summary : All things pass, even this one. Last part of Second to None.
pairing/s : Percy Jackson x Daughter of Hades! Reader
warning/s: what term do you use when a god almost kills a demigod... family bonding? 🤷🏻♀️
here is my masterlist! along with the Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!
Note : I am NEVER writing a series again. It wasn't even meant to be one. Anyways, white represents clarity and a blank slate. If you don't like the ending, I guess write your own? 😊
By the time you reached the Underworld, Hades received you without question.
Nico and Hazel came too, though neither stayed long.
They understood this wasn’t something they could carry for you.
For the first time in months, you could breathe.
Your heart still ached, but it no longer felt like it was crushing you from the inside out.
There were no expectations in your father's palace.
No lingering ghosts in every glance, no echoes of what you had lost.
Only the space to finally feel everything you had been running from.
In quieter moments, you thought that maybe leaving Percy a note instead of facing him had been dramatic.
Still, something was wrong.
A tremor in the water of your cup.
Ripples disturbing the surface of your bath.
You asked Hades about it, and he answered with two words.
He also told you to rest and enjoy the peace he had granted you.
And gods, you were glad you didn’t.
Because beyond the palace walls, there was war.
Monsters. Screams. Chaos.
And one man cutting through it all.
A single figure tore through the defenses of the Underworld like a storm given flesh.
Percy Jackson was drenched in blood and dirt, wounds carved into him like proof that he refused to stop.
Riptide moved through shadows like it belonged there, effortless and precise.
There was no restraint in him.
Hades had wrapped the truth in illusion with the Mist and manufactured a peace, carefully concealed reality.
And the restless water had been Percy.
"Go back inside, child." Hades said. "Let him suffer."
"He will only hurt you again."
You faltered, because he wasn’t wrong.
Unintentionally, but deeply enough to shake everything you thought you knew.
Your worth. Your love. Yourself.
However, this wasn’t right either.
You had hurt him too. You left.
You didn’t fight for clarity and chose silence.
Distance instead of honesty.
You're both to blame for a mess neither of you knew how to fix.
"Please." You whispered, gripping Hades’ hand. "Let him go. I love him. I still love him."
For one terrible moment, you thought Hades might end it all where Percy stood.
Instead, he appeared in front of you.
You rushed forward, but he didn’t collapse into you as expected.
He dropped to his knees at your feet, akin to a sinner offering himself up for judgment.
A broken sound cut you off.
His head hung so low, it touched the ground.
You forced yourself to stay steady and grabbed his shoulders. "You need to get up."
"I deserved it." He choked out, voice raw. "I deserved all of it."
"No, my love" The endearment slipped before you could stop it. "Don't say that."
You tried to pull him up again, and he let you.
"I love you." He said desperately, hands gripping your waist like you were the only solid thing left in his world. "I love you—I always have, I always—"
Panic surged through you, yet Hades remained unbothered.
"That would have been mercy. What he endured was not."
His gaze lingered on Percy with disappointment.
"A fraction." He added. "Of what you endured in silence."
The servants carried Percy away, and you did not leave his side.
Even unconscious, he clung to you.
Your name and apologies spilling from his lips like prayers he couldn’t stop saying.
Hours passed before he finally woke.
And immediately locked eyes with you.
You recognized that baby seal look right away.
"I’M SORRY, I WAS AN IDIOT!"
You raised your hand and he immediately covered his mouth.
Gods. You had missed this.
His chaos. His volume. Him.
"I should be the one to apologize. I left instead of talking to you, and just assumed the worst instead of the truth."
"You had every reason to." He cut in immediately. "If I’d just been clearer, paid attention, and explained myself properly... None of this would’ve happened"
Silence settled between you again, fragile and uncertain.
Finally, you asked, softer, "Then tell me, Percy… what do you really want?"
"You." He answered quickly.
"…Okay, wow, that sounded unbelievably corny. Hold on, let me think of something cooler."
Despite everything, a laugh escaped you.
Somehow, he still managed to make this moment humorous.
Percy blinked. "You’re laughing. Is that good, or am I about to die?"
"No." You shook your head. "You’re not dying."
Your smile softened, and he waited for you to speak again.
"I love you, Percy. I just don’t know what comes next, or what to do."
"I get it. Because I don’t either. I just know I want you."
"She matters to me." He admitted gently, taking your hand. "But so do you."
His thumb brushed your knuckles.
"I’m not leaving this, us, to fate. Never again."
"There's no choice. It's only you. And if you choose me? We'll figure this shit out— together."
You closed your eyes, overwhelmed in every direction at once.
Love. Exhaustion. Fear. Relief.
"I think my thoughts get the best of me sometimes."
"Then we'll deal with them together." He murmured, wrapping an arm around you. "Whatever trauma, insecurity, or cursed playlist is currently ruining your peace."
"You make it sound easy."
"No, it's not." He chuckled. "But I’ll talk to Annabeth. I respect her place in my life. But if she wants to stay in it, she has to respect yours too."
You studied him for a long moment.
His grin returned like a sun breaking through storm clouds.
"Good, now give me cuddles. Your dad literally tried to kill me."
You looked down. "No amount of apology will—"
"Eh." Percy said, already dragging you with him on the bed. "Funny story for the grandkids."
Meanwhile, in the throne room, Hades' eye twitched.
Nico groaned. "And here I was hoping I could set her up with Jason. Imagine the blond, shadow-traveling cherubs."
Hazel stared at him. "What?"
"Nothing." He sighed. "Love wins as always. Yey. Great. Whatever. Can I beat Percy now?"