The 13th Olympian

The day before the wedding was supposed to be about relaxation, final touches, and fun. It was supposed to be a moment to breathe before the big day. But instead, chaos reigned.

I stood in the middle of the temple, pacing with Apollo by my side, and we both exchanged looks of silent panic. The walls of our sanctuary, which had been so calm just days before, now felt like they were closing in on me. Everyone was running around, making last-minute adjustments, and for once, even the gods seemed to have lost their usual composure.

"Percy, you look like you're about to explode," Apollo said, his voice light, but with a hint of concern. He had his hands buried in his pockets, the golden sunlight from the open windows casting a soft glow on his face. But even his radiant aura couldn't quite mask the tension in the air.

"I feel like I'm about to explode," I muttered, staring at the pile of still-need-to-do items in the corner of the room. "This is supposed to be fun, right? I mean, we're getting married tomorrow, and I feel like I'm drowning in to-do lists."

"Oh, don't worry. I've been through this before," Apollo said, his voice a little more reassuring. "The day before the wedding is always the most chaotic. But everything will be fine."

I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or me. The air had a heavy tension, and every now and then, I could hear faint shouts from the other room—Clarisse barking orders, Grover offering advice on last-minute musical selections, and Will trying to keep everything calm while Nico helped straighten out the emotional mess that was everyone else.

The sound of someone running through the hallway caught my attention, and before I could ask who it was, Thalia appeared, her brow furrowed with an air of determined frustration. She was holding a large binder filled with notes, and her usually cool demeanor was replaced with the kind of focus you only saw when someone was fighting to keep things from completely unraveling.

"Percy, Apollo," she greeted us with a grimace. "We've got a problem."

I groaned. "What now?"

"We're missing some flowers," Thalia said. "The florist just texted me—they had a delivery mix-up, and there's a huge shipment of roses that won't arrive until late tonight. The centerpiece flowers are going to be late. So... we need to make do, or figure something out quickly."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Roses? For our wedding? That sounds... very 'Hera' of them."

"Exactly," Thalia said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And it's not like we can just swap them out with daisies. This is a big deal, Percy. A huge part of the aesthetic is based on those roses."

"Okay, okay," I said, trying to remain calm. "We'll figure it out. Let's get creative, maybe. If worse comes to worst, we can always get a few nymphs to weave flowers into the space last minute."

Thalia's eyes brightened just a little. "That's... actually not a bad idea."

Before I could respond, there was a sudden whoosh, and Clarisse stormed into the room, her hands on her hips. "There's another problem," she said, her voice tinged with irritation. "I just spoke with the caterer, and someone—I'm not naming names, but I think you know who you are, Apollo—forgot to finalize the menu for the after-party. So, now we've got no cake, no appetizers, no nothing."

Apollo, who had been nervously laughing, froze. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," Clarisse said, shaking her head in disbelief. "The cake was supposed to be ordered today, and the caterer just got an urgent call from some other god who insisted on changing the menu at the last minute. No cake, no appetizers, nothing—just the main meal."

"Well, we can't just have nothing," I said, running a hand through my hair, feeling my patience wearing thin. "We need cake. What's a wedding without cake?"

"Exactly," Apollo said, his usually radiant smile turning into a strained grimace. "Okay, okay, okay. We'll figure something out." He paused. "I'll go talk to the caterer and work out a solution."

"Good," Clarisse said, looking at me like I was the last person who could help. "But don't waste time. And don't mess with my seating chart. I've already had to deal with three gods complaining about their seats."

"Got it," I said, barely processing what she'd said before she was already off, probably rounding up some other disaster to report.

I looked at Apollo, whose face was now drawn with stress, his usual playful demeanor gone.

"Maybe this wedding wasn't such a good idea," I muttered.

Apollo let out a long breath, walking over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Percy, listen. You've done more than enough. Everyone's just... excited. You're about to marry the god of the sun. The most radiant being in existence. So, of course, the wedding planning has to be extra chaotic. But we've got this. We really do."

I wasn't convinced. And then, of course, as if on cue, Nico and Will walked into the room, looking slightly harried, though not as much as the rest of us. Nico gave a slight nod when he saw us.

"Everything alright?" Nico asked, his voice calm despite the tension in the air.

"Yeah, fine," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Just a few hiccups."

"We're here to help," Will chimed in, offering me a smile, but I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. Nico, too, looked like he hadn't slept in a while.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You look like you've been hit by a thousand years of stress. What's going on?"

I gave him the rundown—about the flowers, the cake, the seating chart, and the general panic that was spreading through the temple.

"Sounds like a disaster," Nico said with a faint grin. "But hey, you're the god of time. Can't you just—what? Stop time? Fix everything in a second?"

"I wish," I muttered. "But no. Time doesn't work like that. And right now, I need all the time I can get."

"Well," Will said, "we'll just have to make the best of it. I'm sure we'll figure out something. It's your day tomorrow, Percy. Everything will fall into place."

"That's easy for you to say," I said, but a small smile tugged at my lips. "Alright, alright. Let's get back to it. We've got a wedding to pull off."

As if on cue, the door swung open once again, and Grover entered, holding a bouquet of roses in his arms—the roses that had been delivered just in time.

"Crisis averted!" Grover said with a beaming grin. "I found some extra flowers, and I even got the caterer to whip up an emergency wedding cake. It's not as grand as what you might've wanted, but it'll work. You're going to have the best wedding tomorrow, Percy. I promise."

Relief flooded through me, the tension in my chest releasing bit by bit. It wasn't going to be perfect—nothing ever was—but at least now, everything felt like it might just work out.

"We've got one day left," I said, turning to Apollo, Nico, Will, and the rest of our friends. "Let's do this."