DA : Chapter 29: Brothers in Arms IV

( Present Time )

"And that's how we got here," Andromeda finished while glancing around the large table.

They all sat together in the dining room table, having discussed everything that's happened in the last several years (decades in case of Percy and his sister) to their newest guests.

Nyx and Tartarus (his arrival caused near heart attacks for several) sat at the head of the table. Percy, Rhea, and Andromeda sat to their right side in that order with Medusa, Lamia, Nico, and Jason sat on the opposite side.

Eros, Phanes, and Mnemosyne, a rather short woman with dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes, sat near the other end.

It took a while to settle down the demigods and monster women to the point they wouldn't shoot dirty glares at each other.

Percy sighed in slight annoyance as he looked at his sister, wondering why she would take such a risk but in the end it might have tuned out to their advantage. Now Jason knew the full truth since Nico had apparently known but chose to remain silent rather than risk the danger of the gods trying to silence him.

Jason had been shocked to the core when they told him and tried to deny it several times but after Percy, Nyx, and Andromeda taking oaths of honesty, he was forced to believe them.

Percy was feeling for him though, especially when he heard about what happened with Piper and he couldn't help but compare it to what happened with Hercules. It seemed that even the sons of Zeus weren't safe from the scheming and manipulations of the gods.

Now he had to ask the question that was on his and Nyx's mind, but would Jason, the ever loyal roman, do it?

"Jason … Nico," Percy started, getting their attention.

"You have a choice to make now. You can either side with Olympus and we'll wipe your memories before sending you back, you can stay neutral and even seek shelter from us when the time comes … or you can fight with us. Choice is yours."

They remained silent for some time, the air tense, before Jason slowly looked at Percy dead in the eyes and ask, "So you really did all that? Disowning your father, running away with next to nothing and all before coming down here, without even knowing if you weren't being used?"

Percy looked back at him intently, seeing the unrest within his brother in arms, before speaking, "Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. I might not have had anything to guarantee there weren't ulterior motives, which there were in a way, but at the end of the day, I followed my instincts and what my heart said was right.

My true family was murdered or taken from me by those I fought for and I can't let that fate be repeated to countless more demigods and mortals alike. Someone needed to take a stand … so I did."

Jason scrunched his eyebrows in thought while Nico looked down at his own hands, the atmosphere getting oppressively quiet as several sets of eyes watched them intently.

After what felt like an eternity Jason shot up in his chair, making several started and Medusa reached for her shades by reflex, however what Jason did next shocked them.

"I, Jason Grace, renounce all blood ties Zeus, King of the Gods," he intoned and with it a loud thunder crack sealed the oath as he suddenly slumped, looking incredibly tired as he sat back down.

Everyone watched silently as the former son of Zeus took a moment to catch his breath before looking directly into Percy's eyes.

"I fight for family and the Olympians are no family of mine," he said with his now pale blue eyes.

Percy cracked him a grin while nodding gratefully before he looked to Nico. The son of Hades looked back at him before speaking evenly, "You're against Olympus, not the demigods, right?"

"Yeah," Percy answered while glancing at Nyx. "We may want some allies but we won't force any demigod to pick a side. If they remain neutral, great. If they try to join, we'll allow it under some conditions.

And if they oppose us on the battlefield, then they've made their choice and we will face them as any other opponents."

Nico looked at him critically as he said that, judging him and his cause. Then, with a faint smile, he nodded.

"Then I'm in too but …" he said while looking around the table. "… Let's try to get some of our friends here too. My father and Lady Hestia aren't like the rest of the Olympians and deserve a chance to join or remain neutral in all this."

"Already in the works," Nyx said in her smooth but commanding voice.

"But with your help, convincing your father will be far easier. As for Hestia, we'll have to wait until Percy and Andromeda are closer to being full Primordial beings but that shouldn't take long."

"Can we also try to bring others like Thalia, Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Calypso?" Jason asked.

"I can try and sneak into the Hunt to visit Thalia. She deserves to know the full truth now," Nico added. "… and Will, got to tell him too."

"This will help," Tartarus said in his deep voice as Jason and Nico glowed a dark light for a second. At their questioning looks Tartarus explained. "Just a minor blessing.

The poisonous air of the Pit won't harm you and you're free to use any means of travel in and out of the Pit."

"How does that work with lightning teleportation?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tartarus just shrugged but Percy could tell he was amused by the idea of it.

"I can help Jason reach Frank and Hazel undetected," Andromeda offered, making Percy raise an eyebrow at her … but she didn't catch his look.

"Okay then, there is another I want to try and visit to see if they'll come along," Percy said as he got up. "Now let's move on to removing some curses."

Medusa and Lamia perked up at that, both eagerly standing along with just about everyone at the table.

"Huh, well look at that," Nico muttered while eyeing Percy, "the commander's up and everyone follows. Jeez Percy, ever not in the spot light?" he jabbed making Percy grin.

"Hey, when you got it, you got it," he replied with a lazy shrug before wrapping an arm around Rhea's waist.

"I can't wait to see the Olympians' faces when they find out Lady Rhea is dating the Hero of Olympus," Medusa snickered while Lamia giggled beside her.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Rhea said easily before giving Percy a kiss on the cheek.

"Well," Jason coughed awkwardly as he glanced at the couple. "As much fun as it is seeing the lovebirds flirt, I do believe we have some things to do now, yes?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed, realizing that the couple stuff was probably a sour point for Jason at the moment. "So let's head out to—"

He never got to finish as two bright flashes illuminated the room, making just about everyone have to cover their eyes for a moment, even Medusa with her shades. Once the light died down they looked to see two new guests standing before them.

One was a tall man dressed in a pure white suite and equally white hair cut short, with fair skin and light build. His face was clean shaved, with high cheek bones and intense, sky blue eyes with glowing white pupils.

Next to him stood a woman with platinum blonde hair radiating warmth with glowing white eyes, irises and all, dressed in a sky blue pencil skirt, tight, white buttoned shirt with a button or two undone, thigh-high white socks leading to high heels.

Together they pulled a very 'hot CEO and his secretary' look as their skin literally glowed softly.

It took Percy a moment to recognize the deities but when he did, he couldn't help but be curious as to why they suddenly decided to come.

They were usually in the Palace of the Sky with Ouranus rather than grace the House of Night with their presence. However, it was Nyx who broke the silence as she greeted the arrivals with hugs.

"Hemera … Aether, how are you?"

"Hello mother," Aether started as he returned a brief hug which Hemera followed suite.

"We've come because we thought it was time," Hemera said next while standing beside Aether's side.

"And that would be?" Andromeda asked curiously as she looked at the two protogenoi.

Both turned their heads to look at Jason before answering together, "To find our heir …"

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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.

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