I'm back! Holy hello to everyone! It's been a year and some change but I finally managed to pull my head out my backside and get back to this awesome story. I know, pretty shitty of me to pull a disappearing act like that but hey, better late than never.

Now, I feel the drive so chapters should start flowing here but give me a bit to really get in the groove of things.

Thank you to everyone that's waited patiently, a somewhat modest sized chapter to start.

Enjoy!

The king of the night sat atop the Primera Gate, watching as the sun continued its descent past the horizon, the dusk slowly becoming night as he felt his senses expanding. The echoes of footfalls, whispers, and movement reaching his physical ears just as whispers of prayers were added to those already just in the back of his mind. They'd only increased as more of the masses began to believe once more in the divine, especially those who pictured his form in their minds, whether in awe or fear.

However, shaking his head of those concerns, his gaze was then attracted up and towards the dark moon.

To most it was practically invisible, a barren rock formed into a sphere of all-consuming darkness in the sky, but not to him. He could see it clearly and though he had not claimed it or attached the celestial body to himself, his power kept it locked in place ever since he defeated Artemis.

And it was because of his grip on it that he felt a foreign pull on it.

It was comparatively small thing, a tiny tendril of power trying to breach past his own and connect to the 'core' of the moon, the lingering traces of power, connections, and Domain left to the floating satellite. Every attempt was unsuccessful so far but with every attempt, his temper grew as he became surer of who and what it was.

Selene had apparently made her choice and allegiance.

Ever since Jason made first contact with the her, the titaness had moved east, in the general direction of the Black Sea going by what his wolves tracked, before she had all but disappeared from their collective senses. At the time they were too preoccupied to think much on it and simply assumed that she'd joined Helios wherever he was hiding. Later finding the teleportation marble given to her tossed in a ditch in Turkey had only cemented their thoughts to forget about the titaness for the time being.

Now the titaness had been brought to his attention again and whenever he tried tracing the power it kept leading him to bodies of water before he lost track of it. That meant either Pontus or Thalassa were personally shielding the titaness. A slight growl rumbled from his chest as he tried again but failed and the attempt to connect to the moon stopped yet again.

However, before he could get too agitated, he felt a shift in the shadows beside him. He glanced to his side just as Hestia stepped out of them, her crimson gaze finding his.

"It's time then," he stated more than asked before sighing as he turned to her, his thoughts on Selene and what to do about her placed aside for now.

"Yes," Hestia answered simply as she took his hand in hers.

Without another word both were swallowed in darkness for all of 3 seconds before emerging again, this time in a—sadly—familiar hospital room. The beeps of the heart monitor and dull hum of the oxygen mask filled the silence as both looked upon the dying godling.

He could feel Hestia's grip tightening on his hand as the sight brought a stinging pain to his chest.

Cloelia looked almost emaciated, her skin was flaky and dry as it clung to her body, her hair having lost any color. The skin on the right shoulder of her body wasn't spared, the skin looking like it was made of spent coal as the light-blue veins trailed along the arm. Both primordial could only look on for nearly a minute before a clearing throat drew their attention.

They glanced back to see Will coming in through the door, his face sober as he stepped around them and approached the child. Without a word he moved, expertly removing all the connections and IVs attached to Cloelia even as Percy noted the tight expression and the faintest simmer of the god's power kept restrained. Will prided himself on his medical knowhow and dedication to care for his patients, immortal or not. To be unable to help the godling leaving his care stung him like nothing else but he knew this was the only shot, and so when done, he stepped aside.

Taking a steading breath Percy gently pulled his hand from Hestia's grip before getting closer to the child and leaning down to pick her up. As his hand got to her side, they became shadow, seamlessly slipping under her form without disturbing her in the slightest. Once his arms were in place they started to return to physical form as he gently lifted her.

'She's so light. It's like she isn't even there,' he thought as he picked her up in a princess carry. With the precious cargo secure he stepped back as Hestia came to his side and placed her hand on his shoulder before he looked to Will. The divine doctor looked back, his gaze somber as he glanced between him and the child in his arms before giving Percy a steady nod.

Returning the gesture, Percy closed his eyes as the shadows came to envelop him, Cloelia, and Hestia. The shadow-travel was a little longer than usual as Percy made sure to make it as smooth as possible before they again appeared, this time in the halls of the Primordial temple. It was quiet save for the flames of the torches illuminating them as the pair walked in the direction of the Primordial Offices.

As they entered the hall of said offices, both paused for a moment as one of the doors opened. The one opening was made of an unknown wood marked by the ashen color, an ethereal green web of sorts being the symbol on it as Phoebe stepped out. The primordial looked a little out of it as she stepped into the torch-light, hand massaging at her temple.

"Phoebe," Hestia greeted as the pair made to pass her and head for Hestia's office.

"Hestia, Perseus," Phoebe returned as she noticed the royal pair before her gaze fell onto Cloelia.

The primordial seemed to pause for a moment before flinching as her eyes briefly flashed green.

"Please excuse me," the primordial said as she walked past them before Percy could ask if she was alright.

Both looked back to watch as she walked off and turned down a different hall before sharing a glance and decided on checking on that later but for now, they needed to focus on the task at hand. They swiftly made their way to Hestia's office door, the redwood opening silently to them as they stepped in as a warm breeze passed over them.

Percy took a deep breath as the door closed behind them, the warmth of Hestia's surrounding presence soothing him. Then the pair continued to walk, taking the few steps down from the entryway and into the fields of tall grass and rolling hills with one sole mountain far beyond that made up her office. In front of them was a large temple modeled after the times of Ancient Greece, with tall marble pillars but no actual walls.

They walked into the temple and approached a large hearth with a marble basin and burning with bright flames of gold. And before the hearth was Athena who turned to face them. Percy's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the changed goddess.

Her rosy skin was radiant with life, her tell-tale blonde hair had gone to a bright, strawberry blonde that fell in soft waves past her shoulders, her once grey eyes now a simmering amber with narrowed pupils holding familiar flames within them. Dressed in a simple, cream gown and a golden rope tied around her slim waist, the goddess looked back at Percy for only a moment before her eyes lowered to the godling in his arms.

He watched the way her shoulders tensed and her gaze narrowed, the flames within her eyes churning as Hestia stepped past him and approached Athena. Placing her hand on Athena's shoulder, she got the goddess' attention.

"We're going to help her, just you wait," came Hestia's soft voice before the primordial turned to face the large hearth.

With a wave of her hand a marble slab appeared before her, floating effortlessly as the primordial stepped aside and looked at them both.

Percy shared a glance with Athena before both stepped up to the slab of marble and got on each side. Percy then started to gently set Cloelia down, his arms dissipating into pure shadow as he slipped them out from under her. With the godling in place both Percy and Athena looked to Hestia as she asked, "Are you two ready?"

Again, Percy glanced at Athena, seeing the way her eyes held a renewed strength and determination as she met his gaze.

"I am."

"Me too," he replied as his left hand reached for Cloelia's right, gently picking up the ashen limb and turning it palm up.

Athena mirrored the action, her right reaching for Cloelia's left. Then as one, both used the forefinger of their free hand, the nail turning into a claw with Percy's being an obsidian black with blue tip while Athena's was a bright red, to slice open Cloelia's palms. The godling remained unresponsive as the rusty, sludge-like ichor oozed out. Withholding a grimace at the sight Percy then used the same claw to slice open his own palm and let his platinum ichor pool into it.

A glance to Athena showed that the goddess was doing the same, her still golden ichor also showing flakes of the platinum color within it. Once both had enough blood collected, they looked at each other, and as one joined their bloody palms to Cloelia's as they spoke in turn.

"I, Perseus Theseus Jackson, herby adopt the goddess, Cloelia Marion Chase, as my own blood…"

"I, Pallas Athena, herby adopt the goddess, Cloelia Marion Chase, as my own blood…"

An aura started to form around their joined hands, a miasma of darkness flowing from his arm up Cloelia's while with Athena, it was a flame-like shroud of ambers and gold.

"As a father, to protect and guide…"

"As a mother, to nurture and support…"

The two auras grew, each enveloping a half of the godling without mixing at the middle with her head being the last part exposed.

"Embraced by the Cold and empowered with the Night…"

"Forged by the Fire and strengthened in Unity…"

By now the two halves had begun to merge as they covered Cloelia's head, a mix of cold darkness and warm golds swirling over her form as Percy felt a twitch from the hand within his grip. Percy took a breath to steady himself as power churned within both himself and Athena, their voices deepening and eyes glowing as the command was carried through.

"Be reborn, embrace your life anew, as our daughter!"

As the last word was finished, he felt a pulse come from Cloelia's nearly spent core, a return and calling before the mixed power shrouding her connected to it. Suddenly the almost lifeless hand within his grip squeezed back as a scream of agony ripped itself out of the child's throat. His own jaw tightened, eyes hardening as he felt the power not only merging with her but changing her.

The shroud of power started to swirl, as if pulled by a soundless drain, and slowly dissolve into Cloelia's trembling body. As more merged the godling started to become visible, the sight causing Athena to gasp and him to ground his teeth but there was nothing for it. They watched, unable to stop the suffering, as the very foundation of Cloelia's core and existence itself was forced to complete a change started when she absorbed his power from Riptide.

They watched as the glowing white-hot veins became visible on her steaming skin, her hair thickening and darkening as she arched her back and opened her mouth in a silent scream. Pulses of raw and volatile power came from her in waves as a wind was kicked up around them but none of the deities bugged. A nearly silent sob drew his attention for a moment to see Athena tearing up as she looked at her soon-to-be daughter, her lips moving in silent prayer for Lady Chaos to grant mercy.

'Come on, please bear with it.' His hold of her hand tightened as he guided his power within her, smoothing the merge where he could to the traces of his essence already making up part of her being. Minute by minute passed in a crawl as they waited, the silent godling having screamed herself hoarse as tears spilled from her shut eyes. And in a way they suffered in turn, watching as her trembling finally started to lesson as the changes completed before, with a final pulse of power, it finished. The area around them was steaming as the whimpering godling went nearly limp before Percy and Athena released Cloelia's hands and the dark god gently picked up the child as the slab of marble disappeared.

"Cloelia?" Athena asked softly, her breathing a little heavy from channeling such power so soon after her own changes as she drew closer and looked at the godling's face while Percy studied her in full.

Her body looked and felt like it had recovered a good amount of weight to it, with her skin looking just a little pale but overall healthy. Her breathing was light but even and a quick check of his new link to her told him she was stable, her core no longer fractured and steadily filling as it drew from both himself and Athena. However, his gaze fell to her right arm cradled against his chest, noting how the appendage was very pale, almost marble white in contrast to the rest of her rosier tone like Athena.

A soft murmur drew his eyes to her face as the godling stirred in his arms, her head moving as her eyes slowly opened. Hestia drew closer to look as well, their eyes widened as they took in his new daughter's eyes. Her right eye looked almost like his in his wolf form or when he suppressed his power, taking on an icy-blue shade that almost seemed to swirl within her iris. Her left however was a mirror to Athena's new eyes, glowing with the bright amber color.

The godling blinked slowly as she looked at Athena's face as her lips moved into a soft smile before her head turned forward to look at him. Her smile widened a little as a sense of warm came from her, a soft smile on his own face as Athena raised her hand and gently ran it through Cloelia's new, raven-black hair and one streak of strawberry-blonde hair in her bangs.

He met her gaze for a few seconds before her eyes slid closed, her breathing getting softer as she started to curl up in his arms. "Sleep well," he murmured before Athena sent him a look as he adjusted Cloelia into a more comfortable position.

The three deities shared glances before they moved out of the temple and across the field to a small cottage with a smoking chimney that hadn't been there before, a large tree casting some shade over the homely structure. This would be Athena and Cloelia's temporary home for a few days as both continued to adjust to their changes.

"Everything you need should be there," Hestia said as she opened the door for Percy to walk in first and allowing him to glance around.

It was a simply designed and furnished as it looked outside, with a large bed covered in thick red blankets to the back of the large single room, a small kitchen to the right side, and a crackling stone hearth to the left. Nodding to himself he moved to the bed, carefully setting his daughter down while Hestia and Athena walked in.

A snap of his fingers had the godling covered in a shroud of darkness for a few seconds before it dissipated to reveal her in baby blue pajamas. Once that was done, he carefully tucked her into the blankets and carefully used his thumb to wipe away some of the last of the tears as Athena and Hestia got closer before he got up and simply looked at his daughter.

It was like Raven all over again.

He didn't care who she had been or what the circumstances of her birth and heritage had been before today. Just seeing her filled him with the sense of protectiveness. She was his daughter now, nothing would change that.

He was aware of Athena standing beside him, both remaining silent as he let his thoughts drift for the moment.

"Thank you, Percy," Athena said softly, drawing his attention as she looked to him, a watery smile on her face.

"You're welcome," he returned, giving her a small smile in return. "And if you need anything, let me know," he added firmly, waiting until the goddess nodded in understanding before turning away.

The dark god then took Hestia's hand and the pair walked out, leaving the mother and daughter to rest. In a few moments they stepped out of Hestia's office, leaving behind the ever-warm fields and back into the marble halls of their temple. He paused then, his gaze moving to his wife and watching her intently.

Her own gaze was lowered to the ground as she nibbled on her own lower lip in thought. Knowing her tells all too well, he raised his hand to her chin and raising her head as she looked at him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

She didn't respond for a moment, simply looking into his eyes before the slightest smile formed as she answered, "Better than I thought I would be."

She didn't add more than that and Percy wasn't about to push it, knowing that Hestia still had some ways to go before fully accepting Cloelia's addition to the family. Still, the bond she'd formed with the godling through Athena was a start and he was proud of her for doing it.

He showed her as much as she leaned forward and softly kissed her on her forehead, getting a warmer smile from the goddess. The pair then moved on and headed for the throne room, their steps echoing as they grew into their natural size, the eyes of the Andy and Rhea being the only one's present.

"How did it go?" Rhea asked the moment they each sat in their thrones.

"As well as it could of, maybe even better, but we'll have to wait for the changes to settle and see," Percy answered after a moment as the feedback from his domains and prayers settled, a slight smile forming on his face as he sent a mental memory of Cloelia's new appearance along with his small exchange with Hestia just moments ago to both Rhea and Andromeda.

Both goddesses blinked as they digested the information, their features slacking for a bit before brightening into their own smiles at the end. Andy took it a step further as she left her throne and moved over to Hestia, sitting on the elder goddess' lap much to Hestia's surprise, wrapped her arms around Hestia's neck, and kissed her snuggly.

After a few moments Andy pulled back and beamed at Hestia as she said, "I'm proud of you."

Hestia smiled back even as she blushed slightly as Percy and Rhea nodded in agreement. However, the happy atmosphere was sadly pushed aside as Percy focused on Andy.

"How are Athena's kids?" he asked, watching as Andy's face fell.

"Not good," she answered. "The news about Annabeth passing hit them hard and now that they haven't seen their mother in a while, they're getting anxious and its starting to spread to the other demigods. It took sleeping spells to get some of them down."

Percy frowned as he heard that, his foot tapping as he thought about what to do. The simplest thing would be to let Athena out of Hestia's mindscape and let her visit her kids, but that wasn't safe at the moment. Athena still couldn't completely reign in her own new power and needed Hestia to suppress it, the very same reason that Cloelia would be staying in the mindscape for now as well.

'I could go and tell them myself what's going on. They deserve that at least and it might calm them down knowing their mother is okay,' he pondered as he scratched his chin before the sound of Andy clearing her throat drew his attention.

"Its worse for the demigods in the Olympian Army and New Rome, especially those that looked up to her. Now that her ties to 'The West' are broken, her throne fell apart and the news already reached the army," she said, her fingers tapping on her armrest. "It's getting bad Percy and I'm not just talking about the demigods. The gods within the army are getting more nervous and angrier. We can't leave them as they are for much longer or something will set them off to fight each other and the demigods will be pulled into it."

"It'll be a bloodbath," Hestia added, her eyes flashing as she looked over the Olympian Army herself.

Percy could only sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'And it just keeps going,' he thought as he glanced out through one of the many windows lining the upper walls of the throne room. Seeing the captured moon only brought up thoughts on Selene and the other group he needed to monitor.

"Percy?" Rhea asked, getting his attention as all three of his wives looked at him.

"She attempted it again," he said, having already informed them of Selene's previous actions.

The only got a scowl and even a growl from Rhea as the other two frowned.

"We'll handle the bitch and her brother soon enough," his queen said to his agreeing nod.

Tapping his foot for a moment, he then stood up as the three looked to him.

"Well, for now it's too late to do anything but at least for tomorrow I'll tell Athena's kids myself what's going on."

"What about the demigods in the army or New Rome?" Andy asked as she got up from Hestia's lap with the other two following suite and standing as well.

"As far as New Rome is concerned, we should leave it be for now. In a roundabout way, the group of minor gods deserting that camp actually made it a little safer for the demigods there … sort of," he answered, pausing for a moment before adding, "Still, we should keep an eye open to see if any of the gods remaining are actually part of the sea forces too and just haven't made a move," he said while giving Rhea a pointed look.

She nodded in understanding as his gaze then returned to the hearth, his brow scrunching up in thought.

"The Olympian army is a different beast altogether. Almost a third of them are one more scare away from turning and routing but the rest are foaming at the mouth for blood and if pushed further, they won't care where that blood comes from," he said, grimacing at the thought of demigods turning on each other like that.

"And if we attacked now, it would all but guarantee them unleashing their divine forms right in the middle of the army," Hestia added, a scowl forming on her face as she looked into the flames of the hearth. "Even if every demigod managed to close their eyes in time and kept them closed, that much power and pressure would crush them."

"And if they survive that by some miracle, they'll still practically get cooked alive," Andromeda added, her nose scrunching up in distaste.

Percy almost mirrored her, knowing full well that it would happen if they attacked the Olympians and other gods while in the middle of the army. Normally gods were rather skittish about assuming their full divine forms for a variety of reasons, mainly because of the severity of the act. To even need to be pushed to that form, especially when fighting an opponent deemed 'unworthy' of it would cut into the ego many deities held onto, something they'd exploited in their first attack when they took Athena.

But more importantly, it was the sense of finality a battle in divine forms carried.

Being struck down in divine form meant true death for divine beings and even gods feared that. And, unlike what many would assume, going between godly and divine form wasn't like flipping a switch at will. The act of gathering all of one's essence and power into a single point to then push to an explosive transformation on themselves put even divine bodies and the world around them under tremendous stress and stepping down from that form was just as exhausting.

And when you considered domains into that equation, divine battles and their possible consequences went from dangerous to grave.

Even if multiple gods existed with a connection to a domain, the true death of one of those could throw the balance into disarray for the others. Sometimes a domain had aspects to it, variations and influences that made itself a distinction between seemingly similar gods. And then there was active versus passive gods within domains with several cases; Artemis and Selene, Apollo and Helios, Ares and Bellona, and many more.

While the Olympians were/are the active gods and majority controllers/influencers of their domains, they gained the lion's share of power and had the most severe effects upon death. Unless a deity sharing the domain was prepared to handle the fallout in the change of balance or powerful enough to counter the effects on their own, the striking down of certain gods in divine form would bring nothing but the devastation of wild domains.

There was a reason he took years to hunt down several of the more dangerous titans in Tartarus, and then picked of specific gods such as Ares before officially declaring war. After all, if he'd waited until later, Ares would have been practically juiced up with the conflict and the battle would have been just as destructive or worse than what happened with Artemis. In the end, cutting down Ares and his unchecked bloodlust before the war was preferred even if Bellona and other war deities became stronger thanks to it, not to mention the effects it had on humanity.

With all the risks involved, it was no wonder gods generally avoided divine form unless their opponent already assumed it first, the battle is that dire that they need the extra power, or it's a last-ditch effort and possibly a way to take their opponent down with them. Even the Big Three had hesitated to cut down Kronos during their last battle against him until he'd been exhausted and descended to godly form before cutting him to pieces. But the way they now had the Olympians pushed further into a corner only upped the chances of the gods taking that last step, damning the consequences, even suffering true death.

'Or they might swallow their broken pride and turn tail,' he thought with a snort, knowing plenty of those gods would rather die than run. Glancing back at his wives, his thoughts ran with how to divide up the Olympians and other gods in their next battle. As much as they wanted to, they couldn't simply attack right now and cut down as many of the opposing gods as possible before they reacted … at least, not without signing off on the demigods as collateral losses.

He knew he was the most powerful of the council and only Rhea neared him in overall capacity with only some like Jason and Thalia dominating sole aspects like speed. However, in fields like stealth and assassination he had no equal by the sheer nature of his domains and the abilities granted to him.

Sneaking up and killing a god before said god even knew he was there? Almost sickeningly easy.

But, him sneaking into a camp full of ALERT gods looking out for him and then offing them without alerting the others? Maybe he could pull off two or three before an alarm went off or the others reacted but by then, it would be the exact scenario he wanted to avoid. More than a full cohort's worth of gods, both minor and major, assuming divine form in the middle of the demigod army.

Even if he slaughtered the rest as quickly as possible, that meant he'd have to draw on his own power beyond the base ability of his immortal body … and that would be worse. There was a reason he'd waited to get Ares in that underground fight club, hidden within the Earth and Rhea's presence, away from polite human society. He'd been sneaky, drawing the god's ire while Lamia drew power from him and saturated the club with it, only then to turn that power into a crude, elementally charged barrier trapping Ares.

The fact that Lamia also used some of that power to suddenly petrify and silently execute all the humans within had been an act of mercy in some ways. They'd already been dying, their bodies slowing down and cooling as they unknowingly succumbed to Cold and Darkness suffocating them. Mortals and even most immortals were never meant to endure his domains and what he could bring. Only those already connected to him in some form, whether by blessing, union, or blood, and even then, there were still risks.

And even he would struggle against a slew of immortals in divine form if he didn't draw on his own power to compensate but by then, there would be no point in holding back. If the demigods were around them, they'd easily be caught in the combat and mulched, or poisoned by the saturation of his power if his control slipped in the heat of the moment. That didn't even account for what effects of the gods in their divine forms could cause, namely Apollo and Zeus.

Simply put, their openings to strike first with minimal loses were just about spent.

He spent decades between training to hunt rogue titans that wouldn't be missed or too dangerous to risk escaping Tartarus, and gathered allies, all the while taking pot-shots and picking away at the crumbling unity of the Olympians. He took their rabid war-dog, and had it broken before putting it down right before their eyes, enraging them while striking the first deep blow to their morale. Taking Hestia and others, striking Artemis out of the sky where she thought she'd be safe and butchering her hunters; it was all to taunt and enrage them while sowing doubt into their armies.

Next had been revealing Mount Courtier up in the North, just close enough to bait them into gathering their forces into one spot and coming to them, drawing them away from the urban human cities around them. Then they'd taken Athena and truly revealed themselves for who and what they were but between ego, rage, and lacking accurate information of who else fought with Percy, the Olympians pushed onward. Without Athena as the stern voice of hard logic and cold reason commanding as Zeus' right hand, Zeus and Bellona were starting to get pulled thin handling a further agitated and discontent army.

Hera and Artemis were practically baying for blood and revenge while answering to few, Annabeth went somewhat of a turncoat helping split apart the demigods that didn't want to fight from the rest, and the other present Olympians weren't much help. For all their years and experience, Apollo, Hermes, and Hephaestus are not commanders and it was blatantly noticeable.

Apollo had always prioritized his sister over everything else, even his leadership of the demigods under his command or his role as chief medic during a time of war. Now with her death, the god was left with nothing but his anger and thirst for revenge: something they could exploit. Hermes is little better and while being more focused on his role and responsibility to the army, he wasn't a steely commander like Athena nor a front-line attacker/skirmisher like Artemis. Hephaestus went without saying, lacked any experience leading in combat, big or small.

Handling logistics and supply, especially weapons and maintenance, he could do to a T perfectly, but in the battlefield, he was always a follower. Add in his discomfort with dealing with people instead of his machines, and they could confidently say that he wouldn't help much with the army discipline if he was forced to step up.

'Some of the minor gods could step up too, but Zeus barely tolerated the likes of Athena and Bellona having so much authority to begin with,' he mentally added as he turned his eyes back on his ladies. 'Maybe we can use that but until there's an opening, separating the demigods might be the best option…'

"Rhea," he spoke up, drawing their eyes to him. "Do you think you could sneak a tunnel under them?"

Rhea blinked at him as she thought about it, humming lightly.

"I can, but if I pull too close to the surface, the gods will feel it and we'll lose any element of surprise," she answered.

"True but if we take it slow, we might be able to—"

Percy felt a pulse of power as he cut himself off, his head snapping towards the North in the gardens as Andy jumped out of her throne and she did the same. They both felt the panic and pain coming through a link, their eyes meeting as one thought passed through.

'Raven!'

Neither replied to Rhea and Hestia's questions of alarm, both Primordial taking off with a thunderous flap of their wings, flying through the large windows of the throne room. In moments they were above the gardens and already angling down towards where they felt their daughter, the echoes of her fear driving them faster.

They spotted her quickly, back pinned to one of the larger trees with Phoebe of all gods holding her by the shoulders, eyes glowing an ethereal green. At the moment Percy couldn't care less why the two were back here even to begin with, or why Phoebe was acting like that. All that mattered right now was that Raven was panicking and in pain.

And that pissed him off.

With a snarl on his lips, his landing was anything but gentle, kicking up a strong gust as stone and dirt gave way under his feet, before he closed the distance. He ripped Phoebe off Raven and tossed her almost clear across the garden, not even giving her time to land before he appeared over her and pinned her to the ground with a foot to the gut.

That got a cry of pain from the Primordial, and he could feel the barrier protecting the entire mountain placing pressure on him, the only warning that further action will be met with an equal response. It was just enough to keep him still, his eyes narrowed on the now panting goddess, her eyes back to their usual amber.

"I'm so sorry …" she said through coughs, her eyes getting a pleading look. "… It's the only way."

He ignored whatever else she had to say, his gaze shifting back to his daughter across the garden. Raven was trembling in Andromeda's arms, faintly whimpering in pain as her veins glowed white with power along the exposed skin of her arms. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, but it only made Percy question Phoebe's actions that much more.

"Andromeda, go and take Raven to my office," he said, his voice ringing clear across the otherwise silent garden.

Andy looked back at him in worry, but only nodded as she picked up Raven and dashed off. As she left, he could feel Hestia and Rhea arriving with the signs of other gods teleporting in. He returned his attention to Phoebe as he slowly took off his foot, not looking at the arrivals. Most were clearly confused as they arrived, Thalia and Nico especially looking ready for a fight with their weapons drawn before they took notice of Percy and Phoebe.

"What happened?" Jason asked, getting a glance from Percy before the dark god answered, deciding to skip to the point.

"For some reason, Phoebe here decided to ascend Raven to full godhood," he said, his voice cold and clipped as he narrowed his eyes on Phoebe.

The goddess was sitting up now, rubbing at her sore stomach as she looked up shakily at him.

"Why?" Hestia asked, her presence starting to smolder as she glared at the other goddess.

"Because it needs to happen," Phoebe replied as she slowly got up, her own eyes hardening as she met the looks of her fellow primordial. "We need to cut off Pontus any way we can."

"… And Raven being pushed to full godhood does that, how?" Thalia asked this time, having relaxed her stance somewhat as she dismissed her blades.

"The Moon," Percy answered for Phoebe, his gaze shifting to the obscured celestial body.

Now with some of the adrenaline fading off, he could distinctly feel the new connection slowly forming to it, barely slipping by his hold of it. It was thanks to Raven's bond to him that she could even do it, but the link was nowhere near complete and he could probably break it with a thought. His gaze shifted back to the Primordial of Fate.

"What does Pontus want with the Moon?"

If he went just by Selena's attempts at getting past his hold and connecting to it, he'd say she was desperate, probably hoping to regain some power now that Artemis was gone. But, going by her presence within bodies of water meaning she was in Pontus' camp now, then her efforts might not just be for her own sake but a bigger play at hand.

"Artemis didn't even scratch the surface of what her lunar domain could do," Phoebe said instead, her own eyes shifting up to where the moon stood still. "Even Selena didn't know much more but Pontus," she paused, her eyes returning to him. "He does and he knows that having the Moon under his control, direct or otherwise, could give him the edge he needs."

"I doubt it'd be enough to help him beat most of us in a straight fight," he returned.

Call him a little cocky, but he knew it was the case for several of them. His own domains, along with Hestia, Thalia, Jason, and Nico all had elements or abilities that greatly impaired the water primordial's combat strategy. Nyx had told him all about Pontus' preferred methods, usually focusing on large, overwhelming scale attacks to take advantage of the unparalleled reserves of a primordial god and simply wear out an opponent.

He was a lot like Gaea had been in that regard. A dangerous long-ranger but limited at close-quarters, something Percy and co specialized in.

"That may be, but giving him more cards to his hand would just mean more destruction and collateral before one of us can finally pin him down and finish it," Phoebe countered sharply, the goddess starting to pace around as the other's watched on. "And a lunar deity is already dangerous enough on their own, worse still if he blesses one and gives them even more power."

"So, you used Raven, putting her at risk of power overload, just to swipe an opportunity?" Rhea cut in, looking distinctly annoyed at the Fate controlling primordial.

"We can't just leave something as powerful as the moon just floating up there, without a god to head it," Phoebe swiftly countered. "And if not Raven, who else? Percy refused to take it when he would have been ideal for it, so why not his daughter then?"

That got some dubious looks from the others, but Percy could see where Phoebe was going with that. He hated to thrust such responsibilities on Raven like that, but at the same time, she had a better chance of fully connecting with the celestial body and having a stronger influence over it because of her bond to him.

It almost made him grit his teeth, but he held back, just barely.

"Fine," he growled out, his eyes pinning the goddess to the spot. "But you better not pull shit like this again. If something important comes up, bring it up in council, am I clear?" he asked, letting some of the pressure of his power bleed out.

"Crystal," Phoebe returned, looking chastised enough along with the other looks she was getting.

Far too many of them here have had to deal with random occurrences of Fate screwing them over to take this lightly.

Nodding curtly, Percy gave Hestia and Rhea a look, before he faded into shadow. In seconds he reformed, this time in the ever-snowing forest of his office. His eyes quickly shifted to where he felt one of his wives and his daughter, his movement swift as he got to them.

He found the pair leaning together against one of the larger trees, surrounded by some of his wolves that had felt his agitation and had shadow-walked here in case they were needed. Raven was curled up in Andy's arms, faintly whimpering as she kept her eyes shut, in clear pain even if the angry glow of her veins had lessened significantly. A wolf or two moved out of the way as he got closer and kneeled down beside the pair, his hand settling on Raven's burning forehead.

"How is she?" he asked his wife softly as he let some of his cold aura saturate his hand.

Raven gave another whimper but this time it was lower, and her shoulders relaxed a little.

"She's not about to combust with power at least," Andy answered, one of her hands rubbing Raven's back. "But she's already starting to get echoes of prayers. That's where most of the pain is actually coming from."

Percy winced in sympathy, knowing what going through that was like.

The body could be trained, broken down and built back up to take all sorts of punishment in the hopes of improving, but the mind was its own beast. Without learning to properly divert the voices of prayers into the subconscious until you could settle down and really focus on them, it was nothing but shrill pain pounding away inside the skull.

"Daddy…"

Percy's attention focused on Raven's face, one of her icy blue eyes trained on him even as she winced.

"… It hurts," she moaned.

"I know," he murmured back, gently taking her from Andy's arms and into his.

He felt Lupa shift in behind him in her wolf form, so he let himself settle back against her warm side as he pulled Raven along, wrapping his wings around her.

"Just focus on what's here and now, okay?" he said gently as she cuddled into his embrace, getting a soft nod from her.

Andy settled herself beside him, her hand now gently trailing through Raven's hair helping the godling relax further.

"We're here baby, and we'll stay as long as you need," she cooed softly.

That seemed to get the young goddess to relax more as the two primordial shared a glance. 'Well, there goes any plan for me,' he mentally noted as he comforted his overwhelmed daughter. Raven was in a similar boat to what Athena is, but it could get worse once she fully connected to the moon.

For now, that meant anything needing his attention on the war effort would have to go to the others since Raven needed him right now. He'd have to help her complete her bond to the moon soon, otherwise her body will be in a constant state of confused limbo reaching out for the bond she'd just started.

A low sigh escaped him as he tightened his grip on his daughter. Regardless, he'd do what was needed to help her through this…

And? How was that? More developments on the way and I'm really looking forward to the next few chapters as things ramp up!

Let me know your thoughts, review!

Jbubu for You!