DA : Chapter 40: As Time Passes I

One Year Later (Five Tartarus)

Percy looked on silently from his perch at the bay, his mind wandering from place to place. He thought to his cousins and their training, his allies and their maneuvers under the nose of Olympus, and his growing feelings of love.

Love.

It had been some time since he truly thought of the word and what it meant to him. He thought he knew when he'd tried dating Annabeth only to have it broken with her lies and the meddling of Aphrodite so he closed his heart off.

He learned to fear the pain of heartbreak and his emotions even as one goddess slowly rekindled a spark of hope in him but he didn't realize it until she wasn't with him.

Perhaps it was a higher destiny that another goddess, the very mother of the first one, would feed and nurture that spark into becoming a roaring fire.

Passionate and strong, capable of incinerating anything that dared try and harm either of them now. He'd come to grips with it and knew he felt genuine love for Rhea and Hestia. Every morning waking up with Rhea in his arms felt so right … yet incomplete.

As if their final piece of a puzzle was missing. Even Rhea showed signs of thinking the same thing as she sometimes brought Hestia up in conversations, usually on plans of how to bring her to them.

Sometimes Percy would even notice that Rhea would unconsciously search for an extra presence while asleep, one arm around Percy and the other grasping at the empty space on his other side.

He brought it up and she tried to play it off as missing Andromeda since his sister had more or less kicked the habit of sneaking into their room when she was around though she did appear from time to time.

She'd actually spent a fair amount of time in the Palace of the Sky nowadays, helping with Thalia and Jason's training since Tartarus had to focus greatly on Nico though the three were tested every week by Tartarus to make sure they were up to his standards.

Still, with Andy mostly out and the other immortals each busy with their own tasks or training, Percy and Rhea had a lot of time to themselves to just talk.

They discussed everything. Fears and hopes, ambitions and ideas for the world once this was all over … and the possibility of starting a family. It had been a slip of the tongue on Rhea's part but Percy had simply beamed at her and told her how he'd always wanted for form a big family which made her smile in turn.

Of course they both had a growing worry of how Hestia would react to them already being together … but they'd walk that bridge when they got there.

Otherwise everything was business as usual. Olympus had settled down slightly though Hecate reported that tensions were still there … but now Hades was another inside man.

Nico had been successful with convincing his father (and bribing Persephone) to join them.

With that now they had free reign to travel the Underworld and Percy made one trip that was long overdue. He and Andromeda got to visit their mother and Paul for a day thanks to Hades.

It had been an emotional time and they got to release decades' worth of tears before telling their parents about everything that had happened. But after that visit he'd had probably one of the best nights of his life.

Now it was all a matter of waiting but every day was grating on his nerves. With every moment he wished he could get a move on, to defeat the Olympians before they even realize what is going on.

Before it had been about revenge and he still wanted to make most of the Olympians suffer but now, it was a matter of removing those dictators so he and his future family could live a life of peace.

He was starting to brood on but then the shadows next to him condensed before Rhea appeared and sat beside him. She didn't say a word as she took his hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying the night sky and the cool breeze. After a few minutes Rhea broke the silence though as she looked at him, "So, is sitting on the Golden Gate Bridge your favorite spot now?"

Percy smirked as he looked down at the thick fog rolling beneath the bridge, hiding the bay from sight with the city lights beyond.

"Who knows? I just find it relaxing," he replied making her giggle slightly. "So how was your mission?" he asked after a moment.

"It went well," Rhea replied while leaning on his shoulder. "All Ourea besides Olympus himself are now loyal to me giving me another connection to my earth domain."

"I'm guessing Kithairon and Tmolus are the only ones that gave you trouble?" Percy asked while recalling how the mountain gods attacked the Argo II on their way over Northern Italy.

"Of course they challenged me but it wasn't really a hard fight though they were persistent. I made them swear their domains to me just in case," Rhea replied with a smirk.

"So no chance of backstabbing, nice," Percy said with a chuckle before overlooking the bay again.

"And what were you thinking about?" Rhea asked while looking at him intently.

He looked at her for a moment before answering honestly, "A lot of things but it usually went back to Hestia."

"Hmm," Rhea nodded in agreement. "I understand. I want her with us too but it just isn't time yet."

"Yes but when?" he asked as he looked at his clenched fist. "Every day since I left I couldn't help but worry about her. I know what's happening on Olympus must be hard for her but if she speaks out, who knows what they could do to her …"

"Percy look at me," Rhea commanded as she touched his chin and tilted his head in her direction, her hazel-gold eyes staring into his flaming orbs.

"They won't touch her and if they do, you and I will go there and tear them apart ourselves but until then, have faith that she'll be okay."

They kept their eyes locked for several seconds before Rhea leaned in and kissed him. He responded in kind, his arms quickly wrapping around her waist before bringing her closer until she was moved onto his lap, straddling him.

Their kiss turned into a heated make-out as Rhea's hands dug into his hair while his arms squeezed her closer.

Then, out of the blue Rhea pulled back and looked at him with dangerous eyes.

"You know I love you … and I love my daughter. She is the only one that still prayed to me during difficult times wishing for guidance and it broke my heart that we couldn't see each other thanks to Zeus imprisoning me. I miss her and want her here just as much as you but right now … I'm going to be a little selfish."

"Wha—"

He didn't get to finish as the shadows enveloped them and in a few seconds dumped them out on his bed in the House of Night in the same position. Suddenly Rhea pushed him back until he was laying down before running her hands over his chest.

"I know she'll feel hurt at first when we tell her about us but I also know that she loves you. I remember some of her last prayers about a man that had finally taken her notice even if she never named you.

She'll find it odd but I'm confident she'll accept it just as I did … however," She suddenly growled as her fangs elongated and her green pupils narrowed into slits.

"Right here and now, I am not going to wait to fully become yours and make you only mine for the time I have you."

With that she snapped her fingers, making her clothes aside from her lacy black bra and panties to disappear.

"So Percy," she said as she leaned down and nibbled his ear making him groan. "Make me yours."

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Next chapter will get a Lemon scene ;)

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

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