to go getting all powerful beings mad okay?" Leo stage whispered. "You just might get a worse than death experience with this one."
Chaos chuckled. "I'd actually be offended if he didn't speak to me in his normal fashion, I find it quite amusing actually."
Leo stared wide eyed and turned to look at Percy. "In that case, go right ahead," Leo said, motioning in Chaos' direction with his hands.
Percy rolled his eyes, turning back around to look at the others that had gathered around his death bed. Wait—"Where am I?"
Hades chuckled, which seemed strange coming from him. "You are in the Underworld, but more specifically, my palace." He answered.
Percy nodded, as if that was what he was expecting. "Okay, yeah, sure," he said, looking around still. The room's decorations were consistent with the information he was given. Stone walls, creepy cobwebs hanging from candle holders on the walls giving the only light in the room. "I am in my uncle's, the Lord of the Dead's palace, something I do on a regular basis actually. Only this time, I'm dead. Maybe he's gonna torture me—wait, if he was gonna do that why would he be smiling normally?"
Suddenly he stopped talking, uncomfortable with all the stares he was getting.
Chaos chuckled. "You're not being tortured, Percy, you are being given another chance at life."
"Another chance at life?" Percy asked, stunned.
"You and all these boys here have been offered a chance to be revived as an immortal and in your case, a god." Chaos began, smiling warmly. "You will be joining the group only a few know about. That few being only Hades, Hestia, Apollo, and myself. It is called the Hunters of Apollo. I know—" he said before Leo could say anything "—not very original. Anyways, these boys are offered the same immortality as Artemis' hunters but you, my dear boy, are being offered godhood. Artemis once knew of this group but has since thought it no longer exists."
Silence.
"I'll do it." Percy said quietly. He only had to think about it for a few seconds, nothing tempted him in Elysium, he knew he would miss the thrill of adrenaline rushing through his veins and he knew he would get bored really fast in there, doing nothing. His mom and Paul would understand.
He hoped.
One by one each boy but Beckendorf accepted the offer. Somehow, Percy had a feeling that he would decline and his next sentence confirmed his suspicions. "Silena is probably already wondering where I am," he said.
Chaos nodded, he seemed to have expected something like this as well. He turned to Hades. "You need to release them before I can do anything," he told him.
Hades nodded, his face solemn. He sighed in resignation as a pile of papers appeared in front of him. At least twenty papers for each boy. Surprisingly, he went through them rather fast so they didn't need to wait that long. It was almost like he had done this before.
"Just so you know boys: no girls," Chaos informed them. "You have the same restrictions as the Hunters of Artemis, only you need to stay away from girls."
Most of the boys present nodded, as if expecting that. Leo however, looked sad. It took a second for Percy to realize why. Calypso, he thought.
Apparently Apollo saw the same thought running through Leo's head because he smiled sadly. "Leo, she cursed Percy to have this happen to him," he informed him, "She is the one that influenced everyone to turn on him, including Annabeth. However, they would not have done it if they had not thought about it somewhere in the subconsciousness of their minds. If they had truly never thought about doing that, they would have been immune to the curse. Like the Stoll brothers."
Instead of the heartbroken expression appearing on his face, Percy saw anger. "She did this?" The tone he used was more scary than if he had screamed. It was low, almost in a whisper.
All Apollo did was nod in confirmation.
"She is going to pay." Leo said. This time, it made Percy scoot over on the cot he was laying on.
Chaos seemed to be the only one not fazed by his words. He simply walked up to Percy, touching him on his forehead, causing him to glow a faint gold. "Percy, you are now Ariston, god of Loyalty, Demigods and the new god of the Hunt. Apollo is just a patron, in case you were wondering," he announced. "This is the old god of the hunt, he is fading at this time and fortunately you were available." He gestured to the unknown man who was standing in the back. "This is Bion, he's been waiting for you especially to take his place."
The man bowed and stepped forward. "Ariston, I now transfer my powers of the Hunt to thee, use them well," he said before placing his hand on Ariston's forehead.
A sudden surge of power flowed through his veins, going from his feet to his head and into his back and somehow kept going. Ariston turned his head, only to see a curtain of golden feathers. He reached back to touch it and was surprised when he felt the curtain actually move as he did. Now that he knew how to move them, he tried it. Extending them to full length, he saw them reach to about two or three feet longer than his arm span. It quickly got cramped in the small room.
"Wow," Ariston muttered, extending and contracting his wings to get a feel for them.
Eventually, Ariston gained enough courage to ask the question that has been on his mind since Connor and Travis told him about everyone's betrayal. "Who...who betrayed me?" Ariston asked in a quiet voice, so broken and weak. Before anyone could answer, he repeated it, this time louder and stronger. "Who betrayed me?"
Chaos sighed and muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like, "Knew I couldn't avoid the question for long."
Apollo was the one who answered. "It would be easier to list those who did not. Chiron, Hermes and his children, me and mine, Artemis, Hades and Hestia are the only ones."
"Anna-"
"No." it was Nico who had been silent up until now. "She was an idiotic Athena spawn to have let you go Percy, let her go as well."
Ariston sighed and nodded in quiet acceptance. He would mourn this later, not in front of his friends who all look up to him. Even Luke was looking to him for direction. "Call me Ariston now, please." He asked. "I need to move on somehow."
He got quiet, encouraging smiles in return and with a shaky breath, he nodded.
Things were looking up.