Percy Jackson : Gods Annihilation

However, he was pulled from wondering as Rhea used a finger to tilt his face towards her.

"You could use a break yourself, so how about we visit Hestia and the others?" she asked, waiting a few seconds before adding. "We can see how Athena and Cloelia are doing."

...

He thought about it for a bit, seeing the merit. Hestia usually let them know how things were going but Percy hadn't personally been in her mindscape since Raven's connection was pushed on her. In the outer world, just over two days but in the mindscape, Hestia was accelerating the perception and flow of time to an extent, so it had been far longer.

"You know what, I'd like that," he said after a bit, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

If anything, him spending some bonding time with Cloelia was a needed plus.

With a nod, Rhea all but hopped off him and he stood to follow, the pair walking hand in hand towards the hallway connecting to the mindscapes. By now the temple was abuzz with activity as the pair passed through some of the busier walkways as minor gods, nature spirits, and the occasional mortal made their way between offices within the temple to other smaller temples for other overseeing deities. Percy gave some polite nods and such to anyone who noticed and greeted him, Rhea much the same.

In short order, they got to the less traveled hall, stopping before Hestia's Redwood door.

Rhea barely even need to knock before it opened, inviting them in. Like every time he entered, he took a deep breath to immerse himself in the warmth that represented his draconic wife. Beside him, Rhea practically purred as she soaked in the rays of light as a soothing breeze passed over them carrying Hestia's greeting.

"We should spend more time in here," Rhea commented as the pair walked, already knowing which direction to head as they felt out the three distinct presences within. "I just want us all to curl up and cuddle away."

"Isn't that the same thing you said about my forest?" he asked, a slight teasing tone coming through.

"True, but can you really blame me? Your forest is just cool enough that makes it a perfect excuse every time," Rhea answered after a moment, a smile of her own playing on her lips as she let go of his hand only to run it along his back.

He shivered a little at her touch, his body responding as she knew it would, his wings manifesting in their full, dark glory. Rhea was quick cuddle up to his side as his right wing wrapped around her, getting a pleased purr out of the queen.

"I never waste a good chance to snuggle," she murmured, looking all too pleased with herself.

He snorted but didn't comment, simply letting her enjoy herself.

The pair continued to walk for some minutes, the rustle of long grass swaying in the constant breeze filling the silence until they got to where Hestia had set the cottage for Athena and Cloelia. Unlike last time he was here, he could smell the slightest hints of fire and wood burning, a slow puff of smoke occasionally coming out of the chimney.

Walking around to the front side of the small building, the pair was greeted with the sight of their wife and her new—follower, hand, Percy wasn't entirely sure just what Hestia wanted to call Athena's position—training with said goddess. The duo were a fair distance away in a dip in the valley that he was sure hadn't been there before. Glancing down, he noticed a red rune border with some small runes etched along the floor that completely surrounded the charred space the two goddesses occupied.

He assumed Hestia used it to isolate their fire and even noise rather than actively split her attention between Athena and maintaining her mindscape.

Both goddesses were dressed lightly in simple, tunic-like tops and shorts with their hair up in ponytails. Even from the distance, Percy could clearly make out their details, especially the way Athena was practically heaving, sweat soaking through her clothes as she sparred with a far more composed looking Hestia. Seemingly catching her breathe, Athena swung her arm, tendrils of amber-ish fire flaring to life and speeding towards Hestia.

Only for Hestia to all but swat it aside and simultaneously throw a dense fireball of crimson and gold hues.

Athena wasn't ready for such a sudden retaliation and got a face full of it, knocking her on her ass as it popped harmlessly against the mostly fireproof goddess. Percy couldn't keep a slight grin off his face as he could see and practically hear Athena growl in frustration as she got back up to try again.

"This brings me back," he murmured to Rhea, the lioness nodding at his side with a matching grin.

"Nyx and Tartarus weren't as nice with you though," she added teasingly, watching as Athena barely hopped over a wave of flame.

Now Percy pouted, remembering several times where he was sent ass over teakettle off cliffs and such by blasts of concentrated Darkness. The inherently cold and rather harmful properties of the element didn't bother him much as Nyx and Erebus' heir, but that did nothing for the force and weight of the blow each attack carried.

Still, as much as he could complain about the training methods, he couldn't deny that it had been effective.

He'd always been more of a hands-on learner and being repeatedly thrown into the fire as it were pushed him along nicely. No time to really think or plan, or more importantly, doubt. Just act and react, to try and feel the ebb and flow of his attuned elements and how each responded to his will. Sometimes he'd marvel at how he'd start a week struggling with performing a specific action with an element only to be able to do it out of reflex by the end of the session.

Shaking his head at some of those bittersweet memories, he watched as Athena was caught in a flaming whip and flung back into a patch of tinder, a cloud of ash and dust obscuring her. Shifting his eyes to his draconic wife, he quirked an eye at the amused smirk playing on her face as she casually twirled around her whip, patiently waiting for Athena to recover for more.

And judging by the pissed look on Athena's now ashy face, the former Olympian was not about to tap out either.

However, he was pulled from his observations as he felt Rhea poking his side. Glancing down at his wife, he watched as she subtly tilted her head backward. Following the movement, he glanced over his shoulder towards the cabin and caught a glimpse of bright eyes and black hair before it ducked behind the somewhat open door. Looking back to Rhea, he caught her smile before she let go of his side.

"I'll see if Hestia and Athena could use an extra set of hands," she said as she started to move away, her clothes seamlessly changing to match what the other two were wearing.

His eyes followed her form for a good minute or two before he sighed as he stepped back and sat down in the soft grass. He watched as Rhea got close enough that Athena finally noticed her, though the apparent surprise on her face and distraction cost her as Hestia nailed her with another fireball. He could see Rhea's shoulders shake with her chuckles as she approached Hestia, embracing her wife with all the affection she was known for as Athena recovered.

He couldn't hear what was said with the barrier, but he got the gist of it as Hestia glanced in his direction, her own warm smile on her lips before she refocused on Athena. Rhea said something, probably about how she wanted to join in the training, and going by the way Athena suddenly paled, the goddess was in for a rough time. He suppressed a snort, knowing how Rhea tended to be rather overeager when it came to training. Playful sure, but definitely at a higher pace that what Hestia had been limiting herself to.

And he didn't have to wait long for them to start as Rhea all but pounced, a staff made of golden flames not dissimilar to those Hestia had been using, in hand. Luckily, Athena hadn't been one of the strongest and adaptive Olympians for nothing as a spear and shield of amber flames flared to life in her hands. The duo collided with a noticeable pop of sparks before a flurry of blows began.

Now in a close-combat setting, Athena went from floundering under Hestia's consistent assault of elemental bombardment to smoothly ducking and weaving against Rhea's almost dancelike strikes. A pace that would leave even veteran demigods and minor gods alike out of their depth was made as the two goddesses went at it, all the while Hestia threw in the occasional potshot of fire.

As they moved back and forth Percy couldn't help but marvel at Athena, his eyes tracking her easily. Barely over two weeks and change for her and she was already making headway into the use of her new element. The definition and stability of her constructs especially impressed him given fire's rather chaotic nature and how the element could get almost temperamental when forced into one defined shape or form.

He would know, his own Voidfire was especially wild even now with his mastery of it.

Then, the way those amber flames painted her in constantly shifting light and shadow, all the while her own eyes shined like beacons with her strawberry blonde hair catching the light and seemingly ignited too. And, as the duo slowly got faster and faster, he could see a wry grin forming on her lips as she got more into the spar.

Rhea was much the same, the light of their weapons reflecting off her golden gaze as she tested and probed Athena's defenses, especially the shield construct.

...

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