Chapter 17

Zeus POV

I flashed into the throne room on Olympus 10 minutes early because Poseidon wanted to talk to me about something. My brother flashed in a second later and we started exchanging stories and made small talk but with the meeting was starting soon so I asked him to get to the point.

My brother took a deep breath "As you know me and Athena have been somewhat hostile to each other in council meetings over the past month."

"That's an understatement." I said.

"I think I have found a way to fix that." Poseidon said I thought it would be nice if they made peace so I motion for him to continue.

"Ok well I would like to ask your permission to marry her." I started laughing so hard I fell on the ground.

"That's a good one brother." I laughed picking myself off the ground and sliding back onto my throne. I looked at Poseidon to see he wasn't amused "You're serious?" .

He nodded and I was about to reject the idea completely but Poseidon spoke up "I'm not saying that it should be an arranged marriage, I would propose and everything and she would be able to reject the proposal if she wants it's completely her choice".

I still didn't like it but then an idea came to my mind 'Athena hates him' I thought 'she would probably beat the Hades out of him for even trying such a thing' a smile crossed my face in anticipation for what was about to come. I put a hand on his shoulder and said"You know what sure, I Zeus lord of the sky and king of the gods give you Poseidon god of the sea Permission to marry my daughter Athena if she so wishes.".

The others started flashing in so me and Poseidon went to our respective thrones. I thought about doing my usual theatrics but decided against it wanting to see Poseidon get beat up as soon as possible. I noticed Percy was here so I had to keep things discreet."This meeting is for any changes or objections anyone may have before we go down to camp." I said.

"I have one but I think it would be best if the boy waited outside." Hades said pointing to Percy.

Poseidon kindly asked if Percy would step outside for a moment to which he agreed without any fuss. Once the doors closed Hades cleared his throat and said "I plan on making my son Nico Prince of the underworld and heir to my throne. Therefore I request that he be made into a minor god because it wouldn't be fit if he was just an immortal."

I wasn't happy about it but it was important that the three of us have heirs should the need ever arise so I agreed along with most of the council. Poseidon was the next to speak up "Since Triton has given up his place as Prince of the sea and any ties to me I would like to request the same for my son Percy.".

I objected to this but Hestia convinced me to put it to a vote since this would affect the entire council and you know what I lost. Out of 14 Olympians 9 decided to let him become a god. The only ones that sided with me was Hera and Ares, Dionysus and Hephaestus didn't vote. "Is there anything else?" I said slightly annoyed

"Yes." Poseidon said.

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"I'm talking about the thing we discussed before the meeting and could we call Percy back in I want him to be here for this." I realized what he was talking about and smiled "Sure.".

Poseidon started to get up from his throne and i realized I had forgotten something. "Wait!" I shouted summoning a video camera and starting it. "Sorry just wanted to get this on tape."

Poseidon got up and walked over to Athena stopping a few feet from her throne and went down to one knee "Athena goddess of wisdom will you marry me." he said pulling out a ring made completely of gray diamond.

The council was silent except for Ares who summoned a bag of popcorn in preparation for the coming show. Athena got up from her throne and summoned her spear "Stand up!" she said in a firm voice 'here it comes' I thought as he stood up

"You want to know what my answer is?" she asked evenly and I zoomed in getting ready for the first blow. Poseidon nodded, Athena just a few inches from his face and said "My answer is...yes." she said kissing him before putting on the ring which glowed signifying they were now married.

If the camera didn't have a strap around my hand I would have dropped it I was in so much shock, I was about to ask why when Aphrodite exclaimed "That was your big surprise Athena?" and I began to feel white hot rage course through me mixed with a touch of betrayal.

"You planned this Athena?" I screamed "H-How?".

Athena looked at me "Well Poseidon and I have been dating for a while and he wanted to marry me but he knew he would need to get your blessing." she said.

"So you came up with a plan to trick me into saying yes." I said feeling utterly betrayed

"No I didn't." Athena said "I told Poseidon that he had to get it on his own. He was the one who came up with making it look like we hated each other more than ever so when he asked your permission you would give it thinking I would all but kill him." I felt less betrayed.

I looked at my brother who was grinning like a mad man "Nice one Pops" Percy said.

"Yes it turns out there's a brain in there with all that seaweed." Athena said

"Dang right." Poseidon said before registering exactly what Athena said. "Wait what?" he asked looking at Athena who started laughing along with half of the council.

I put on a sweet smile "Oh brother," I said getting Poseidon's attention "I will abide by what I said but I expect you to be faithful to my daughter and will kill any mortal children you sire from this point on." effectively ending the laughter "Now to camp half blood." I said "And Hermes get the other demigods that we need.".

Thalia POV (camp half blood)

After we got back to camp half blood I had to spend the next 20 minutes answering questions about me and Nico. After that we went down to the archery range, I noticed a crowd forming by the arena so I went to see what was going on along with several of the hunters. I saw Silver fighting something I couldn't see which turned out to be that jerk Jake from the Ares cabin who was wearing Annabeth's cap.

I was impressed that he was able to fight an invisible opponent so well, but I was way more impressed when he took him down in less than ten seconds while both of them had Ares' blessing. 'So he is a child of Ares.' I thought since it was well known that only a child of Ares could use it.

Piper POV

After the fight between Jake and Mike I went into town to pick up a special item from the store. My friend Luna from the Poseidon cabin asked if she could come with and I couldn't think of a good enough reason to tell her no without telling her the truth. We went to the store and Luna disappeared for a bit so I took the opportunity to pick 'it' up and was out the door where I found Luna waiting for me with a Mcdonalds bag.

"Sorry I slept in and missed breakfast and we missed lunch coming into town so I went to pick us up some food." she said holding the bag.

I took some fries and a veggie wrap as we walked "I'm surprised you remembered I'm a vegetarian." I said. "Do I really look like I pay so little attention." she said pouting.

I laughed and she immediately smiled. That was Luna for you she would over exaggerate all the time and usually could make just about anyone laugh especially her little sister.

Speaking of her sister I had noticed a while ago that except for the sea green eyes the two didn't really look a like. I mean when they were together you could tell they were sisters by a few simple shared looks but separately you would never guess they were related. Also despite Zoe being so shy to just about everyone she had a very big personality always laughing and running around like she had way too much sugar. The weird part was that with some people like me and Jason or the hunters of Artemis she would open up instantly, but with others she wouldn't talk to them at all or even look at them almost like she was scared.

Out of nowhere Luna slams into me making me fall to the ground and I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. I look down at it to see an arrow head sticking out, turning behind me I see Luna kill what I think was a dracena by cutting off one of its arms then its head I could have sworn I heard her say. "I thought I killed all of them.".

"You ok Piper?" she asked running over to me "Yes" I said trying to ignore the pain "but I can't use my arm".

Luna nodded"Hold still this is gonna hurt a lot when I pull it out.".

Luna snapped the arrow head off and pulled out the shaft then she used her water power to clean the wound and bandage it. "Sorry that's all I can do right now." she said helping me up before picking up my bag and the stuff that had fallen out which included my pregnancy test still in the box.

When Luna picked it up she looked at it for a sec then tossed it in the bag. I started to say something but Luna just held up a hand and said "What you do with your boyfriend is your business and I promise I wont tell anyone."

"Thank you." I said completely mortified.

When we got back to camp Jason got upset and said that I 'wasn't going anywhere without him'. Then we got called to the amphitheater where everyone was seated by Chiron. Percy arrived with the council and a moment later Hermes showed up with Nico, Reyna, Dakota, and Frank.

Zeus cleared his throat and an IM appeared to the right of above us. "We are here today for to honor the courage and bravery of 12 individuals who have gone above and beyond what any would have expected. Given the significance of this event we have decided to broadcast it to the Romans as well so that they may be apart of it. May I please have the seven from the prophecy step forward along with Reyna, Dakota, Nico, Thalia, and Clarisse."

We did as he asked and lined up in front of the theater while Zeus launched into a 20 minute speech about courage, bravery, and duty which I mostly tuned out. After ending his speech he turned to us "Now the 12 of you have done a great service for the gods so we would like to give you a gift please hold out your right arm." he said. We did and he chanted something in ancient Greek, my fore arm started to burn and glow.

As the light died down I looked at my arm and saw the words 'Vindicem IV' in faintly glowing pink letters "You have been marked as the one of the 12 Vindicem, the champions of the gods. With this blessing you will heal faster and your body will be harder to hurt. When the times comes you will be able to pass it on to a demigod who you feel is worthy, if for some reason you die before you can the gods will bestow it themselves."

"You may have noticed that your marks glow a certain color this represents your heritage." I looked around and sure enough everyone's varied in color. Thalia and Jason's was yellowish, Percy's was green, Hazel and Nico's was some how glowing black, etc.

"When you pass these on the glow will fade but the mark will remain in simple black letters so everyone will know who you are. The Roman numeral next to it is so future Vindicem will know who the predecessors were and the importance of the title they now bear. Also as the first Vindicem all 12 of you may chose to become immortal right here right now.". One by one we all answered except for Percy and Nico who were told to wait for now. Clarisse, Reyna, Dakota, and Annabeth declined while the rest of us accepted.

After that Zeus had us all sit down except for Percy and Nico. Poseidon and Hades walked in front of their own son "Percy" Poseidon said "I offer you the title of Prince of the sea and to become heir to my throne."

"And Nico" Hades said "I offer you the title of Prince of the underworld to become heir to my throne."

"Do the two of you accept?" Zeus asked.

Percy and Nico looked at each other "We accept." they said in unison.

The Olympians brought forth a single golden apple each of them and told them to eat it core and all which they. Moments after they had finished the last bite both were enveloped in a bright light. When the glow died down the two almost collapsed "What happened" Nico asked.

"Well you see only gods can be heirs to the thrones of the big 3. Since you accepted to become our heirs we made you gods." Poseidon laughed ruffling his sons hair and shocking every one else "Now hold on the Fates should be here in a moment to give you your domains and any other titles."

As if on cue the Fates appeared and walked up to Nico "We the Fates pronounce you Nico god of fallen heroes, shadows, and nobility. The ghost king, Prince of the underworld, and heir to the throne of Hades." they said before turning to Percy "We the Fates pronounce you Perseus god of heroes, swordsmanship, loyalty, tides, and the arctic sea. The bane of titans and giants, Prince of the sea and heir to the throne of Poseidon.".

When the Fates finished speaking they flashed out. Poseidon whispered something to Zeus who looked upset but nodded "Before we conclude this my brother Poseidon has announce meant he would like to make." He said before stepping back.

"As many of you may have heard" Poseidon began "I have recently divorced my wife and former queen of the sea Amphitrite.".

"Today I would like to announce my marriage and the new queen of the sea." I have to admit I was excited, this was big news Olympian relationships almost never change."I would like to introduce you to Athena goddess of wisdom, Queen of the sea, and my Wife.". Athena blush a moved to stand by Poseidon.

The amphitheater was silent at the news. No one could really comprehend that those to had gotten married. Zeus ended the ceremony and dismissed everyone. Everyone else left while me, the rest of the seven, Athena cabin and the Poseidon cabin stayed. Mike from the Ares cabin said something to Artemis and left. Poseidon and Athena were also still here and I realized they were waiting to see how their kids were going to take the news.

Percy was the first to move, he went up to them and said "Congratulations!" giving both of them a hug "I guess this means I'll be calling you mom now?" Percy said to Athena.

"I guess you will." she said smiling.

Slowly the Athena cabin made their way over and did the same until Annabeth decided to speak up 'man I'm really starting to hate that girl' I thought. Ever since Percy had refused to get back together with her she had been getting extremely bitter.

"Why are you two getting married?" she asked "I thought you hated each other."

Poseidon looked at Athena and said "We never hated each other Annabeth." he said.

"Yes we had some bad arguments over the years but we've moved past them."

"Ya right" Annabeth said "you probably forced my mother to marry you."

"He didn't." Athena snapped

"What?" Annabeth said in disbelief

"Poseidon didn't force me I chose to marry him of my own free will." Athena said flatly. We continued congratulating them but the mood had been killed by Annabeth's outburst so Poseidon and Athena said their goodbyes and left.

"Why did you do that Annabeth?" Percy scolded "You couldn't just accept that they were happy."

"Oh like you have room to talk you're a god now what happened to your girlfriend Diana!" she shouted back

"For your information as of yesterday we are no longer dating." he said. Annabeth turned to run but I could have sworn I saw her smile before bolted from the Amphitheater.