DA : Chapter 16: Gathering the Fallen I

3 Years Later (15 in Tartarus)

Percy slowly opened his eyes as an annoying ringing was going off somewhere to his left. He turned his head in that direction and spotted the damned alarm clock marking it as 7:30 in the morning. He sighed as he looked at it and willed a hand of shadow to press the snooze on the infernal device.

'Why did morning have to come so soon?' he grumbled before he tried to get up … key word, tried. He glanced down to see two heads of brown hair on his chest, one tipped with pinks and purples while the other was a full, darker tone.

He smiled as he leaned down and kissed each head before slowly sitting up while ignoring the whines of protest. He almost chuckled as one head reared up to pout at him, a pair of goldish-hazel eyes locking onto his orbs of black flames.

"Morning," he nearly chirped before pecking her on the lips.

That earned him a smile before she yawned as she threw her arms back and let the sheets fall off her. His eyes couldn't help but stray to her bosom barely hidden by her snug shirt.

The sight only got better as she slowly crawled off the bed while giving him a prime view of her panty clad rear. He had to bite the inside of his lips to resist trying to cop a feel so he turned his head the other direction while muttering.

"Rhea you tease."

"Hmm?" she hummed as she glanced back at him before giggling innocently. "Percy, what a naughty boy. Ogling your girlfriend while your sister is in bed with you … pervert."

Percy started choking on air while his face did an impression of a golden tomato, all the while Rhea started to laugh at him. Percy was about to fire a retort but then a tiny fist lightly hit his chest while its owner mumbled, "Too loud."

The couple looked at the offended 5 year old as she sat up from Percy's side, her purple and blue eyes looking at them with annoyance.

"Did we have to get up?" she asked with her infamous puppy dog eyes.

"Yes," both replied without looking at her eyes. They knew that if they looked they'd lose otherwise.

Andromeda whined while stuffing her face back into a pillow and trying to throw the blankets on but Rhea came up and pulled them away.

"No little missy. Today's a big day and you are not going to miss out on it when it's about you," Rhea said in a motherly tone as she picked up the child and headed to the bathroom, Percy watching in amusement as Andy gave a sigh of defeat.

He never got tired of seeing how that pair interacted in these last couple of years. They'd bonded nearly as much as Percy was with his sister though at times the relationships were a bit odd due to a surprising ability Andy discovered days after getting the blessings of Eros and Phanes.

Since she was connected to pure love rather than the lustful version Aphrodite did to over the millennia, her abilities changed to reflect that.

While Aphrodite would subconsciously alter her appearance to get the best chances of attracting who she wanted, Andromeda's appearance could change according to the types of love she felt or someone near her needed.

With Percy and Rhea, she was usually in the form of a child, usually 5 to 8, and ended up getting treated like a daughter most of the time or turn into a teen and be their little sister. With Nyx and Tartarus she would look her actual age of 21 and be far more serious since it usually involved training.

With Eros and Phanes she would go through just about every age of development to adjust and understand the types of love and how they affected her or those around her.

One shocking discovery that Eros made was that thanks to Andromeda sneaking into Percy and Rhea's bed so often, during the night time in the mortal world sibling and motherly love would increase thanks to Percy and Rhea's connections to their domains.

That alone made Eros and Phanes ecstatic that they chose Andromeda to be their heir … which she was going to become today.

As for Percy, he was also focused on the thoughts of Rhea. Fifteen years of awesome dating with plenty of kissing, cuddling, and heavy petting.

After all that time together, training and simply getting to know each other to the point neither kept a secret from each other (save for one), he could safely say that he loved her … and was pretty sure Andromeda knew since she always snickered at them and winked when Percy looked at her.

Still, he hadn't been able to actually say it since there was one thing holding him back and those were his thoughts on Hestia. His heart still yearned for her as well.

It was the only thing he feared bringing up with Rhea … but he knew that he needed to tell her soon. 'For another time though,' he thought as he got out of bed and quickly changed into his usual black leather jeans, muscle shirt, steel toed boots, and hooded cloak of darkness.

His blades in ring form on each index finger was his last piece before his attire was complete and all he had left was to wait for Andromeda and Rhea.

'Why those two always prefer morning showers, I'll never know,' he mused as he sat of his bed and looked around his joint room with Rhea.

They'd move in together after 5 years of dating and the décor hadn't really changed much aside from Rhea choosing gold sheets rather than black and a vanity for her beside his desk and bookshelf.

He waited around for another 20 minutes or so before both ladies stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed.

Rhea had her knee-length black dress with golden trimming, a gold with green trimmed sash around her waist, Greek styled sandals, and her hair pulled into a braid over one shoulder. In one word, Percy thought she was gorgeous without a speck of make up on her face.

Next to her was Andromeda, looking her actual age now. She stood almost as tall as Rhea at 5 foot'8 with a voluptuous figure fitting of a demi-primordial of love, her long hair spilling over her shoulders and down to her mid back in waves. She was dressed in a similar attire to him.

She had on a long sleeved red shirt with a black corset top over it making her bust look even bigger than it already is, black and purple plaid skirt that reached mid-thigh, and thigh-high, Tartaren steel toed, high heeled leather boots. All of it came together with a black cloak meant to mirror his coat of darkness … just not as cool.

'Good thing every male around here is either taken, interested in someone else, dead, or Tartarus,' Percy thought, knowing his sister's looks could give immortals heart attacks. Thank Chaos that her personality wasn't anything like Aphrodite. He shuddered at the thought.

"So, ready to go?" he asked as he got up and gave Rhea a quick kiss.

"Yep," she chirped back as Andromeda snickered at them while walking out first.

Percy took Rhea's hand as they followed after her. They made quick work of exiting the House of Night and entered a rather nice courtyard … as far as Tartarus can go anyways.

It was decorated with obsidian statues of famous heroes and monsters alike, flowers made of shadows and ice curtesy of both Percy and Nyx's efforts, and a large, pure white oak tree in the center.

Standing by the oak was Eros, Nyx, Phanes, and Tartarus as they watched Andromeda approach, her gate becoming nervous as she got closer.

Once she stood before them and Percy and Rhea stood a bit to the side, they began, "Andromeda Jackson … are you ready to become a primordial heir?" they said in unison.

Andromeda looked around before her eyes fell on Percy, looking for the last bit of courage needed to do this. He gave her a firm nod of support and she smiled back before she looked straight at the protogenoi before her.

"Yes," she said in a strong voice.

"Then begin!" commanded Eros as he stood at the center of the protogenoi.

Andromeda took a deep breath before speaking in a voice laced with power, "I, Andromeda Xena Jackson, state my claim and right to being the heiress of Eros, primordial of Love and Attraction, and Phanes, primordial of Desire and Procreation."

With her words completed, Andromeda glowed a bright pink and purple, making everyone have to look away for a moment. Once the glow died down they looked again to see Andromeda standing there with a faint glow coming off her skin.

Though what was new was a purple glove with a pink gem over the wrist on her right hand. 'Most be her pure manifestation of power,' Percy thought as he glanced at his own cloak that left trails of darkness wherever he walked.

"Impressive," Eros said, breaking the silence, as he walked around Andromeda while inspecting her. "It truly seems that every new primordial that came from … lesser origins gains greater strength and potential."

"True," Phanes added as he also looked her up and down. "She almost feels as strong as us at our primes and she hasn't even claimed the domains for herself yet."

"Ah … thank you," Andromeda said while blushing thanks to the compliments.

"You're welcome," Nyx said as she glanced at Tartarus, "And we have a surprise for you."

"Really!?" Andy asked excitedly to which Tartarus responded by bringing a wrapped package from under his cloak.

He handed the gift to the hopping primordial heiress who eagerly started to tear the wrapping off. Soon her gift was revealed and she gasped at the sight while Percy whistled in appreciation.

It was a pair of two foot knives, the one blade being purple while the other was pink with fine, nearly unnoticeable serrations running the length with a Tartaren steel guard and leather grips.

Andromeda looked at them in awe before giving a devilish smirk as she spun them in her hands like a true master of knives and short swords.

Percy would know, he helped train her. Even Artemis, with her millennia of using knives, didn't compare to Andromeda now since Andy had spent the last 15 years brutally training to fight other intelligent, significantly stronger combatants rather than just chasing after monsters.

Hell, his sister's reflexes were nearly on par with his and she was definitely as fast though he still won out in overall skill and strength. He had no worries now about her getting into a fight with an Olympian … or several for that matter.

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