If Percy Jackson said 'yes'

Wine Dude

We reappeared in the hallway we had been going down, and Apollo held me behind while he peaked around the corner.  His hand was really hot, but it didn't burn me.  God of the sun thing, I guess.  He let go and we walked further into the huge room that he had been in before, which didn't seem as huge now because I was somewhere around twenty feet tall.
   "So, what do I do now?"  I asked knowing that I wouldn't get a straight answer.  Gods never say exactly what they mean.  I made a mental note to work on that ability.
   "I don't know.  What do you want to do?"  He said casually walking over to one end of the semi-circle of Olympian thrones.  He lifted his hands and water that looked almost solid shot up from the ground in elaborate swirls and bubbles.  He acted like he did it all the time, so I tried to be cool about it.  It just didn't seem to work so well for me.
   "So... What are you doing?"  I asked, edging closer.
   "Making you a seat."  He said dropping his hands.  He turned and smiled at me.  "Dionysus just pounded grapes, dude.  You freaking saved Olympus from total destruction and all the Olympians from imprisonment in Tartarus!  Don't be so modest.  If anything, you should take D's spot to keep the number twelve.  He squished grapes.  All he did was squish freaking grapes."  He shook his head at me and continued working.
   "Isn't thirteen an unlucky number?" I asked.
   "I'll make sure that if something bad happens, no biggie.  No one will blame you, that's for sure.  I'll make sure they don't think of that little problem when the time comes."  He responded without looking at me.  The chair was starting to take shape now.  It looked like a giant blue wave with armrests.  Poseidon would be jealous.
   "Aren't you the god of truth?  You can't lie."  I pointed out.  How could he say I wasn't bad luck if I was.
   "Ahhh.  Years of practice.  You see, you have to find a loophole in the lie to make it the truth.  Like I could say 'You are not bad luck', and that would be the truth.  You aren't bad luck, the number thirteen is."  He explained.  It was weird getting good lying tips off the truth god.  He dropped his hands and put them in his pockets, grinning at his work.
   "All done.  If you don't like it you can fix it later."  He grabbed my arm again and it felt like I was touching the sun.  I guess I was, actually.  He dragged me through another corridor mumbling something about wine when we bumped into Dionysus.  Literally, we slammed right into him.  
   His eyes widened at the sight of me, probably because we were on Olympus, I was the same height as Apollo, and not disintegrating at the sight of him.
   "Aren't you dead?"  He asked drunkenly.  What else could I expect?  But still the comment ate through me.  Wasn't he there for the ruling?!  Did he NOT see Apollo take me?!  What is it that makes people think that I CAN"T SURVIVE when I'm with the gods?!  I screamed all of this at him and more, adding in words that would make my mom slap me, until he disappeared in a fizz of purple light.  Apollo looked at me all funny, and a smile grew across his face like Demeter had planted it there as he stood up.  He ran down the hallway, which gave me no choice but to follow.  I had no idea where I was going.
   We came out in a small room with an electronic board on the far wall.  The room was dark despite the glow coming from the screen.  Apollo led me up to it where he pressed a few buttons on its side, then took a step back.  The screen read:

OLYMPIANS RANKS:
1. Zeus
2. Hera
3. Poseidon
4. Demeter
5. Athena
6. Apollo
7. Artemis
8. Ares
9. Percy
10. Hephaestus
11. Hermes
12. Dionysus
13. Hestia

  I didn't like seeing my name there.  I should be the thirteenth.  I felt bad for knocking all of these other gods a rank lower, but at least I didn't surpass Ares.  If I did, there would be a whole lot of hurt coming my way.  Apollo pointed at my name and I responded with a dull, "I see it."  And he dropped his hand.
   "See.  I told you you were better than Dionysus.  What did you call him?  Wine dude."  He chuckled a little and I rolled my eyes at him while he did a silly dance.
   "Fred."  I said and we both immediately started laughing like crazy people.  Apollo literally fell on the floor and rolled around he was laughing so hard, which made me laugh so much that I had to double over.  We both managed to calm ourselves down and stand up, that is until it was dinner time and Apollo whispered to me,
   "Fred."  And we almost choked trying to hold back our giggles.  I almost forgot about Annabeth.  Almost, but not yet.