All the campers were gathered in the throne room, after being healed by Apollo. They were all tired from the war, but grateful to be alive. But they did not come out unscathed. Perseus' eyes had a haunted look to them, as did Annabeth. Jason was humbled by the experience, and less ready to take the spotlight. Piper was much more powerful than anyone ever thought she could be. Hazel learned to control her curse and could use to mist to an extent that was closing in on more powerful than Hecate. Frank had grown, mentally, physically and emotionally. Leo, who arrived during the burials, was quieter, but relatively unchanged except for the fact that he had a girlfriend. Nico was both more open and quieter and secluded, if that was possible. Reyna felt at ease; there wouldn't be fighting between the Greeks and Romans because of the Athena Parthenos.

Yet all of them grateful for what they went through, partly because they would know what to expect if it were to happen again, partly because it brought them all closer.

"All veterans shall be granted immortality, and Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase, Perseus Jackson, Nico Di Angelo and Reyna Avila Ramirez Allereno, you are to be rewarded for your roles in the Giant War! You shall be granted god-hood! This honor has not been bestowed upon anyone for millennia-" Zeus was cut off by Poseidon 'clearing' his throat. "Fine, the option has not been offered in a year." The demigods – the new ones at least, and the Romans - all wondered who was offered god-hood. The older campers though, chuckled to themselves. "What do you say?" All of afore the mentioned demigods accepted, their aura glowing, except for Perseus and Annabeth. They were talking quietly. When they broke apart, it was obvious they had made up their minds. Annabeth spoke first. "I accept partial immortality, but no thank you to the godhood." When she said that, the gods and older campers knew something was up. Perseus spoke next. "As I said a year ago Lord Zeus, I'm not interested in being a god. I would, however, accept immortality similar to that of the hunters, and two wishes." The younger campers – and the Romans - were stunned that someone had the audacity to say no to a gift from Zeus, one of them twice! They were shaken out of their musings when Zeus swore on the Styx to give Perseus his wishes. "I wish for Hades and Hestia to have a throne on the council, as I believe they would make good additions, and for there to be a way for the camps to connect, so we can reach each other quickly."

Perseus was granted his immortality and wishes and the demigods went back to camp. Over the next couple months, the gods started visiting their children regularly. It was a gift for all the campers who fought. A way to say thank-you.

""""""""""""""

Percy watched the scene before him as the small velvet box fell out of his hand. A loud Crack rang out, startling the lovers. It resonated across the bay, echoing off trees and rocks. On Olympus, Aphrodite fell off her throne as everyone heard the crack. While not loud, the sound carried well, and it rang out over the entire world. Mortals would wonder for years to come what the sound was.

The box made no sound as it hit the sand. His Wise-Girl was no longer his Wise-Girl. He allowed a few tears escape their prison before reigning in his emotions. He walked back to his cabin, ignoring to looks of hatred and disgust as he walked by. Filling his backpack with everything he needed, he thought about where to go. He couldn't stay with his mother, just by being around her, he was putting her in danger; he wouldn't risk hurting the twins, and he had no mortal friends. He decided his only option was to go on the run. He stopped by the armory to get a sword. After finding a usable one, he spoke these words. "I, Perseus Jackson, relinquish my ownership of the sword riptide to its original owner, Zoe Nightshade, Daughter of Atlas." He looked up at the evening sky, and though he couldn't see the whole constellation, he saw a simple, small triangle where the Huntress' hair would be; a hairclip. He wrote a quick note for anyone who still cared.

Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter,

I am sorry for whatever I did to you. I have no memory of what I was accused of, and I swear on the river Styx that I would never intentionally do anything of that manner.

Annabeth,

I lost everyone for reasons I do not know. I thought you would be something I could always count on to be there, but I see I was wrong. I am sorry I bothered you. Just thought you should know.

Percy set off to… somewhere. Maybe Alaska. He set up a campfire as dark approached and sat, staring into the flames, thinking about his life for the past three or four months. After half an hour, the flames shot up and a little girl with flame red hair and bright orange eyes stepped out of the fire. She tended it until the boy across from her spoke. "Lady Hestia." He said. She took that as her cue and went around the fire to sit next to the boy, aging to a woman in her mid-thirties as she did. "I saw the whole thing. I'm not going to say 'I'm sorry', I doubt it will help. But I'm here if you need me." She put her arm around him as he sobbed into her shoulder. They sat there a good half-hour, him crying, her whispering comforting words. When he finally stopped crying, she asked a question she had been contemplating ever since the end of the Titan War. "Percy, would you like to be my champion?" she asked. Percy stopped everything, even breathing as he digested what she said. Hestia started to regret asking as it would cause strife between the two if he said no. When Percy finally started breathing out of necessity, he finally realized what she asked. He smiled, and hug-tackled her. Caught off guard, she fell back. "Yes." Was all that Hestia heard.

As when he was made immortal, his aura grew, sea green with fiery orange and red spiraling out from his heart, covering his whole being before retreating into a swirl of fiery orange and sea green and finally disappearing altogether. When Hestia looked into Percy's eyes, she saw reds and oranges spiraling out into sea green before a ring of bright yellow marked the end of the iris and the start of the white. She gasped and Percy asked her why. She summoned a hand mirror. "Wow." Hestia held out a few knives and daggers. "For protection." She said. Once he had those situated, she pulled out a fiery cylinder. She took off the cap and it grew into an all too familiar weapon. "His scythe." Percy breathed. Hestia nodded. "After you knocked it into the hearth, I kept it, not planning on ever letting it out of my sight. But when you turned down godhood for the good of the camp, I knew if I ever did give it to someone, it would be you. Since then, your action have only convinced me I was right. Prove me right. Prove that you are capable of wielding such a weapon. Make me proud." He prepared for his journey. He felt the winds pick up, and rain fell down in torrents, the fire Hestia created was put out.

"""""""""""

On Olympus, Aphrodite clutched her heart in pain, curled into a fetal position, tears streaming down her face. Seconds later, a large crack was heard. She coughed ichor, and slowly grew more and more transparent. As she was about to fade out completely, she quickly grew solid again. The gods all breathed a sigh of relief, but they all knew exactly what had happened. Aphrodite had almost faded because of love. "A love, delicate but stronger than time just broke. A love, while I may have messed around a little bit, was a true love, a love that needed no goddess to form. A love stronger than me, than any of us or all of us, a love stronger than all of us, the titans and possibly Gaea, Nyx, Erebus and Tartarus combined. Had the heart not been healed, however faintly, I would've faded." She spoke out, all the gods paling at her words. They quickly flashed down to Camp-Half Blood. Once there, they found a scene that made some want to throw up. Annabeth sucking on some unclaimed kids face. Aphrodite looked over to the side and saw a small box, half buried in the sand. It was a light blue-grey color. She opened it and gasped. Athena, wanting to know what happened, walked over. What she saw could not be described in words. The band shone a beautiful silver. The diamonds and emeralds spiraled out of a center of alexandrite, the intersecting colors of green, purple and silver seeming to dance in the waning light of the sunset. In the box, across from the ring, it said, I will always be your seaweed brain, will you be my wise girl? On the inside of the ring, it said Always and Forever; a promise.

A few tears dripped down Athena's face as she saw what Percy had done for her daughter. She couldn't believe how stupid her daughter had been, it probably cost Percy everything he had. She took the ring from Aphrodite and walked over to the rest of the gods, who had yet to break out of their trances. Aphrodite just stood there, probably not even realizing she wasn't holding the ring. As Athena closed in on them, she realized that nobody could have been better for her daughter than Percy, and now Annabeth had ruined it.

"Poseidon" she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "Look what Aphrodite found." She said, as she placed the ring in his hands. He looked at the ring, and finally he broke out of the trance. Tears slipped down his face as he realized what had happened. Percy was going to propose and saw her cheating on him. He started to get angry. The sky darkened, the waves grew in size. Wind whipped around, strong enough to knock the campers off their feet. Poseidon closed his eyes and took deep breaths. The storm died down enough for the campers to get to safety, but didn't go away. The couple, if they could be called that, were getting swamped by seawater. The waves pounded them, and they cried out. They backed away from the surf, the unclaimed kid trying to make a joke. "Poseidon must be angry." He said, a weak smile on his face. "OF COURSE I'M ANGRY!" Came a voice similar to Percy's.

Poseidon stomped out of his hiding place and confronted the two. Athena watched as her daughter was chewed out by her rival. She could make out only a few words, like he, cheat, ring? Broke, no, alexa…, and a few others. At one point Hades appeared, pointing out certain things, like how because of the rare gems it was extremely expensive. She must've heard wrong. There was no way he spent close to sixty thousand dollars on one ring. Hearing that made her feel faint. The storm died down and she could hear the argument. "He kept leaving! He would spend all day out in the city, he never had time for me!" She heard her daughter shout. Poseidon screamed right back "He was working so he could afford this." He thrust the ring in her face. Her breath hitched as she gazed at the beautiful ring. "As I said before, that ring happened to be fifty-nine thousand, seven hundred dollars." Hades said. "The center is alexandrite, the rarest gem on earth. It, alone, cost him twenty-five thousand, the diamonds and emeralds were another five thousand five hundred each. The workmanship on each gem and the way their placed would've cost another four thousand. He must've worked for years to be able to afford it." Annabeth was shocked, but her hubris wouldn't let her accept defeat. "He was seeing a girl! He cheated." Athena decided it was time to speak up. "Annabeth. I, too, was suspicious, so I watched him. Months went by and the only thing he did was work. He would put money in a bank account at the end of each month. Two days ago, I watched as he pulled all the money out and went into a jewelry store, but not once in that whole time did he look at another girl." Randomly, she asked, "Are all fourteen of you in there?" The rest of gods walked out, some supporting Aphrodite as she was still shaky. Annabeth noticed how all but Hestia was present. "Were you spying on me?" she asked defensively. Aphrodite snapped. "We were checking out whatever it was that nearly faded me. This is where we appeared. I found the most beautiful box with the most beautiful ring that only represents heartbreak, when it was supposed to represent love and hope. You ruined that love and hope, and nearly faded me in the process!" She screamed at the blond. Annabeth's face was horrified. "Good-bye." Aphrodite turned around and stormed off, probably to find Chiron. The other gods gave Annabeth pitying looks, while Poseidon's glare was so hate filled that she flinched. They all flashed out soon after.

Hello! My computer broke, so I am editing my chapter until I can get it fixed. Chapter 9 is on the way though!

-Lizzy