HP: Monochrome

Percy Jackson

After what had truly been an epic sleepless night of debauchery, things had calmed down between them considerably. Much of whatever had fueled the desire between them seemed to have been burned up that night as if they had gotten each other out of that system. Not that nothing physical happened between them but it was a much more laid-back and casual affair than before.

The following week had been surprisingly calm with a few lights. Percy and Apollo met up every day for an hour or two in what could only be described as a crash course to godhood. He made little to no progress. A minor highlight occurred that morning before when Silena invited herself to a blowjob and prosecuted the matter until, nearly half an hour later, he finally came in her mouth. After swallowing she had continued on with her chores as if nothing had happened. Why? He did not know, but he wasn't about to question it.

Just as things had begun to quiet down around him and something akin to normality reentered his life, Hermes's sigil appeared over the dining room table where they were eating dinner. A moment later, a scroll fell from the sigil and landed on the table, after which the sigil disappeared.

"There goes dinner," Silena muttered and gave him that look. Silena wore the elegant white ancient Greek dress Percy had first seen her in and her long dark hair was woven into a thick braid. The garment showed off a very generous amount of Silena's cleavage, and Percy was still not sure if this was some sort of invitation or Silena was just rocking the newly-discovered style.

"Hey, you aren't allowed to look at me like that. I thought that was the arrangement. " Percy complained and Silena stuck her tongue out.

Sighing deeply, he unrolled the scroll.

"I am supposed to report to the council chamber," Percy summarised the ancient Greek script.

"I stood in the kitchen for more than an hour," Silena replied pointedly.

"Well, sorry," Percy exclaimed and rose to his feet. "I can't really ignore this."

"Well, if I have to throw all of this away, I will be quite cross with you," Silena announced.

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Percy assured her.

"If you say so."

"I thought you weren't allowed to be snippy with me?" Percy mocked her and received a well-earned middle finger.

Fifteen minutes Percy was hurrying up the wide, torch-lit marble stairs to the large temple on top.

Wide golden gates stood open, welcoming him into the golden-lit interior.

Percy quickly realized that he was being expected. Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon stood in the center of the brazer-lit marble hall, clearly awaiting him. They had shrunken down to mortal human size, which was fortunate enough because Percy hadn't learned yet how to size himself up. The gods were dressed in modern mortal attire. Poseidon in his Hawaiian shirt, Zeus in a businessman's suit, and Hera in a wine-red cocktail dress.

"Lady Hera, Lord Zeus, father," Percy greeted the three of them cautiously.

"Ah Perseus, I trust Olympus has been treating you well so far?" Zeus asked lightly.

"I have," Percy confirmed evenly, not sure if this was supposed to be a reference to Silena or not.

"Good, very good," Zeus exclaimed, sounding a lot more animated than he had ever seen the god before.

"Heard about that blond of yours, quite a pity," Hera added helpfully, although she didn't look sorry at all.

"Dear sister, feuding with a demigoddess is beneath you. Get over her," Poseidon pressed before he could reply anything.

"Ahm, yes. Please leave Annabeth alone, and Thalia too," Percy hastily added.

Hera shrugged, "Fine."

"So Percy, you are probably asking yourself why we invited you here," Poseidon announced brightly. It was then that Percy realized that the three gods were somewhat tipsy.

"I am," Percy admitted cautiously.

"So!" Zeus started and clapped his hands together. "You are familiar with the goddess Khione."

"Somewhat?" Percy admitted, already not liking where this was going.

"We have reservations down in the city, so I will keep this short. Khione has consistently been a nuisance ever since the Winter of 1946," Zeus began.

"And then there was her betrayal this winter," Hera added, clearly still upset about that incident.

Just then, the most peculiar sensation overcame Percy as the scent of brownies, and baking cookies suddenly lay heavy on the air. A sense of peaceful contentment overcame him, and he just might have sat down then and there for a few hours with a vacant smile plastered over his face.

"So..." an all too familiar voice of Piper Mclean announced itself in his mind. "My flat in Manhattan fell through. Something about the building not being safe. Do you know someone who needs a roommate...or could you use another one yourself? My dad said he'd cut me off if I lived alone or with someone irresponsible,...well just get back to me or whatever. I am willing to do just about anything at this point, you know, except, of course, all that nasty stuff..."

'"Are we boring you, Percy Jackson?" Hera asked sharply.

"Uhm no, sorry," Percy announced and quickly explained what had just happened.

To his surprise, Hera only smiled.

"Son, it looks like someone sacrificed something to you and sent along with a prayer," Poseidon explained. "You'll get used to it."

"So, what any more questions on your quest?" Zeus asked.

"Forgive me, I just completely zoned out during that prayer thing..."

Zeus sighed and stroked his beard. "Well, nephew. You are going to capture and arrange the long-term containment of Khione. Hard-won experience would suggest that cutting someone to ribbons before casting them into Tartarus just isn't working out for us."

"Oh," Percy said. "What do you mean contain?"

Hera smiled coldly. "What you do with her, or how to utilize her is of no concern to us, provided she never causes us problems again."

"Oh," was all Percy said in response, and understood the purpose of the small jail in his basement.

"Where is she?" Percy asked.

"I would hope Quebec. As a short-term solution, we put her under house arrest in her father's palace. Take restraints, just in case. If she gives you the slip in transit, recapturing her will be a considerable hassle. Go with a collar and cuffs," Hera suggested helpfully.

"If she isn't where she is supposed to be, you are permitted to prosecute her with extreme prejudice."

"I see," Percy replied. The entire Silena affair had already pushed him way out of his comfort zone and being handed the task to capture someone and then hold them against their will was not something that sat well with him. That someone being a literal goddess only added to his problems.

"Well, we must be going. Hades is a punctual god."