When Things Fall Apart

Chapter One

The war had just finished. Luke was dead, Annabeth was still suffering, and Percy felt like the most useless person in the world. He and Annabeth swayed with the music on Olympus. He danced to the solemn song, assuming Annabeth was listening to the exact same thing. Neither of them looked at one another. After a bit of time, they sat at a bench on the street, while everyone else celebrated.

The moment ended when Lady Hestia walked up to Percy. "Care to dance?" she asked. Percy obliged, realizing it was better to take the offer than to decline a goddess. The music sounded the same.

"Percy, I know what you are feeling now. It isn't worth it." He looked up at her with a stoic face. She continued, "Luke was destined to save Olympus. It was written in the very fabric of the universe that the events unfolded like they did."

Percy looked back down with shame written across his face. "Just between you and me... I never was a fan of the Fates." There was a moment of silence. "Why is it that Kronos is dead, and I feel like the most useless individual on the planet? I watched Luke die. Heck, I was trying to give him the knife. And now Annabeth is suffering, and there is nothing I can do to fix it."

She met his eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Percy, you did all that you could. Over the millennia, I've seen heroes come and go. I've seen the ones who accomplished their destiny and died in the process. I've seen others who lived, but then let their victory go to their head." She paused, and they swayed slowly.

"I have seen those heroes Percy. But when I look into your heart, I see someone who helped fulfill the prophecy and became a better person from it. Don't take that for granted."

He embraced her eyes once more. He had nothing to say, but she seemed happy with him.

After they danced, Percy was asked by many others to dance (mostly minor goddesses and Apollo, who then made him do the tango on stage).

After a while, Percy found himself back on the bench. Annabeth had left, and he wanted to have gone with her. It seemed like she needed some space after all of the events. He was ready to call it quits, when he heard his name.

"Perseus?" He looked up.

Standing in front of him was one of persons he least expected to talk to him. Artemis. He noticed she seemed to be around his age at the moment. She wasn't wearing her usual hunters attire. Rather, she was wearing a silver dress, which matched her eyes. Her auburn hair looked different than usual, thrown into a formal bun. He noticed a few strands cascading down.

After his quick assessment of her, he replied, "Lady Artemis, to whom do I owe the pleasure." He usually didn't talk like that, but it was better safe than sorry, or in this case, better safe than being turned into a forest animal.

"Perseus, I would like to dance with you." He couldn't believe what he just heard. His body quickly filled up with anxiety. Perhaps somewhere in his mind he was flattered to have the "man-hating goddess" asking him to dance, but that was dominated by fear for his life.

She humphed. "You do not have to be scared of me, Perseus. In fact, I took great consideration even asking you to dance. But I'll admit, I was curious about your denial of godhood." After that, they danced. Percy remained quite stiff and hardly touched her shoulders, leaving room not only for Jesus, but every Olympian there that night.

Artemis scoffed. "That's not how you do it." She adjusted his arms so he looked a little less tense. She seemed pretty relaxed wrapping her arms around his back.

"That's better," she commented. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable around her.

"Now Perseus, I hate to be an eavesdropper, but I heard your conversation with Hestia. She's right, you know. To deny your fate is to deny reality."

"Spoken like a true Stoic," he replied.

"You know it's true. For most men, I would warn them not to get a big head after a victory. But with you, I somehow feel the need to tell you the opposite."

He remained silent. Like many times that night, he felt like he had nothing to say.

"Perseus, look at me," she demanded. It was funny, she spoke in a harsh tone, but he could see the sympathy lacing her words. "You did all you could. Tell me that's true."

He nodded his head with hesitation.

"But beyond that, I still do not understand why you would not have accepted godhood? Any male would have done so within a heart beat."

He looked up at her. "I'd hate to tell you I'm not like other guys, but honestly, I don't feel like anyone right now." He lowered his head again.

THAWWPPP.

"Aww man, what was that for?" Percy asked while caressing his cheek. If anyone was paying attention, they could see the red hand print she left.

"If you don't get over the fact that you did the best you could, you'll never stop being left in the dumps." She pointed her finger at his chest. "I'm not going to see the one good man I've ever met die from the hauntings of his victory." After realizing she called him the 'one good man', Artemis scurried away with a slight blush on her cheeks. Although they were not as red as Percy's, though...

And that was how Percy Jackson spent the celebration of defeating Kronos.