The Audience Begets the Show

And the winner is…

Thalia Grace!

Final scores:

Option A, Thalia Grace: 28

Option B, Annabeth Chase: 14

Option C, Kayla Knowles: 1

Option D, Clarisse Le Rue: 5

Option E, keep exploring: 3

Thalia wins by a margin!

-

Perseus was having a lovely walk, filled with visions of some very beautiful girls in very disreputable positions, when a certain familiar ugly mug caught his attention and ruined it.

The man in question was standing in the middle of the path with his arms crossed. He had black hair that hung in wild curls and a nose of sufficient size and shape to chop wood if he ever had to. His leopard-print shirt hung loosely off his torso, like it was tailored to a portlier shape. Externally, his age appeared to be around his mid-twenties, only a little older than Perseus's mortal appearance. His eyes were a peculiar shade of purple, more like grapes than regular pupils.

"I thought you might end up here," he said.

Perseus attempted to walk past him. "A pleasure to see you too, Dionysus. I'll be of a mood to speak with you in about… Oh, I don't know, let's try two decades and see from there."

But the god stepped sideways, blocking his path.

"Are you truly going to blame me for your punishment? The entire council voted!"

Seeing he wasn't getting away, Perseus sighed and resigned himself to the conversation.

"I'm well aware of the vote," he said sourly. "As well as everyone who sided against me."

"Then direct this grouchiness at Artemis, or better yet Athena! That one had the whole thing planned out, I'm sure of it. She always does."

Perseus crossed his arms. "I'm plenty angry with them, but I expected it. They've been out to get me for ages. The ones I expected more from were my friends… or the ones I mistook for friends."

Dionysus threw his arms in the air, dark curls bobbing. "We are friends! Do you know how rarely I take this form these days? I did it just to meet you, for the old days. Remember it— a party everyday, nymphs trailing after us, goddesses at our beck and call! The century after you matured was the best I've ever spent. We had it all!"

"Of course I remember," Perseus said. "I also seem to remember a certain wine god having to go after the one nymph your father told you was off limits. And what do you know? Suddenly he's confined to a summer camp, and the good times are over just like that."

"Are you lecturing me about angering my father?" Dionysus asked incredulously. "Are you even cognizant of what has happened quite literally today?"

"I remember it clearly," Perseus said. "Particularly a certain god betraying his friend over the minor threat of spending a bit longer as a babysitter."

"You're calling me a coward?"

"I didn't call anyone anything. But if that's how you interpret recent events, who am I to argue?"

Dionysus's eyes flared. What looked like weeds began sprouting all around them, poking through the grass. Only they weren't weeds at all, but rather formless vines of grapes. "I didn't vote just because of my father's threat!" he said.

Perseus snorted. "Sure you didn't."

"You fucked my mother-in-law. There are some things that a man simply cannot ignore!"

Perseus threw out his arms, getting worked up himself. "We're gods, Dionysus! Half of us fuck our actual mothers, and we all still ignore it. Just admit you were a coward!"

"We are gods, Perseus? It seems you're mistaken. I am the only god here, and a member of the Olympian council at that. Which means, in case you haven't noticed, that I get an important vote and the right to do with it as I wish. Now, if that's all you have to say…"

"Like Hades it is!" Perseus snapped, but it was too late. Dionysus had already disappeared, leaving nothing but a grape-smelling breeze in his wake.

The vines that had grown up around them wilted and died, but Perseus hardly paid them any mind. He resumed his walk, mood much fowler than it had been when he started.

Where did Dionysus get off acting that way? In the end, the vote against him had been eight to four. Without Hades around to act as a tie-breaker, it could easily have been a draw if only Dionysus and Apollo had supported Perseus. The two had condemned him to nearly capital punishment because of a lack of spine and an unhealthy sister obsession respectively. Then one had the gall to act affronted because Perseus wasn't civil when he came crawling back to talk?

"God of crazy indeed," Perseus muttered to himself.

He spent the rest of the walk stewing in his own thoughts.

-

It was a long time before his mood lifted, but when it did the change came on fast.

It started when he reached his father's cabin. The interior was just like he remembered it, filled with soft green light and complete with a fountain that burbled quietly in the corner. Best of all, it was totally empty. Binding oaths against having children were good for little things like that.

Although maybe not as good as you might expect, considering Thalia existed.

The daughter of Zeus had actually been the topic of many of his thoughts across the afternoon, all as part of a more significant question.

How should he begin his quest for twelve?

The first was very important. It would set the tone— and not just for him. He wasn't naive enough to believe the other gods weren't watching his progress.

It wasn't arrogance. He just knew how starved for entertainment they could be.

Anyway, he wanted to make a statement, and he could think of one surefire way to make that happen. To beat Zeus's challenge, who better to start with than the god's own daughter?

The thought alone was enough to leave him excited. Thalia was a catch by any measure— powerful, accomplished, beautiful… and after their conversations earlier, he was pleased to say even pleasant.

Just the sort of woman he would've gone for even if he were still a god.

Now that was a nice message to send. Mortal or not, he was still Perseus. He was still himself. He liked the sound of that.

All of this led directly into the moment his mood completely lifted. A knock came on the inside of his door frame as the guide Chiron promised him arrived to lead them to dinner. When Perseus turned, a smile formed unconsciously.

Maybe the old horse really was serious about helping him, Perseus mused with no small amount of wonder.

He'd gone and sent Thalia.

"I'm supposed to show you to the Pavilion, right?" Thalia asked as Perseus approached.

"If you'd please," he said. They paused, face to face, and he took a few fresh smudges on her cheeks that looked like soot. "You look dirtier than normal."

Thalia sniffed. "Thanks for the reminder. I'd almost forgotten."

"Do you want it gone?"

She looked suspiciously at him, then over his shoulder at the fountain in the corner. "This feels like a setup to dunk water all over me."

"Of course not," Perseus said. "I can think of much better ways to make you wet."

Before she could react, he snapped his fingers. The scent of lavender soap arrived on a sudden, unseasonably warm breeze. The dirt disappeared off Thalia down to the last smudge. Her hair puffed up as if recently dried. Most noticeably, pleasant smells swirled around her until they'd suffused into her skin, leaving her smelling more like a flower patch than a warrior.

Thalia gave her arm an experimental sniff. "Not really my style, but that's still a pretty damn useful trick— Are you alright?"

The sudden question came as Perseus gasped, doubling over. His breath became labored, and it took a moment of intense focus to bring it back under control.

"I'm fine," Perseus said, straightening slowly and waving off her concerned look. "I'm not used to that taking so much out of me."

Hygienic party tricks like that were something he'd become accustomed to using as effortlessly as breathing. It was a quick way of making sex more enjoyable for both parties, or a of winning favor with whatever lucky lady he was trying to woo next.

That it it exhausted him so much now was… slightly frightening.

"Onward to dinner!" he said, making a show of walking quickly past Thalia out into the evening air. With a couple powerful strides he reached the path and started down it.

"You know, usually, guides are the ones that are supposed to walk in front," Thalia said wryly as she followed him.

Perseus stopped, sweeping out his arm. "Ladies first."

Thalia smirked and took the lead.

"Gracious of you to give it up," she said as they walked.

"Walking in the back has its perks too," Perseus said, his eyes flickering down.

He mostly meant it as a joke. But if he was looking anyway, there was no reason to deny himself a good moment to study Thalia's shapely backside as it strained her tight pants.

Thalia shook her head. "You're an awful flirt, you know that?"

"Apologies," Perseus said. "I have a hard time shaking off old habits."

"So you didn't mean any of it?"

"Now, I never said that."

Thalia laughed.

"You're fun to talk to," she said. "You've got a quick tongue."

She raised a hand to shut him up as his mouth opened.

"No puns about that one allowed. It's too easy."

"But I'm rather fond of easy things," Perseus said. "Especially when it comes to women."

"You're deplorable."

"Proud of it, too."

Having left the cabins behind, they began climbing a hill at a leisurely pace. Ahead, the chatter of voices and scent of appetizing smoke drifted down from the peak. Perseus thought he'd heard a conch horn earlier, possibly as the signal for dinner, but he wasn't sure.

Relishing the moment, he slowed a touch to admire the view. Almost all of Camp was visible, from the U-shape of cabins to the neat strawberry fields, past the Big House and even to the hill that marked the border of camp, a very noticeable pine tree sprouting at its crest.

Thalia caught him looking and stopped walking entirely, leaving Perseus to follow her example.

"Pretty impressive, right?" she asked.

Perseus nodded. "It's a great view."

"I was talking about the tree."

He blinked, then looked back at the view. He focused entirely on the tree he'd spotted before, although that didn't turn up much else. It was tall, and completely alone without any others nearby. That was why it was visible even from so far away. It did feel like something was drawing his eyes to it, but even that wasn't unusual. It just meant a spell of some sort was likely at work.

"It's pretty," Perseus finally settled on. "Does it mean something to you?"

Thalia's expression grew complicated. Her eyes looked angry, but her lips were smiling. "You could definitely say that."

She started walking again, and Perseus fell into step, wondering what the Hades that had been about.

The destination when they crested the hill turned out to be an outdoor pavilion with stunning views over the ocean from between marble columns. Torches lit the scene, where dozens of demigods sat eating and chatting at long white tables. Perseus couldn't help but notice how some tables were cramped while others sat completely empty, although that only made sense. Demigods ate with their cabins, so children of obscure gods like him were guaranteed more than a fair share of elbow-room.

He snagged a plate off what he was pretty sure was the Poseidon table, noting with satisfaction that it filled with food as soon as his hands made contact. Barely missing a step he fell back in with Thalia, who had collected a plate of her own, and made for a large brazier set off to the side.

Thalia walked him through the steps of the sacrifice, but in the end it was mostly a formality. The procedure was coming back to Perseus quickly now from his prior visit. He scraped a healthy helping of pulled pork into the fire and prayed for good luck with what he was going to try soon. It wasn't something his father had any control over, but it didn't hurt to try.

He and Thalia went separate ways to eat, but met up again when everyone moved to the campfire for sing-along. Dionysus hadn't shown up for dinner, and Chiron had given Perseus a few glances but otherwise left him alone, so he felt free to cut loose and relax a bit.

He was a rather awful singer, which Thalia delighted in telling him straight to his face. Fortunately she was at least as bad, giving him plenty of ammunition to fire back with.

Sitting at the edge of the crowd, laughing side by side, it was an altogether far more pleasant way to end such an awful day than Perseus had ever hoped for. When the last number was sung and campers began funneling in single file lines back toward their cabins, it really seemed a shame that the night had to end.

So Perseus decided it was time to see if it really did have to end at all.

He cast a look at Chiron, who stood alone by the fire looking out fondly over all his charges. Maybe the centaur sensed something. He met Perseus's eyes, and the two stared silently at each other.

Finally, Chiron looked away. He didn't clop closer or raise his voice. To Perseus, that was enough to serve as a seal of approval.

He quickly caught up to Thalia, who had just started the walk down the hill. He grabbed her shoulder, causing her to spin around quickly. When she saw who it was touching her, she mellowed.

Perseus gave her a rueful smile, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's embarrassing to admit, but it seems I forgot how to get to my cabin. Could you show me the way?"

Thalia studied him. Then she smirked. "I'm so sorry, but I forgot how to get to the Poseidon Cabin too. I remember how to get to mine, though. Would that help?"

Perseus grinned.

"Why, that sounds absolutely perfect."

-

"Mmmph!"

The startled moan echoed through the Zeus cabin from next to the door, muffled by the tongue currently invading the speaker's mouth. It was followed by a few more quieter, less frantic moans as her mouth relaxed and her own tongue met the invader.

The moment they stepped inside her cabin, Perseus had wasted no time in pressing Thalia up against the wall. One of his hands nestled at his hip whilst his other was planted beside her head, palm against the cool tile. His tongue had slipped into her mouth while her brain was still catching up, but she adjusted quickly.

They stood there, heads turned at slight angles to allow their tongues more room to dance. It was minutes before Percy pulled away from her lips, and even then it was only to shift his attention to the side of her soft neck. Thalia's hands found the back of his head, her fingers digging deep into his hair.

"This is… a new one!" Thalia gasped. "Most boys at camp are too scared to shove me against a wall these days."

Perseus's hands dipped down, grasping her firm butt in a tight grip and sliding her up the wall. For a moment her legs flailed, reaching for a floor they couldn't reach, before they wrapped around his waist and went still.

"I'm a firm believer that every lady deserves to be treated like this at least once in her life," Perseus said.

"Amen to that."

He reignited the kiss. With her head against the wall, there was nowhere to run. His tongue ran roughshod over her mouth, pushing her own tongue and claiming any space it wanted. He relished the feeling of her backside oozing between his fingers.

His crotch was pressed tightly to hers that there was hardly any space between them. That probably explained why as they kissed, and his cock hardened, Thalia could feel it. Her legs tightened around him.

Thalia pulled away from their kiss.

"I think you have something for me," she said with a smirk.

"Do you now?" Perseus asked. "Do you want it?"

"I do," Thalia said.

"You really want it?"

"I really really really do."

It seemed she really had been aching for someone to take the lead. Perseus pulled her away from the wall, easily carrying her deeper into the room.

He hadn't stopped to study the decorations on the way in, preoccupied with Thalia herself, but now he got his first real look at the Zeus cabin. It was one of the few he'd never seen the inside of before, and he found he hadn't been missing much. There weren't even beds, just a vacant stone floor and bare walls. The room's only feature was a statue of Zeus himself. The statue was so tall that it brushed the ceiling, aggressively raising his shield and Master Bolt to fight off some imaginary enemy. It surveyed almost every corner of the room with awful overly-realistic eyes. Perseus found the cabin to be a perfect representation of Zeus himself— simultaneously a bigger narcissist than Narcissus himself and yet also absolutely dull.

The only thing that stood out was a sleeping bag shoved in one corner with personal belongings scattered around it. The placement seemed random, until you realized it was the only spot outside of the statue's view. Percy carried Thalia toward it, intent on continuing there.

Before he got close, Thalia tightened her grip on him. "No. Let's put on a show."

The words took a moment to register, but once they did Perseus felt a grin split his face.

He changed courses, instead moving to the center of the room.

He set Thalia down in a vast patch of open floor directly in front of the statue. She looked up at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes that also carried the hint of something else. Her hands worked open the latch on his belt and slid it open. A moment later she had popped open his pants and had her hands resting on his underwear. She slid the last layer down slowly, revealing his cock inch by inch, excitement visibly growing the longer the reveal went on.

When the process finally finished, Thalia paused for a moment admiring the phallic shape that was dwarfing her head. Then she leaned in and brought it to her lips.

She really was beautiful, Perseus mused. Something about his cock in her mouth really brought out the best in her eyes. She had her father's regal looks with a prominent feminine twist, but the freckles scattered across her face added a lovely personable touch. She'd unhinged her jaw as far as it would go, but still only made it a little over halfway down Perseus's cock. That was over twice as well as Hera had done, so Perseus figured she deserved some credit.

Besides, she had other ways of driving him crazy. Wet slurping sounds echoed in the cavernous room. The noise of his daughter worshiping Perseus's cock rebounded off of Zeus's statue. The entire time she was sucking Thalia looked up at Perseus, nearly cross-eyed. Even when he brushed the back of her throat and her eyes watered, she never averted her gaze.

Such dutiful work deserved its reward. After more than ten minutes, he felt the change arrive.

"It's coming," he warned.

Thalia pulled off of him at exactly the moment it happened. Globs of his semen rained down across her face, all the way from her forehead down to the chin. She didn't make a single move to wipe it away. Judging her satisfied smile, she wanted to wear it like a badge of honor.

"Did I earn a reward?" she asked cheekily, voice slightly raw from the beating her throat just took.

"More than earned it," Perseus said.

"Good, because I don't know if I can get any hornier."

She started to pull off her clothes, but Perseus stopped her with a hand on her wrist. She looked at him curiously.

"Why don't you pray to your father?"

She looked at him like he was crazy.

"You said you wanted to put on a show, didn't you? This is the best way to make sure somebody's watching."

Slowly, realization dawned. Thalia hesitated, but only for a second. A broad smirk broke out across her face.

"I guess I have been feeling pretty thankful tonight…"

She stood and dragged her shirt off, then stepped out of her pants. She popped open her bra, showing off small perky breasts that matched her stocky frame perfectly. Once only her panties were left, she pulled those off too.

One by one, she folded her clothes and laid them in a neat stack before prostrating herself to the statue.

When completely nude it was an astoundingly lewd position. Her fit backside, her best best asset, was raised invitingly, and her pussy lay completely exposed. Perseus knelt behind her, lining himself up with her entrance. He was slightly concerned whether the conditions were enough (it took a lot of lubrication to fit something his size into such a tight hole) but it was a needless worry. Thalia's spit still glistened on his length, and if anything her entrance was wetter still. With a hand on either hip to hold her steady, Perseus thrusted.

Thalia gasped, but words didn't escape her for long. With clasped hands, she began reciting a prayer

"Thank you, father," she said, "for cursing this hung stud. Thank you for allowing him to ram my tight pussy, and for giving me the chance to cum on the cock that drove that bitch Hera crazy."

Perseus tore his shirt off as felt sweat began to collect. He shifted his grip on Thalia. Instead of holding her hips, he grabbed her ass and sunk his fingers in until they found purchase.

He sped up until his hips were just a blur. Most men could only keep up a pace like that for a few short moments, but he wasn't most men.

At the same time, he felt his respect for Thalia deepen. He'd seen women far older than her reduced to gibbering messes the moment he began fucking them like this, yet the daughter daughter of Zeus remained lucid enough to continue her prayer with nothing more than a slight tremor in her voice.

"Thank you, father, for this obnoxious statue you graciously gave your kids. Without it, I couldn't show you this. Without it, you wouldn't have to watch. Thank you."

Orgasms rained down on Perseus's cock, but he fucked straight through each one. The claps of flesh came so quickly they sounded like a studio audience offering canned applause.

His breath was growing ragged, from lust as much as any slight fatigue.

"Thank you for being such a deadbeat that your daughter grew up to do something like this," Thalia said. "Thank you for showing me what a man shouldn't be, so that I would learn what a man could be."

Perseus couldn't take it anymore. Passion boiling over, he reached out and grasped Thalia's head. Her hair was too short to yank, but his fingers wrapped all the way around the back of her skull and pulled her up, baring her cum-soiled face to the statue of her father.

From the new angle with her upper body raised, Perseus's cock was striking a different point deeper inside of her. Thalia's voice trembled and warbled. The composure she'd done so well to hang onto finally fractured.

"Thank you," she told the statue. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you…"

Her words trailed off, mixing into unintelligible moans.

Neither of them spoke, they just moved. Her stamina was even better than a goddesses', a testament to the training and battles she'd lived through. Perseus was used to outlasting his partners easily — just look at Hera — but soon he was panting almost as much as Thalia. His abs screamed at him to slow down, while his lower back begged for the same. He ignored them both.

He lost track of how many times Thalia came, and he was sure she did too. They both grunted and gasped and probably sounded like total fools. That was the neat thing about sex, though— all that mattered was the two of you. Or the three of you. Or—

Well, you got the picture.

Finally, Perseus pulled Thalia all the way back, until the top of her head was touching his chest. He bucked his hips forward. And he exploded deep inside her, letting out the load that had been building for the better part of an hour.

Thalia groaned in his ear. Then she slid forward, dropping to the floor and lying there, totally spent. Perseus fell forward too, although he landed with a bit more grace. They lay there next to each other, catching their breath and relishing the cooling touch of the tile on their bare bodies.

"You did it inside."

Thalia was looking at him sideways, her cheek melded to the stone floor. It sounded like she wanted to be angry but just didn't have enough energy.

"I'm sterile," Perseus said. "Comes with being the god of lovemaking, not babymaking."

Thalia blinked. "Useful, I guess…"

They lay there a bit longer. It was strange to be catching his breath naked under the gaze of his uncle's statue, but Perseus found a perverse pleasure in making it watch even this. The lull after a round of heart-pumping sex was as much a part of lovemaking as flirting or foreplay.

"Can I… ask you something?" Perseus said after a while.

"Nothing complicated," Thalia groaned. "Please."

"Why were you on board with this?"

Some of the haze that had clouded over her eyes burned away. She didn't look angry, exactly, but Thalia did become more alert quickly.

"I mean, Zeus and I have never gotten along," Perseus went on. "We've clashed ever since I was a baby — don't ask, it involved a whole bunch of bottled milk and one of his favorite eagles — and that only got worse after he tossed me out of Olympus… and, y'know, when I boned his wife. I can't shake the feeling you hate him about as much as I do. But you're his daughter. You're the biggest hero of this age. Shouldn't he be proud of you?"

Thalia snorted. "Oh, he's plenty proud, so long as I don't ask questions when he tells me to do something— or ask for anything in return when I succeed. I should be satisfied just because he graciously allows me to be associated with my name! It's…" She turned her face toward the floor, mashing her nose flat and resting her weight on her forehead. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

Perseus dropped it there. He would've respected her request anyway, but in truth her words had given him a sudden idea. His brain raced, weighing up a slew of positives and negatives.

From the moment this task first landed in his lap, he'd been assuming he would tackle it alone. It wasn't a conscious decision so much as just what he was used to. This was the way he always operated before. What help could a god possibly need?

But maybe… that wasn't the way things had to be. He blamed Dionysus for dredging up memories; ancient ones of times when they traveled the world, combining their specialties to have more fun than ever before. Sometimes a little help wasn't a bad thing. He couldn't forget how much a simple trick like cleaning Thalia up took out of him earlier. If there was ever a time to accept some assistance, it was now, hopelessly weak as he'd become.

If he told her about the quest given to him, the way he'd been honest with Chiron, she could help. She knew the people here at camp far better than him, not to mention she was probably much better at understanding mortals, being a mortal herself and all. Besides, he hadn't been acting before. Beyond simply getting back at Zeus he did genuinely find her enjoyable.

Of course, she could also take it badly. The last thing he wanted was to earn a powerful demigod's ire by making her feel like she'd been used just to reach some quota. If she spread word about it, his opportunities at camp could disappear overnight. Telling Thalia now was definitely a gamble.

But… maybe she was one worth taking that chance on?

Choice: Should Perseus tell Thalia about his quest?

Option A: Do it and tell her!

Option B: No, play it safe.

Additional info: The choices feel a bit limited this time, which I apologize for. This chapter ended up being longer than expected because there was so much to get through, and I want the story's choices to be a little bit more diverse than just 'Which girl do you want next?' over and over again. I promise the next choice will have more options for you all to pick from, so look forward to that.

How to Vote: Write a review which says/includes A or B. You can just write the letter, or feel free to type out all your reasoning. Who knows, you may even sway others to back your vote if you make a really good case.

I will count votes cast across all the sites this story is posted to (see my profile for details) and go with whatever has the majority. Chapters will generally be spaced out by at least a week, to give plenty of time for everyone who wants to vote to get the chance to.