But even then, she counted her blessings that she didn't have to go it alone, otherwise she might make a choice that couldn't be taken back and would leave nothing but regret. Her thoughts aside, the couple breathed in synch as both found solace in the other.
They remained silent for several minutes before Hestia spoke, her voice soft as she looked into his eyes, "And … what will you do?"
...
He stared back in silence for several more minutes, as if searching for the answers through her eyes before replying equally as soft, "… This isn't a decision I can or should make on my own …"
It was an answer that warmed Hestia's heart … and also made a welt of guilt settle in her gut. She was touched at that he would wait for their input for such a decision but at the same time doubted her own position and just what she could decide in the end. Still, seeing as neither were in any state to make such a decision Hestia gently untangled herself from his arms and stood up while taking one of his hands.
He followed along as she tugged him up, the pair looking at Cloelia one last time before Percy walked closer and set down the pendant next to Cloelia's black hand. Then the couple quietly left the room and its sole occupant before walking away in silence. Though Hestia felt her thoughts tossing about as she wondered just what could she decide to do with the godling, the pair moved with a somewhat comfortable quiet, their hands interlocked.
It took them only a few minutes to arrive at the doors leading out and once they stepped out they were welcomed with soothing darkness … or would have been had they not met one face that really had bad timing.
Hestia silently cursed, wondering all the while why the goddess wasn't with her other children, especially after being separated from them for quite some time. But, given the hours of the night most or all of her rescued demigods were likely asleep, whether by their own power or due to the caretakers currently watching over them making them sleep to get some rest. Regardless that left a goddess with highly tuned senses the time to investigate.
Both Percy and Hestia stopped in their tracks as they were met with grey eyes framed by blonde hair that almost made Hestia think that they were seeing ghosts. It was up to debate whether seeing a ghost would have been preferable to finding Athena herself standing before them. She was dressed in a simple white shirt and shorts, looking as domestic and normal as Hestia could ever recall seeing the goddess.
But her eyes told a very different story as she looked at the two primordial gods.
What was once an almost comfortable silence suddenly became a heavy, suffocating thing as Athena looked between the two of them, her sharp eyes searching even as her mouth opened to ask the first question that would only lead to pain.
"Why is Cloelia here?" she asked, her voice carrying an edge that hadn't been there in days since her being on the mountain but also an underlying shakiness. A hint of deep worry with a fear that threatened to overcome the current mask of calmed concern on her face.
Still, Hestia and Percy shared a glance, a dozen thoughts communicated as they looked back to the goddess. How could they answer and if they did, what about the next question that would undoubtedly follow it? However it seemed that Percy, even if usually one to try and spare others pain, wasn't about to beat around the bush.
"She's here because she's in critical condition," Percy said, his voice even and not hinting at his own stressed state that Hestia found him in.
At hearing Athena gasp with clear worry flashing in her eyes both tensed as they could already hear the next question coming.
"And … w-where's Annabeth?" she asked, her entire posture suddenly looking like she was barely restraining a tremble or the urge to run into the hospital to see her granddaughter.
"She's … she's …" Percy tried to say but he also looked shaky as he thought about it, his fists clenching as he looked down before Hestia decided to say it for him.
"She's gone …" she said softly and watched as Athena stepped back as if slapped before her hands came up to her mouth.
She felt her heart clench as she watched as that calm cracked and broke piece by piece as Athena's eyes started to water, her entire frame shaking before she abruptly fell to her knees. Once upon a time such news wouldn't have gotten such a strong reaction. Not the Olympian goddess that had built a wall around her heart and kept everyone at a distance to avoid suffering the brutality that was living in Olympus, especially back in the olden times where a weak woman was consumed without mercy in abuse.
Not now though. Now was the former wild goddess that, after being rejected by her father initially, was taken and raised in Atlantis by Triton alongside Pallas, his daughter and treated like a wild but loved princess. The passionate goddess that wore her heart on her sleeve and fought with her all, that once formed a crush on Poseidon and loved her home under the sea before the tragedy of Pallas' death at Athena's sword before being taken back to Olympus.
Being here had practically returned Athena's emotions that she once buried but in doing so, left her vulnerable. She was a goddess that got to finally connect with her daughter, her favored child and was slowly building into a whole new person that was more than just a tactician and warrior but a living, breathing being that let herself feel once more.
And that being had just taken one of the worst blows a parent could. Learning that their child had just died.
The couple watched sadly as soon Athena's entire body shook as she tried to suppress her own sobs. Hestia didn't even want to think how she would react if she learned Cloelia might be following after her mother soon enough. Such news could break her beyond repair, so the couple remained silent as they watched.
However Hestia noticed some movement and glanced aside to see Medusa having materialized out of shadows, her head swiveling around before she spotted Athena and quickly ran over, dropping to her knees and enveloping the goddess in her arms as Athena truly started to cry. One glance at Percy told Hestia that he'd summoned Medusa just for that, the silence of the night now taking on the heartrending sobs and cries of a devastated mother.
Hestia could feel a stinging in her eyes as she listened, feel the sense of Unity and warmth within Athena dipping as such a key piece was brutally taken from her. One glance at her husband told her hearing and seeing this was affecting Percy too and that was without even considering the Nightmares he'd have to deal with this night, both his own and those of the demigods around the mountain.
Still, she steadied herself as she hugged him, sending one last glance to Medusa as the pseudo-goddess took to comforting her charge, before the primordial pair disappearing in a burst of shadow. A grand total of two seconds later the shadows parted, leaving them back in their room with the House of Protogenoi. Releasing Percy, Hestia stepped back to look at him and what she saw filled her with conflict because she felt two distinct things.
Relief.
Yes … relief. Relief because she could see and feel as the last of Percy's hope for Annabeth, the last sliver buried deep in his heart, was finally fading. If there had ever been anything that brought Hestia's hatred for the goddess to the surface, it was being able to feel that last shred of hope and knowing who left it and why it was there.
She was Percy's first love, the girl that was with him through thick and thin, when that innocent boy, ignorant to the terrible world of the gods, was driven head first into it all. She was there, a fellow hero and friend, the lead or guided to him when needed, supported as best she could, and helped save them all.
She'd been everything that Hestia once wished she could have been … and also why Hestia had feared the goddess that came from that heroine.
Because she knew if anyone could have come back into Percy's life even after everything she did … it would have been Chase. Even after all the time in Tartarus, the training, the time to heal and move on, she was something that remained with Percy. It didn't even take Hestia a minute to guess why Pontus would have even gone through such lengths to get to Annabeth.
Because she was a walking, breathing Achilles' heel for Percy.
A weak point that could have been ruthlessly exploited if Pontus had gotten ahold of her and used her as a lure to get Percy alone. Even after all this time, Percy couldn't have brought himself to cut her down or abandon her, especially not when she had a child to go back to. And now that Chase was gone, her husband was safer while also finally letting that part of his past go.
But it also made her sad.
The marriage that she had with him and Hestia was so much more than what mortals could understand. They shared feelings, melded minds, and truly united. Their happiness, sadness, and all other emotions were felt throughout and it clawed at her heart to see Percy like this.
But what probably hurt most is that she just didn't know which decision could end this pain. Should she agree and let Percy go through the adoption, burying her own feelings on that matter, something that would only fester and poison their bond? Or should she voice against it, knowing that such an act would stay with Percy forever as they allowed an innocent child to die?
It was all maddening.
Still, she buried those thoughts for now, wanting to do nothing more than comfort her husband and maybe find some rest herself. So she refocused on what was in front of her now as she used her own limited control of the darkness to make Percy's coat dissipate. A snap of her fingers later and both were down to nightwear, Percy's being a simple pair of shorts while Hestia's was panties and baggy shirt.
Taking his hand again she led him to their bed as the pair settled in, facing each other with their faces just a few inches apart. Their gazes remained locked as the silence surrounded them before Hestia leaned closer and lightly kissed him.
"It'll be okay," she said softly as she pulled back before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head to her bosom.
She felt his arms wrap around her back in response as the pair remained close and for several minutes nothing changed … until Hestia felt his form shake ever so slightly. Then came the slight feeling of her shirt getting wet but she didn't feel bothered as she merely hold on, radiating what warmth she could as she held him.
He wasn't just her king and husband but a best friend, a confident, and a pillar of her life just like she was for him. Tomorrow would be a new day and no matter how much pain and bitter choices would come with it, they would face it together.
But for now, even with her feelings on that goddess, she couldn't find it in herself to be angry as Percy cried for his first love one last time…
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
...
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