General A/N: It has been a while. *cowers* I know, I know. I'm an exponentially awful person and do not deserve your attention. But see... I'm a high school freshman. And yes, I understand there are college students who somehow find time to write on here, but - but... I'm not the best and compartmentalizing my life, and yeah. Here we are. It's March, and *wince* some stories haven't been updated in six months or more. I know, I know. I'm working on it. I'm also working on replying to the 415 emails I've got in my inbox which, despite my lack of response, I really appreciate. It's wonderful to know that you haven't forgotten about my writing in my absence. Hugs and kisses!
Relevant A/N: I want to offer many thanks to the judges of the Percy Jackson Fanfiction Olympics, without whom I might not have written any fanfiction at all in months. There have been two other fun prompts so far, and I encourage you to check out the other entries as well. For this particular story, we had to write something inspired by a quote. Well. Since no one inspires me quite as much as Ripred does (and only my fellow TUC fans will understand), I chose this quote:
"Mutual need is a strong bond. Stronger than friendship, stronger than love." - Ripred, Gregor The Overlander.
You may have noticed I stole a story title from that quote. Okay, now alas, here we go. A story about three of my favorite Percy Jackson characters. Er, warning: one curse word!
In truth, the smallest they'd ever been was a family of five. Demeter, Poseidon, Hestia, Hades and Zeus. Discrepancies over the birth order often bubble into eruption, but that's not the important part of the story. For despite the boys' care for their sisters, and the goddesses' thrones on Olympus, the women lacked the lust of their brothers. Demure and compassionate, they failed to curdle the mortals' fragile earth in the impetuous methods of the men.
"He's going to be the end of us," Zeus said, unconcealed anger brewing. "Your son."
Poseidon knew nothing of di Angelos at this time, and could not have predicted Thalia's eventual reincarnation. He knew only of his twelve-year-old son, venturing on one of the deadliest quests to date. Because some gods couldn't keep their petty ideas of revenge to themselves.
"You don't know that." Poseidon arched his back, carefully keeping the catches from his voice. Anger would only provoke Zeus; anger could only mean worse things for Percy.
"You've heard the prophecy."
From the depths of his godly peripheral vision, Poseidon caught the ghost of a smirk. Zeus lost a daughter directly outside the camp they'd created for safety. Though it was not his right to succeed, as she was not supposed to exist, he'd failed nonetheless. In suit with the Greek desire to thrive, he couldn't help but wish the same mistake on his brother.
Poseidon kept a perpetual mask of calm about his shoulders, returning the smile with infinite believability. "We'll see."
Percy Jackson did survive of course, returning the lightening bolt in a streak of impossible luck. And Zeus made mental tallies against both his brothers then, since Hades should not have let the boy get so far. He did not hate Percy, not any more than he hated his direct family; but in a world ruled by power's limits, you win whenever you can.
Hades did not love his son, not exactly. He had loved Maria more than he could bear to recount, even now, and he'd loved his daughter to an extent. But Nico was generally a burden, a mere adolescent who wreaked havoc everywhere he went. The prophecy might not apply to Percy Jackson now, and all would fall to Hades as it usually did. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
He hated his brothers in this moment. They never really cared for one another, they did not understand how, but this was a rare moment of true, inviolable spite. Hades would have disposed of them, if he could. If gods could die, he would have made sure that Zeus and Poseidon never breathed another breath. But luckily for mortals - as losing the sky and seas would presumably result in chaos - even Hades lacked that rendition of power.
No one knew this, but Poseidon came to see him once. This was after it became clear that Percy was the prophecy child after all, and Hades stopped his worrying. What did he care if they evaporated? Nothing would be worse or better, would it? After all, both Poseidon and Zeus had done far too much to be considered allies. They'd exiled him, hadn't they? Zeus killed the one mortal - the one anything - that he'd ever truly cared for.
"Hades, you need to join us." Poseidon heaved a great sigh, his years of age settling into his brow. "Kronos does have the power to accomplish this. We've seen."
"Oh, so what?" Folding his arms, Hades resolved steadily to his sarcasm. "One day they'll stop believing about you all together. You'll see. It'll end anyway." He tilted his head, sneering cruelly. "I'll be the only one left someday."
"Brother. Don't be an ass." Poseidon stared a moment longer, uncharacteristically flushed. Then, with a sweep of his body, "Fine. Don't help." He vanished before Hades could begin to change his mind.
Of course, it ended well. It had to. This was simply not the time for all to crash and burn. There were centuries left to spin, generations of mortals left to fertilize. Even so, Hades hardly minded the change in events. He found that he had not wanted his brothers to die after all. Imagine that.
Despite Percy's audacity - though some of his ideas hadn't been bad ones, like the one about supplying Nico a cabin - Hades found himself in modest spirits by the time the three of them were left alone.
Poseidon clapped a hand to his shoulder, offering up a broad smile. Well of course he was happy; his son was a renowned hero. Not that Nico wasn't... not that he was even proud of that screw-up kid... not that it mattered...
"Thank you," he said, the smile faltering in an expression of gratitude. "We needed you."
"It was nothing." He shrugged off the hand, and Poseidon seemed glad. He is the most affectionate of the three, but not by much.
Zeus turned towards them then, hands folded solemnly. "I'm worried for the future," he stated, before either could speak. "This was one war, but more prophecies are out there. What are we going to face next?"
Air whistled out Poseidon's nostrils, and his head swung from side to side. "Just think: it could be several mortal lifetimes away. We shouldn't worry yet."
"I never thought of you as an optimist," Hades said, but the comment passed without effect. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, the beauty of the sunset escaping them. Once you own something, it ceases to be of particular interest.
"Hades." Zeus said suddenly, beard glinting under the pink glow. "I - ... About Maria..." No god can apologize with ease. It's hardwired out of their brain, the same as affection and love.
A/N: Yeah, I know it's a bit different from stuff I normally write. I wanted to try a more formal style. Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your feedback.