IV: Terms and Conditions

The elevator ride was less than epic.

Six-hundred floors in a metal box with a claustrophobic and hyperactive demigod and a song about piña coladas isn't exactly my idea of fun.

We didn't talk about my little crisis, nor about my brother or the war. We only discussed what we would say to the gods. Perhaps that made him gain my favor. Felt as if he was to be trusted. Maybe not as an ally, but… a friend?

When the elevator dinged, we headed to the throne room. Olympus was in massive renovations. Cyclops carried around glowing bricks and light posts as high as telephone towers and as broad as bridges, and giants held huge buckets of magic plaster or whatever, healing the damages that we had inflicted.

The stone steps before the thrones made my heart skip some beats, and the inside of it made my insides clutch on me. The thrones were no longer destroyed, and the crack my brother had fallen through had been repaired, but still it reeked of burnt stone and death and glew like dying embers.

Hades sat on the three-legged stool that had turned into a makeshift throne, and I assumed he tried to look regal and elegant, but he truly looked happy and excited. With a respectful smile, I lowered my head toward him. He smiled back, happy to be addressed.

At the center of the room, Percy kneeled to all the gods, and only rose when each and everyone of them allowed it. It used to be like that with the Titans, for the first time you met them. I did not bother with the courtesy, and in return I felt the divinely irritated glares stabbing into my skin. Except for Hades. He was happy.

The thrones were predisposed so that everyone would know who was the boss. Zeus' throne sat taller than anyone else, in the central position. His hands rested authoritarian on the arms of the seat, and his chin was lifted high. His clothing even looked lavish but commanding.

Although the other gods looked a bit pale in comparison, they were still about three times larger than the average person, making us raise our heads to talk to them.

"Hm... Yes. Let's start." Zeus cleared his throat. "Today, we will discuss the aftermaths of the Second Great Titanomachy. Percy Jackson, a hero who has aided the gods to defeat Kronos, has come to–"

Artemis sweetly interrupted. She didn't look the same as she did the last time I'd seen her… covered in chains, struggling under the weight of the sky. But not only that. She looked older here, wearing her silver robes elegantly, crossed leg and majestic poise. Her straight hair floated down to her waist, and she glanced at everyone carefully, as if she tiptoed.

"Father, don't you mean save the world with the help of the gods?"

"Um..." Zeus meditated "Whatever. As I was... Percy Jackson refused the offer of immortality, but insisted on having a few conditions to discuss (quite arrogantly). We will speak of them today, and the gods will hear your plea."

No one objected to the statements, that although quite subjective, were true in nature. Zeus nodded.

"He has brought with him a companion," he paused. I gulped, but I wasn't surprised. Perhaps he'd done so on purpose to hurt my pride, but I doubted it and he most likely simply didn't know my name. I completed his sentence with as much petty pride as I could muster, which was surprisingly a lot. If he wished to ashame me, I would strike back. My brother did not die for me to cower against the forces we fought.

"Kronos' protegè, Lieutenant General of the Titan Army, the daughter of Revenge of name Erica Nakamura."

The gods all frowned at my phrasing, some even gasped. Hermes lowered his gaze in something I reckoned as shame or guilt, and Ares chuckled amused. It was disrespectful of me to bring up my titles of the Army, when they'd just been defeated. The Army didn't exist anymore.

Sure, speaking like that might get me killed or cursed. But did I really give a fuck?

"You mock us?" thundered Zeus, lightning in his eyes. "We spare you, we save your insignificant life, excuse your treason, and yet you do not bow when you enter, yet you speak unasked of such blasphemy?"

I didn't need to think of what to say, because my acknowledgement of Hades paid off.

"Brother. The girl merely spoke what she has spoken for the past five years. And…" Hades replied. Even outside of his reign, the discomfort and fear his gloom provoked was impressive. He darkened the room with the following. "She bowed to me, Zeus. You say I am not a god? Not who keeps and puts order to your dead?"

I noticed the sweat that trickled down Zeus' forehead slowly. He was on edge, as was everyone else. Hades' glare kept him unable to retort anything smart or right.

"So... your proposal?" he murmured to us, mortals.

"We'd like you to never ignore your children anymore. All gods." I stated, as the creepy atmosphere dissipated onto the stone floor. Poseidon spoke up.

"Percy, what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos wouldn't have risen if there weren't a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents." Percy said, looking at me "Angry, unloved, and for a good reason."

"They should be claimed when they turn thirteen." I said "Brought to camp and trained so they can survive on their own."

"Wait a minute now-" Apollo said, but Percy continued for me. This flow was made so that the gods wouldn't have time to interrupt what we proposed.

"And the minor gods. Nemesis, Janus, Hecate, Morpheus, they all deserve general amnesty. Their children shouldn't be ignored."

"And Calypso, and other peaceful Titans should be freed and pardoned too."

"And Hades… Hades is as great of a god as all the rest of you, and his children should have right to a life." Percy spoke of Nico di Angelo, the demigod from camp that went rogue after his sister died.

"Is that all?" Zeus snorted.

"Son," Poseidon said "you ask much."

"You swore on Styx." he replied

Athena looked at me with - What's that? Pity? - and said to Zeus.

"The boy and Nakamura are right, father. Ignoring our children has proved a strategic disadvantage in this battle against Kronos."

"Fine." Zeus said, with a sneer. "We'll accept. Dismissed."

As they walked away, and Percy wiped his sweat, I ran after Hermes, who had now shrunk to the size of a normal slightly tall man.

"Wait!" I said. Hermes turned around, looking at me. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he'd been crying. A part of me gloated it. "They can't all be dead."

He looked at me bitterly, nodding. He seemed sorry enough. Nothing would change though, even after Luke's rebellion, he would keep being a bad father, neglectful, a bitch. I'd heard enough stories about this man who wept for the death of the teller. There was not much to say.

He was a god.

"Some were exiled, and others ran away."

"The Hecate children, what have you done about them?" there were a lot of children of Hecate in the rebels… Alabaster.

"They were all pardoned, except one, who was exiled, Luke's second. I don't know where."

That was Torrington. He would die. I turned away from him, walking back at Percy, who raised a brow at me.

Alabaster Torrington was one of my closest friends. He was honest, fair, and like all the rest, he deserved better than what he got.

The eldest demigod of Hecate had been the one in charge of the semi-mortal troops. Both Ethan and I had spent countless nights in his room, discussing the right tactic to employ, something that was both practical and ethical – Luke and the others in charge rarely cared about ethics, so someone had to.

He was different. He had his goals set straight. The war was one of his only preoccupations, but he was stubborn in caring about demigods. He'd rarely sacrifice our troops, rarely go for unnecessary kills. He was a good person.

Hermes called me.

"Mortal, I… Just… I mean…" he kept opening and closing his mouth, starting to say something and then regretting it, until he finally made up his mind. "Thank you for being with him. I did love him."

Those words made me feel somewhat bad for him. He knew he'd fucked up, and gotten his son killed. Actually, he fucked up hard enough to get his son kill his other sons. But what was there to do now? There could only be regret.

"He did it for Annabeth. Not because he suddenly saw the reason or whatsoever. He still knows that you won't change. He still knows this world isn't worth saving. He did it because he thought she was worth saving." I answered cruelly. Perhaps it would've comforted him more to lie to him, tell him that Luke had loved him and yearned for his approval. But that truth had lost its meaning long before Castellan stole the Master Bolt. "You failed him, Hermes. Your love wasn't enough. It wasn't barely enough, not even to keep a pet bird alive."

He seemed as if he wanted to apologize, but knew it would be of no use to sway my blame and his guilt. So he just nodded melancholically.

All gods went to do whatever gods did in their spare time, dating mortals, watching TV shows, killing some guy who "disrespected" them, and so on. Percy and I just got out of the palace when I felt someone grab my back. It was Ares. His long black hair fell to his shoulders and was wild like the mane of a lion, making his square jaw look sharper than it was in reality.

"You're gonna learn to have some respect, girl."

"Leave her alone, Ares." Percy reached for his pen heroically, which almost made me giggle. I hadn't realized how goofily funny he was before actually interacting with him.

Did he think he could take on Ares again? I mean, sure, the guy's a fucking retard, but there wasn't any water around us now, and if a battle came to sprout surely he'd come out of it dead. A great way for the gods to evade the promise they weren't gonna keep anyway.

"Percy, wait for me by the elevator." I ordered, smiling with ease. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

Percy left, always glancing back suspiciously. Ares had grabbed my wrist, and glared down at me viciously. I noticed Apollo leaning against a wall, snacking on something as he watched us expectantly.

"What do you want?" I rolled my eyes, chuckling at his insignificance. "Let go of my wrist, Ares."

I shook on my wrist until he couldn't be bothered to keep holding it, and then he said:

"You should apologize for your disrespect."

"Disrespect?" my laugh was crisp and dry, almost genuine. The ignorance of gods never ceased to surprise me.

"You know what's disrespect? Having me beg for the things I could have taken by force, Ares. Without my brother's righteousness, all the things I spoke of would be mine by right. Do you think I'm stupid, turning to the light in the last moment, finding the truth that benefits anyone but me?" I snarled, backing him onto a wall. He was surprised of what I was saying, and mad at himself for being surprised. I leaned close to him, and whispered to his ear. "Ethan told me Jackson' heel. I could've killed him. Without Percy Jackson, your fight would be worthless. Not Hades' dead nor all of your birds would've been able to stop Kronos. If my brother hadn't decided what he did, I would be laughing as Typhon crashed your empty skull as entertainment. I have fought too well to kneel before a man who thinks his power is invincible."

I feasted off the raw shock his eyes presented, and off the fury that took its place. I hadn't ever spoken to someone like that. His knuckles went white, and unsheathed the sword, leaning the blade against my neck. I had nothing to lose anymore, so why bother? He turned so that I'd be the one against the wall.

"Your hubris will be your death, mortal." his guttural voice growled, and in response I smiled. I grabbed the blade with my fingers, pushing it further against my neck.

"Do it, I dare you." I snarled, tempted to spit at his face to reinforce his fury. "Smudge these godly tiles with my filthy mortal blood, taint your honor with another worthless death, see what happens."

He seemed tempted to try out its consequences, but I knew he wouldn't. My provocative smile gloated over his wounded pride, just as someone else's hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. Apollo smiled brightly at me, and the warm iron slid off of my skin. He whispered something at Ares in Greek that I didn't understand, but the warlord stepped away almost instantly.

"Go now, you little vengeful raven, before my brother quarters you and feeds you to his horses." the sun god advised amicably, his plump lips muttering the words as if it were a melody beautiful enough for me to feel the urge to comply. "Your companion is waiting for you."

He bobbed his head in the direction of the elevator. Vengeful raven… A clever play with words. My brother and I were nicknamed the Raven Twins, for his speed and my beauty. I offered a smile to Apollo while I walked away.

"Fly away, Nakamura. I won't touch you today, but I will cage you eventually." Ares hissed, sword still in hand. I felt his eyes slicing my back as I walked toward Percy, sitting against the wall outside the elevator. "You're an exquisite bird of prey. It will be fun to toy with you when they let me."

I didn't answer him or look at him, but I heard the two gods mumbling in their mother tongue and laughing, until the elevator dinged and opened its gates. Percy went in after me, and only spoke when the doors closed.

"You shouldn't get on the wrong side of someone like him." he warned, speaking of Ares without mentioning his name. "He could kill you in an instant.".

"I'm already on the wrong side of every god, Percy. Grow up." I answered with an uncaring smirk. "Damned Asphodel, saying that to the bitch healed something in me."

He glanced at me, unsure whether he should laugh or run away, which amused me. I laughed at his face, and soon he started laughing with me. Having nothing was freeing.

"Do you just suck up to them all the time? Kudos for that, they're fucking annoying." I complained, sighing disapprovingly. The Olympian demigods should learn to have some self-respect.

"Didn't you do it with the Titans?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Erm, although I hated to admit it, he was right.

Not to the Titans, really. With them, there was mutual respect. We respected them for having made it for so long whilst oppressed, and for their power. They respected us for our will in changing shit although our suffering and power was nothing compared to theirs.

But Ethan and I sure took a lot of shit from Castellan. In public, he spent a good part of his time yelling at my brother(and pretty much everyone else) for being useless and a waste of space, and most of us just took it silently.

But when there wasn't an audience, Luke was kind to us, like we were the same rank. We'd talk and joke, like the kids we were.

"Just to Luke." I shrugged. "The Titans respected me."

"Maybe it was because you were Kronos' fling." laughed the 'Hero of Olympus', with a grin sarcastic enough to draw a laugh or two.

"Or maybe I was just good and useful and they appreciate skill." I retorted, jokingly raising my eyebrows, which made him snicker again. "You know, even when I was captured I returned with shitloads of information."

"Yeah, but you were captured. I don't remember anyone important getting captured after the Battle of the Labyrinth." he poked back, provocative and gloating.

"How many bones did I break in you during that fight?" I squinted my eyes, pretending to think.

"Clearly not enough, because I won anyway." he stuck his tongue out, like a toddler would do upon winning a competition.

The exchange of words glided the surface of things shallow enough without disturbing the monsters that hid under it. We spoke of it almost as if it'd all been child's play, almost as if all the words we said weren't mentions of pain and death and trauma. We both laughed, happy with the exact depth of where this would go.

"I was distracted, Perseus Jackson. We'll need a rematch one of these days." I treated him by the name his enemies did, and raised my eyebrows in challenge. He grinned and matched my stance.

"That we will, Lieutenant General Nakamura." he assured ominously. He lifted his shirt to show the long brownish line I had inflicted along his ribcage. I remembered his wounded wail when I'd done that… I had felt my sword dragging itself through his bones. "I will return the scars you have given to me."

"Fair enough, son of Poseidon. We will see about that."