Prologue.
Gaia. Kronos. They both concentrated on Percy Jackson. Because they recognised him as a threat. They recognised him as powerful.
That meant something to the Olympians.
If the boy was so powerful Titans were cautious of him, then did that not mean something.
Should they not be cautious of him too?
Yes, he had fought for them, but mortals were flighty beings, and when their emotions turned, so did their allegiance.
Could they trust the boy?
It was two against eight. Hestia wasn't even an Olympian. And Poseidon would always fight for his only son. But ultimately they stood no chance. Apollo and Hermes remained neutral, neither agreeing with the proposition but neither having the courage to stand against Zeus.
Few of them could. Only his siblings. Poseidon. Hades. And now Hestia. It was why Zeus was so paranoid about his position as King of the gods. They would challenge him if they wanted, and Zeus couldn't promise himself he would win.
But eight against two. Hestia was gentle, and she despaired at seeing her family split. She would fight them, but whether she would bring herself to harm any of them…
Alone Poseidon couldn't beat them. He could only give in. The seas would rage and boats would drown, Hurricanes and Tsunamis would destroy cities and kill hundreds, but Poseidon couldn't DO anything about it.
It would be centuries before Poseidon would forgive them (but he would never truly forgive them, and he would never forget), but it would be many centuries after that once he would allow his self-hatred to dissipate, when he would allow himself even the slightest amount of forgiveness.
Truthfully, Perseus's prowess in battle tended to scare some of the younger campers. He was untouchable and dangerous.
After Tartarus some of the elder campers became wary of him too. He had changed. He was no longer the person he had once been. But they did not hate him. They were not terrified of him. They trusted him.
They just did not know him. They did not understand.
But they were intimidated and when the gods gave them the order they were too intimidated by them to disagree. To argue.
It started to get out of hand when the people Percy had fought alongside in the war stood up and said no.
They would not abandon Percy. They would not do as they had been ordered.
That's when the gods began to act. Those that went against them found that the crops they touched wilted. The battles they fought became much more difficult, despite how good they were in their respective skill, and monsters seemed to find them more easily.
The Stolls. Katie. Malcom. The seven. Nico. Grover. Rachel. They didn't let it stop them.
Even Thalia tried to stop what was going on but she was only met by stony silence and sharp commands.
But everyone else, they stopped talking to Percy. Could no longer bring themselves to meet his eye.
They stopped rebelling. Percy understood. They were suffering for standing with him. He would not resent them for it.
Not as long as he had those that stood with him.
But then Grover was confined to the Wilds.
The Hunters of Artemis no longer had any contact with either camps.
Rachel was barred from being at camp outside of the summer months by the gods.
Nico vanished and Hazel got word across that Hades had confined him to the Underworld for fear of the gods setting their sights on him next.
Then the Demeter cabin's crops began dying and the whole cabin turned against Katie to such a degree that Percy stepped in and told Katie to stop talking to him. To stop associating with him. He could see what the ostracism was doing to her and he wouldn't have it.
He told the Stolls to stop too.
And he left camp.
Jason. Piper. Leo. Frank. Hazel. They never turned on him. Despite what the gods did to them.
They stood by him and they made sure the gods would not touch him whilst they were there.
It was only once he was summoned to Olympus a month later that things rose to the ultimate decision.
Percy hadn't known why the gods had turned on him. Poseidon had tried to talk to him, but Iris had been given orders not to allow Messages between them and Percy (and even to a lesser extent, Poseidon too) was being watched at every turn.
The gods gave him an ultimatum. Either he adhere to their terms, or he would face eternity in the Asphodel fields, or even the Fields of Punishment. Hades had only agreed to spare his own children.
But that wasn't what had made him agree to their terms.
They were trying to push immortality onto him. So that if ever they needed a Hero he would be there (not that Percy saw the sense in that) and sentence him to a life of isolation.
They tried to make it sound as though they were being lenient.
No. What made him agree was what happened on Olympus.
Oddly, the seven had been summoned with him. As 'witnesses'. Something which made Percy tense.
Ares had grabbed Frank.
Aphrodite had trapped Piper.
Hephaestus had begrudgingly grabbed Leo.
Zeus took Jason and Hera had bound him just enough to restrain him.
Hazel had been seized by Artemis.
Annabeth had been brought to her knees by Athena when she had resisted.
But Annabeth had always been too intelligent, a master strategists and she had screamed for Blackjack, the faithful Pegasus having fought beside Percy and Annabeth enough times that he listened out to both their calls, with a little intervention on Poseidon's part so that Annabeth would be able to communicate with Blackjack to get out of a bad situation.
Zeus had attempted to strike the dark Pegasus out of the sky but Poseidon hadn't allowed him. During the confrontation Annabeth had managed to wriggle her knife between her and her mother and slashed at Athena with it, making the goddess release her daughter in shock.
Annabeth had run to Percy, not knowing how they'd be able to get out of Olympus, knowing in her mind they couldn't, but knowing something bad was about to happen she was desperate to save him and Percy was equally as desperate to stop his impending fate, to stay with his loved ones, mortal and free.
He should have known it would never be so simple.
Annabeth had been violently seized by Athena to such a degree she yelled out in pain, which had resulted in Percy reacting instinctively and all of a sudden a rush of water had flooded into the Olympian council chamber. Percy's eyes had shone bright sea green and he'd subconsciously drawn riptide before Zeus had ordered him restrained.
His fellow demigods hadn't been still and silent during the exchange either, they had all struggled against their captors and each had resulted in varying degrees of bruises and bindings.
So as Percy was forced to his knees by Demeter's vines and Ares sword his muscles were tensed beyond the point of pain and all he could see was the punishment being inflicted upon his loved ones.
That had been his breaking point. Seeing them all reduced to such bonds and restraints by those that were supposed to care for them, seeing Annabeth's eyes bright with pain (Athena finding no way to restrain her but to pain her almost to the point of incapacitation) because they refused to let the gods do this to him. He couldn't allow it.
Personal loyalty. His fatal flaw.
It was the only thing which would make him acquiesce to the gods' request. They knew it. It was why his friends had been summoned along with him.
That is the story of how Perseus Jackson came to live the solitary, miserable life of immortality.