Thanks, Aphrodite!

I sit next to Athena for days.

Poseidon's PoV

I sprinted out to the throne room of Olympus, where most of the fighting was happening. I pursed my lips. The monsters were making a real statement, as if they could defeat us. But the swarms of monsters was more than I had ever seen- until I remembered Tartarus was helping them reform quickly.

I summoned a hurricane, riding on top of it while slashing and jabbing with my trident. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Athena taunting and spearing monsters. I focused and let my rage fuel me, and rows and rows of monsters evaporated.

Soon, the monsters had been overwhelmed, but I wasn't the least bit tired. It was easy- too easy, almost like it was a distraction. Clearly, Athena agreed with me because she spoke.

"Father, the fight today is clearly a diversion. Even if all the monsters had been sent to Olympus, Gaea knows that they cannot match our power. We shall not be distracted by what is happening here. As our children cannot defeat the giants without our help, it is more than likely there is some fighting going on there."

Zeus nodded, and scanned the earth. He pointed to a point bit of land, gesturing for us to fly down. Or pop down, or something. So, that's what we did.

When we appeared, our children were already fighting. Percy was doing really well against Polybotes. For the next few moments, I worked smoothly with Percy, our movements in harmony. Polybotes fought fiercely, gave as much as he could, but we gave more. Soon, he was pile of golden dust.

I looked around, and I could see that everyone had finished their opponents off. Unfortunately, my son had a nosebleed... and woke my dear grandmother up. We didn't have much time; but being the big baby he is, Zeus glared at Apollo, as if it was his fault. I could sense his anger from far away.

Surprisingly, Jason, I think his name was, stood up for his half brother. My dear brother, being the great Dad he is, offered to smack the demigods to the other side of the earth, and insisted for them to defeat Grandma alone. I hate the Ancient Laws.

The moment us gods popped back to the throne room, Athena collapsed. Her face was pale and hair stuck to her forehead. Some golden liquid - ichor, I realized - was dripping down her face, painting the marbled floor gold. I scrambled towards her side, and I saw that her forehead was bleeding ichor profusely. Apollo appeared beside me, and swore underneath his breath.

"She has a concussion, but her bleeding isn't stopping. She's lost a lot of ichor... she will probably be fine in a couple of days. I suspect using her powers to pop back up here taxed her too much, especially with events this week." Apollo said, his voice heavy with worry. "For now, I will move her to the hospital."

I turned away the moment I felt warm liquid prick at my eyes. Swiping the tears away angrily, I reminded myself that I had to be strong and help care for Athena. Keeping that thought in mind, I hailed Apollo.

The whole day, I helped clean up and wash her face free of ichor, grime, and "reduce risk of infection", according to Apollo. I bandaged and rebandaged her head wound, and her bleeding stopped, mercifully. I then took up a spot on her bedside, holding her cold, clammy hand in mine, pleading for her eyes to open again.

I stared at her unconcious face. I had never so desperately wanted to see the stormy shade of gray; I was barely aware of the sun setting and rising outside the windows of the infirmary. Apollo came constantly to feed some potions and medicine to Athena, giving me some weird looks, but otherwise, we were alone.

Aphrodite suddenly appeared, laying her hand on my shoulder.

"She'll wake, you know." I flinched. "She'll feel better to know you haven't been beating yourself up for not helping to prevent her injury." I cringed at how accurate her statement is.

"Not that I don't think it's sweet of you to sit at her bedside to wait for her to wake up, it is, but you need to eat something. You're almost as pale as Hades, as skinny as his skeletons, as smelly as Ares. And you would feel better." She said, almost gently, despite her harsh words.

"Go on, before I charmspeak you."

I sighed, knowing that she left me no choice. The food I consumed felt like lead, sinking in my stomach, the drinks I drank threatening to bubble up. I looked in the reflection. 'I look better now' I decided. At least good enough that Aphrodite wouldn't kill me. I returned to Athena's bedside.

She looked a bit better now, but not full of life like usual. Everything around us was bustling, but nothing should look so beautiful now, and the sunny day felt like an insult. Nothing should look beautiful when Athena's so... sick. I re-claimed her hand, slowly drifting off the unconsciousness as Hypnos dragged me to his realm.