In a vast forest with dense forestry. There lay a man of about 20 years of age. He looked terrible and seemed to be in a tight situation.
He was unaware of the many prepubescent girls, all in silver, surrounding him. There were around a dozen in total.
Finally, one of the youngest looking ones, a girl of about 12 with stunning silver-yellow eyes stepped forward from the tree line and into his line of sight.
She let out a slightly, mocking laughter and said, "Oh, how the mighty fall? Huh, Perseus?"
Perseus' head snapped up at the sound and saw the 12 year old looking Goddess and sneered, "Why would you care? Oh mighty goddess of the hunt."
The hunters other than one all reached for their bows, the lone hunter being the lieutenant and she could only wonder what happened to her happy and kind cousin.
Artemis let out a laugh again except it didn't reach her eyes this time, they were narrowed and close to glaring at Percy.
"Well, when father heard the news of the hero of Olympus missing, he sent me on a mission immediately." The Goddess said in a bored manner.
His eyebrows rows in surprise, "And what would he want with me? I haven't betrayed Olympus in any way."
"Yes, yes but father didn't want his greatest asset in a war to be gone, did he?"
This caused him to sneer again. "I'm done, I'm done with fighting, I'm done with the gods and I'm done with camp. I want nothing to do with that world. I won't be a tool any longer; I will be living as normal a life as I can."
Artemis' eyebrows rose in surprise and then she asked in a softer tone, "What happened, Perseus? What happened to the young demigod that would jump to help anyone at a moment's notice?"
Percy sighed, extremely exhausted, "Too much, lady Artemis. Please forgive me for my disrespect. I'm just... I'm too tired of everything. The fighting, the deaths... The betrayal. I'm tired of being taken for granted, for no one truly caring of how I feel. I'm always expected to be this, to do that but no one and I mean no one has a consideration to how I feel or how much the wars have affected me. I'm just tired of being the hero that has to do everything. I'm just tired."
Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud slap and Percy was holding onto his cheek where Lady Artemis had slapped him.
"You dishonour my greatest hunter, where is the Perseus that my lieutenant for millennium, Zoe Nightshade, accepted and thought of as a friend. I don't see that Perseus anywhere, he wouldn't give up at any hindrance, he would keep fighting."
"You don't know anything" Percy tried protesting.
"You know, Perseus, I used to think you were different. That you were one out of a billion males. I guess that you've just proven me wrong."
There was a silence until, "Do you know what my fatal flaw is? It's personal loyalty, when Athena first told me; I couldn't fathom how loyalty to my friends could be a flaw. Now I know, she said that I would sacrifice the world for my friends. But no, she was wrong. Ironic, huh? Athena, the Goddess of wisdom wrong, it's fatal for a reason and that is the pain I feel if someone betrays me, if someone breaks my trust. You don't know how I felt when everyone I knew turned their backs on me, not willing to help after everything I went through." He let out a bitter laugh.
There was a stunned silence for a moment. "What happened to you, Perseus?"
He sighed again, "too much, lady Artemis. I'd rather not talk about it. Anyways, you were sent to find me and you have. What now?"
"Now, I take you to the council. Your father has been worried sick."
"The one person that cares about me in life."
"Shut up! Shut up, you stupid kelp head." Shouted Thalia and then. Continued in a softer tone, "I care about you, Percy. And I always will, you'll always be that annoying, stupid, younger cousin/brother of mine. Never forget that." She was almost in tears at seeing her cousin in this state.
He smiled softly, the first positive emotion that was seen from him, "Thank you, Thalia. You don't know how much that means to me."
She rushed forward and pulled him up in a hug. "What happened, Percy?" He just shook and his head and she continued, "Ok, it's hard to talk about but we'll go through this together, later, alright?"
He nodded and stepped back.
"So, Milady, may we?" With his hand outstretched.
"Don't push your luck, Perseus." He chuckled and she put a hand on his shoulder, ready to flash to the throne room.
"Please, Milady. Call me Percy. I feel we've gotten to the point that we can at least call each other friends."
"Perhaps but I'm a goddess Perseus, I can call you what I want to."
Percy chuckled again and smiled mischievously while saying, "Fair enough, lady arty."
She glared at him and a loud snap was heard. A bright flash of light and in Percy's place was a small animal with horns.
"Aweeee!" Cooed Artemis, "you make such a good and cute jackalope, you should consider staying in this form, Perseus." Emphasising the use of Perseus.
If it was possible, the small animal huffed and seemingly pouted.
At seeing this, the rest of the hunters including Thalia, who were previously snickering, cooed as well. The youngest hunter, frozen at the age of 10 stepped forward and asked, "Oh, Lady Artemis, can I keep him, please?" She begged, "I'll take great care of him and everything. I won't let him die, I promise. Pretty please?"
Artemis let out a genuine laugh at this, especially after seeing the jackalope/Perseus or jackaseus run behind her and hide under her.
"I'm sorry, Cynthia. But this is a high profile man, Poseidon will take great offence to what I've done now, I can't even imagine what he'll do if he finds out that his beloved son is a pet to a hunter of mine."
Cynthia pouted and muttered, "But he'll be happy with me." But let the matter go.
Percy on the other hand was looking like the most menacing jackalope seen on the earth with the glare he was sending towards Artemis with his massive rabbit eyes.
Artemis smiled and picked him up. "Anymore mischievous behaviour and I'll turn you into something worse. I'll see you girls later, after the council meeting. Start a camp here and stay put."
Just as she started flashing away, Percy bit her causing her to cry out in pain.
Glaring at him, she started throttling him as she flashed away with the hunters hearing one last sentence, "you'll pay for that, you little shit."
The hunters started dispersing with Thalia thinking one last thing, 'never change, Percy. Always stay the same.' that thought was very sad yet at the same time happy. She decided that she would need to have a very meaningful chat with her best friend, Annabeth and her brother, Jason.
Setting change
A flash was seen in a giant room filled with 13 equally giant people. The flash revealed Artemis with a fuzzy, little animal being held in a choke hold.
"That should teach you a lesson, you idiot."
In response, the tiny jackalope tried biting her again. Which she quickly stopped by throwing him onto the floor, rather roughly.
"What is the meaning of this, Artemis?" Boomed a man in the middle of the assortment of thrones.
She sighed and snapped her fingers.
In the place of the jackalope was now a tall, black-haired, green-eyed man.
"What is wrong with you?" He exclaimed deliriously, groaning in pain, he stood up.
"I hope you've learnt your lesson, Perseus. Don't be a smartass with me and don't call me Arty."
"Please forgive me, lady Arty." He replied sassily.
Artemis' reply was cut off by Percy being lifted off the ground. Poseidon had rushed off his throne and quickly pulled Percy into a hug.
"Don't leave, ever again. Please." Poseidon begged, "You're my son and I'll never stop worrying about you. And I'm pretty sure that gods can't get heart attacks but when I think about you hurt or missing, it hurts me, Percy."
Percy POV
I teared up as well and hugged him just as tight as he was hugging me.
"I'm sorry, dad. I won't do that again."
He sighed, "Its fine, all that matters now is that you're safe."
Then he turned to Artemis and glared, "Why was he an animal?"
Artemis shrugged and innocently said, "He wasn't cooperating."
I was about to protest until Apollo spoke up, "That's not the truth, sis."
I continued, "I was ready to come, I'd even asked whether we should leave or not."
Artemis huffed, "You were misbehaving." And after a moment continued, "Don't you dare say anything, Apollo and don't call me sis."
"I called you Arty." I said exasperatedly.
"And now you know not to call me that." She said with a smirk.
"Enough!" Thundered Zeus. "It's good to see you well and not in harm, nephew." He said emotionlessly.
"Ummm yes, lord Zeus." Slowly, after Poseidon let him go, he walked up to Zeus and bowed.
"Rise! Now, where have you been and why were you not at camp."
His face became miserable again. "I was banished."
This caught the gods other than Artemis in surprise while his dad was seething in rage.
"And what of Chiron? He didn't stop this?" Asked Zeus.
"He tried but the whole camp was against me. There was nothing that he could do." He said miserably.
"And why was that? Why was a beloved hero, loved and revered by all of the campers kicked out?"
He was hesitant, everyone could see that. Poseidon laid an arm on his shoulder to comfort him. Looking at his dad, he nodded and continued, "I... I lost control."
"How so and why now?" Questioned Zeus.
"No one knew this, not even Annabeth." It hurt to say her name and the gods could sense the pain when he did. "But Tartarus affected me much more than it did Annabeth. I went through much more down there. I did much more."
"Are you calling my daughter weak?" Athena burst out.
"Far from it, Lady Athena. I simply didn't want anything to happen to her, so I refused to let her do much and she spent the majority of the time sleeping and resting. I... I even had my eyes open when we crossed the house of night."
There was a gasp and everyone turned to look at Athena, her eyes wide and mouth open with her hand covering it. She looked to be near tears which surprised everyone. "Does he speak the truth, Apollo?" She asked.
Apollo, confused, simply nodded.
"Oh, you poor child. Why did you never tell anyone?"
If anyone wasn't surprised earlier, they definitely were now. Athena showing someone sympathy and even feeling bad, especially for the child of her rival.
"What are talking about Athena? What is this house of night?" Asked Zeus.
Shakily, she answered, "The house of night, as the name suggests, is the domain of Nyx, primordial goddess of the night."
There were more gasps now. "And what is the deal with her domain, is my son alright?" Asked Poseidon frantically.
"I don't know. I- the house of night is a terrible place. Home to some of the worst creatures ever seen. It is feared by every being in the pit other than creatures of the night and the pit himself. Beings, mortal and immortal, if they aren't creatures of the night or Tartarus himself should not be able to cross through the house, with their eyes open. They would be driven to madness by the things they see. Madness to the point that they would be insane and crazy. That is the level of power and evil present in that place." She paused, "For Perseus to have crossed through it with his eyes open and not lose himself to insanity and even only lost control only once in the 2-3 years since he has left Tartarus is impressive. It is said to even drive gods crazy and even if Perseus is a strong-willed demigod, easily one of the most powerful, this is very impressive. So, yes, I do not know how he is alright and even if he is. Dionysus might be able to find out."
The gods were stunned into silence; you could hear sobs coming from Hestia from her place by the hearth.
She was staring off into the fire with her eyes closed to stop the tears from escaping. Percy was her favourite demigod hero and to see such a hope-filled demigod in such a hopeless situation tore her apart.
And Percy, he was staring down at the floor of the throne room. Poseidon approached him slowly and raised his head to look him in the eyes and asked softly, "Why did you never tell anyone?"
"I... I" he faltered, "I didn't want to be a burden on anyone. I am- was the hero who is expected to help everyone, be there for everyone. I didn't want to sound selfish and weak."
"Perseus, opening up and sharing your insecurities with your loved ones is not weakness. It's strength, the strength of love and trust. Always remember that." Said Poseidon.
"Thanks, dad. Too late for that though, right?" He smiled weakly trying to play it off as a joke.
"So, what happened, Perseus? It must've been extreme for you to be kicked out."
"I... I almost killed Clarisse."
Ares stiffened at this but didn't say anything.
He continued before anyone could say anything, "I was under a lot more stress than normal, Annabeth and I'd just had our first fight, a proper fight. Not a playful one, she complained that I was becoming increasingly closed-off and accused me of hiding something. She accused me of cheating. I got angry that she could accuse me on something as severe as that and said that she didn't trust me enough to truly love me. I regretted it as soon as I had said it but she was already gone. I stayed in my cabin for some more time before I decided to apologize to her. Because of the fight, my mood had worsened, and then I was approached by Clarisse. She wanted a spar but I declined as politely as I could. She was having none of it and started calling me some names but the ones that got to me were 'weakling' and 'coward'. After that, all that I could see was red and next thing I knew Clarisse was unconscious and possibly in a coma while the campers advanced with weapons. I didn't do anything to stop them and I was tied up and soon enough banished." He finished the tale with sadness and looked around to see most of the gods looking at him with sympathy which he hated; he didn't want any of their pity.
Suddenly, Ares broke the silence, "I won't do anything to you because it was she that challenged and provoked you and not the other way around but if she dies, you will pay. I don't fight my children's fight but I will when it concerns their lives."
He nodded but didn't say anything believing that he was at fault.
"I can try taking a look at your mind and seeing the extent of the insanity, if you want me to?" Asked Dionysus.
The gods looked surprised, "you're awake?" Questioned Apollo what was on all their minds.
"Yes, of course, as soon as I noticed Artemis with Perseus, I knew that this meeting would be an interesting one."
The speed at which Percy nodded his head was hilarious and most gods, at least the immature ones like Apollo and Hermes would've started laughing, if not for the situation.
"Alright, to help Perseus, I'll need the help of Hera and Apollo." Both gods looked at him questioningly and he continued, "Hera to help with the process of looking into his mind while Apollo to provide me the healing power that I need."
The two gods mentioned got up, one more reluctantly than the other and approached where Percy, Poseidon and Dionysus were standing.
Dionysus placed his hands on Percy's temple and asked Hera to channel the power he is applying, appropriately into Percy's mind and back to him.
Dionysus, with his eyes closed started the process and could then see everything that happened to Percy that could've caused any form of madness. He saw a fat, walrus of a man abusing him and his mother. He saw many events throughout his life until he came to the newer ones; Tartarus, the death of his mother and the banishment.
He started focusing on these feelings, trying to have them removed. The memories would stay, that wasn't in his domain of power but he could easily reduce the intensity at which they would affect him. Pretty much numbing the feelings. This is where Apollo would come in. Nudging Apollo with his leg, he felt Apollo's healing power help him. He channelled that healing power into nullifying Percy's insanity as well as making sure that he doesn't do anything wrong.
After around 10 minutes, he stepped back to allow Percy some space. Percy was breathing hard just as if he had run a marathon. After calming down, he faced Dionysus, "Thank you, lord Dionysus. But if the process was that easy, why couldn't you have done it earlier?"
Dionysus shrugged, "I didn't know. You never told anyone and I believe that that includes me."
Percy was confused, "but you're the god of insanity and madness, surely you could sense it."
"Doesn't mean that I would care enough to try sensing it. Honestly Perseus, do you believe me jobless enough to be concentrating on you and your silly camp."
"You work over there." Percy said incredulously and then hesitated when he realised what Dionysus called him. "You just called me Perseus."
"No I didn't, Palermo. Do you need Apollo to work on your ears as well, Pablo."
"No, thank you, sir."
"Ummm, Perseus. You said that you don't have anyone left. What of your mother? Thalia said that you were really close to her." Asked Artemis.
He looked down at that. Extremely sad, it was heart-breaking to see one of the kindest and nicest mortal heroes in such pain.
"Percy?" Consoled Poseidon.
"They are dead. Both of them, mom and Paul. Killed by some monsters sent by Gaia after her fall. Stupid bitch (A/N can I say this?) was put to sleep but still had enough consciousness to send one last command." Again, he lets out a bitter laugh. "It's just my luck, isn't it? Cursed by the fates to play the hero and suffer."
Poseidon pulled Percy into another hug but he was in tears himself.
"I'm sorry, son. I wish that I could've protected them. Sally and Blowfish were both gods among mortals."
Percy laughed, "Thank you, dad. I needed that. But, there wasn't anything you could've done, dad. The ancient laws restricted you, I could've but I didn't and I've got to live with it."
"Don't say that, your mother wouldn't have blamed her death on you. So don't, she would be disappointed."
Percy was able to smile hearing this but someone clearing their throat stopped his response.
"Yes, now that I have your attention. I guess that we can send young Perseus back to the camp. We'll explain everything to them and allow you back into camp." Decided Zeus.
The other gods pondered and mostly agreed on this idea. That was until they heard a meek 'No!'
They all turned towards Percy who was staring straight at Zeus.
"With all due respect, Milord. I do not wish to return to the place that could throw me out so easily. They made their decision, they don't want me there."
Zeus stroked his beard. "Are you sure? Where will you go, what will you do?"
Athena continued, "And what of Annabeth? I know you had a fight but that can easily be resolved."
"She made her decision with the rest of them. If one fight can cause her so easily to side against me, maybe that fight was a long time coming. Maybe she never even loved me if she can leave me this easily. As far as I am concerned, I hold no relationship with her at this moment."
With that, there was silence again.
"Then what can you do? Where will you go? Camp Jupiter?" Percy shook his head again. "We can't have you roaming around on your own. You need to be somewhere that we can find you easily."
"So you can keep an eye on me and make sure that I don't do anything to betray Olympus?"
"No, no you misunderstand me, Perseus. We might have gotten off on the wrong foot, admittedly my fault, but I have grown fond of you over the years. I'm merely concerned for your safety."
Percy was definitely surprised but also flattered. Having an uncle that had killed his half-siblings before just for being alive liking him was definitely a plus point.
"Don't forget about me, Perseus. You are my favourite nephew considering all of the time that I have ever lived." Remarked Hades. (A/N I feel like there are massive grammatical errors in that sentence but I don't know how to correct it. :( )
There were protests from Apollo, Hermes and even Ares. The rest couldn't care less.
"Thank you, uncles. That is really nice to hear. I don't know what to say."
"Anyways," continued Zeus, "We still need to decide what to do with you and I feel that I have the perfect idea."
With that he turned towards Artemis and had a conversation in their minds.
After a lot of talking, they seemed to come to an agreement.
Artemis turned towards Percy. "Perseus, father has brought to my attention that I've lost a lot of hunters over the course of the 2 wars and that I need to recruit a lot of young girls to bring it back up to that level."
Percy nodded, not understanding where this was going.
"He has suggested giving you a job as a guardian of sorts. To protect and maybe teach the hunters combat."
Percy paled at the thought of living with the hunt but he didn't want to decline and seem disrespectful again. (A/N your Normal hunts guardian story? Nah, that's not me. Act like a waste man, that's not me.)
A voice spoke up, "As amusing as that would be to see Peter struggle with your hunters. I have a better idea for Pedro. (A/N basically tried fitting as many male names with P as possible.)
Trying not to look too relieved at the prospect of an alternative to living with the hunt, he asked, "A better idea?"
"Is that not what I just said, Paris? Honestly child, do you need Apollo to check you properly? Anyways, over the years, my domain of entertainment (?) has found many forms as well as created some. Recently, I created this world that is not much different from ours. Except there really isn't any evil there. You will have an adventure but you won't be in any real danger. I think that'll be more up your alley. What do you say?"
That sounded promising, an adventure without the risk of dying. "What is there in this world then?"
"First, you much decide, yes or no?" Responded Dionysus.
He stayed quiet, weighing his options. On one hand, he could go with Artemis and her hunt and be guaranteed pain or he could risk it for an adventure with Mr. D. In the end, he decided that if Mr D wanted to harm him, he wouldn't announce to the council that he would be with him.
"I accept, Mr D."
Dionysus actually smiled a genuine smile.
"I'll tell you the details later and to the council, I swear on the Styx that I'm not going to harm Perseus. I will just be telling him the details about this world later." Thunder boomed in the background, sealing his oath.
"Very well then, I hope you do well, nephew. Till next time, council dismissed." Boomed Zeus and then he was gone in a flash of lightning with Hera.
Dionysus muttered, "I swear that father should be the god of drama instead of me."
Some gods flashed out, including Demeter and Ares.
The rest approached Percy one by one.
Poseidon was first. "I'm proud of you son, always remember that. If you ever need me, remember that I'm only an iris message away." With that said and a last hug, he flashed out.
Athena was next and Percy was guarded. "I'm sorry about what happened, Perseus. Especially my daughter's actions."
Percy relaxed, "It's alright, Milady. You had nothing to do with her actions."
She studied him for a moment. "You are smarter than people give you credit for, Perseus. Wiser too, there is great maturity in being able to understand someone and forgive them. For that, I would like to bestow upon you a blessing. A blessing for your mind, to keep your thoughts calmer as well as help you with your ADHD and dyslexia. You will be able to think better and more easily, show people how smart you truly are." ( A/N yes, I'm giving him blessings, sue me. They'll be nothing major.)
"Thank you, Lady Athena. I have no words to describe how grateful I am for your blessing."
She smiled, blessed me and flashed away.
Next was Hades, "Perseus, I saw Athena bless you. Now there isn't much I can do in regards to that but I can try gifting you the ability to shadow travel. No need for any thanks. Also, unlimited funds of any kind and I mean any." He followed what Athena did and flashed away as well.
Apollo and Hermes came next. "Percy man, you honestly have the worst luck on this earth. You deserve better and hopefully wherever this new adventure is, you will be happy." Said Hermes.
"Ya, hopefully you'll do well and have an awesome time." Continued Apollo. "I feel a haiku coming." Percy and Hermes groaned but he continued nonetheless.
'Percy ain't lucky
Hopefully he has a good tim-'
(A/N excuse my haiku writing skills. You could say that I'm as good as Apollo.)
Luckily, Hermes interrupted, "Others want to talk to him as well Apollo. So, let's get on with it."
Apollo scratched his head, "Right, right. So, Percy we have decided to give you our blessings as well."
"I will gift you with the ability to move faster and be more agile. You will also be able to steal better and stuff like that, although, I hope it doesn't come to that. Your sense of direction will be better especially when traveling. You basically become more gifted with my domains." Said Hermes.
"Thank you, Lord Hermes."
"Please, none of that lord stuff, cuz."
"Now my turn!" Said Apollo with his blinding smile. "With my blessing, you'll become much more talented with instruments as well as singing. You will heal better automatically as well as be able to heal other beings. You might become better with a bow, that is dependent on how much you practice though. I've seen you shoot one and it's not pretty."
"Thanks, Lord Apollo. I really appreciate it."
"Don't mention it, cuz. You're after all, my favourite mortal family member."
They flashed away after giving their blessings.
Artemis was up next. "Lady Artemis?" Percy asked cautiously, he was aware of how he acted with the man-hating Goddess earlier and truthfully, was scared for his life.
"You intrigue me, Perseus. You are a male, yet you don't behave like one."
He wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Ummm, my lady, how many males have you truly interacted with? I wouldn't judge half of the population on a handful of people."
"I suppose you are right, Perseus. I have seen plenty males and how they act but I shouldn't prematurely judge them before I actually meet them. But change is tough, isn't it? Especially for a millennia old goddess. Changing the ways that you have followed for a long time is very hard."
"I suppose." Pondered Percy, "But it's never too late to try."
She smiled, "I suppose. Anyways onto a gift for you. I'm a goddess of wilderness and I will bless you. You will be going into a new world with a new environment, hopefully with my blessing, you will be able to survive better as well as be one with nature. Animals will be on your side and you will be able to better understand them. Like Apollo's blessing, your archery will improve. Although you will need to practice, he might have told you. You will basically have a hunters blessing without the immortality." She then joked, "You will also become better at carrying out childbirth and know everything about it." With a wink of her eye.
Percy blinked once, "Did the uptight and scary, lady Artemis, Goddess of the hunt and all-round man-hater just joke with me? A man?"
"Don't push your luck, Perseus." He raised his hands up in surrender causing her to giggle.
"Anyways, Perseus, I hope you have a good time in this new world and a great experience." Percy nodded in thanks.
"Oh, and Percy" emphasising the 'Percy' "Don't change." With that last note, she flashed away.
Suddenly, a squeal was heard by all of the people in the room and Percy knew exactly what was coming.
And then, he was trapped in a hug, with his face in between her massive jugs. Aphrodite, was she crying?
"Oh, Percy!" She started, "I am so sorry about Annabeth. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. You were going to get your happily ever after." She said with a frown present on her face when she let him go.
"It's alright, Lady Aphrodite. Honestly, it's no big deal. I'm just happy that she showed her true colours before I did something massive like proposing. That would've been a disaster."
She smiled seductively and stroked his face with a finger, "Well, I should make it up to you. I made your life so difficult, you deserve a reward." She said suggestively.
Stepping even closer than before with one hand now on his arm. Suddenly, she shrieked again but this time she was definitely not happy. Her hair was on fire and the bottom had burnt out. She turned around and glared at the culprit but paled at seeing Hestia, eyes narrowed and hands on fire.
"Do not take advantage of the boy, Aphrodite. You won't like the outcome." She said intensely. "Give him the gift you want to give him and then give others a chance to talk to him."
She nodded while pouting and turned back to Percy. "Well, looks like we won't be having our fun today, Percy. Maybe another day." Someone cleared their throat. "Anyways, I will also be given you my blessing. First of all, you will become the handsomest man this world has ever seen. You already are very handsome but with my blessing, men and women alike will fall head over heels for you." Percy tried protesting but to no avail because she continued, "you might also have slight command over charm speak. Its strength depends on how much you use it as well as how much emotion you put into it."
She stopped for a second but continued, "I also swear on the Styx not to interfere in your love life." Thunder boomed in the background, sealing her oath.
Percy was very happy, "thank you, Lady Aphrodite. It must've been hard to swear that and for that, I am grateful."
She smiled and flashed away.
Next was Hephaestus," Perseus, this is why I say machines are better than humans. Too many emotions involved." He slowly started going off topic, "if only we could remove your emotions, you'd be perfect. But if we try experiments on you, there's a possibility that you'd die."
"Lord Hephaestus!" Interrupted Percy, "With all due respect, I do not want to be experimented on."
He grumbled but continued, "Yes, yes. Unfortunate but I suppose you wouldn't like that." He mumbled under his breath, "An automaton wouldn't have complained." He spoke louder after that, "I wish to give you crafting skills as well as better ability with machines. You never know what you will need to make or do in an unknown place. With my blessing, you will become more creative."
He flashed away without another word. 'Talk about unsocial.' thought Percy.
Before he had time to think of anything else, he was engulfed in warmth. The warmth of a hug and the warmth of the hearth.
"Lady Hestia." He said with a sigh.
"You looked like you needed a hug. A lot has happened, Percy. A lot that you don't deserve."
"I don't know what to say, Lady Hestia."
"First, you could start off by calling me mom. I know that you've just lost your mother and that I could never replace her but I was wondering if I could adopt you. I know if it is very early but I've never had a child to call my own and you've always been such a nice, young man that I've always thought of you like a son."
Percy had a saddened face on show, "I'm sorry, Lady Hestia. I can't call you mother."
Hestia looked disappointed, "That's alright, Per-"
Percy suddenly smiled, "I can't call you mother as long as you look like an 8 year old. That's quite strange." He laughed when Hestia let out a sigh of relief.
"Look at you, already tricking and pranking me." At the same time she started growing until she looked like a woman in her mid-thirties.
"I'm fine with you adopting me, mom."
Her smile was so wide and bright that he couldn't help but smile back. Her smile became more mischievous, "Now, the powers you will receive from me. It will pretty much be the same that a child of mine would have. I will let you figure it out on your own."
Percy pouted until his eyes lit up, "Will I be able to control fire like you?"
Hestia laughed and winked at the giddy teenager.
Percy pulled Hestia in a hug and spun her around, "Thanks, mom!"
After she was put down, "Hopefully we'll be able to see each other even when you are on the quest for Dionysus." She kissed my head and flashed away.
"Well, Proctor. Looks like it's just you and me." said Dionysus.
He sighed, "Yes, Mr. D."
"Don't look so down, Peter. I'm not that bad, am I?" It was rhetoric, that was for sure.
He put a hand on Percy's shoulder and teleported them to his palace.
"Now the first thing that you should know about this world is that you are going to be reborn in this world."
"What?!" Exclaimed Percy.
"Don't worry, Pedro. You'll have your memories. I'll work something out with Hades and we can keep giving you your memories till the age of ten when you will have every memory other than the ones from Tartarus and the recent events minus the previous council meeting."
"Phew." He released a breath. "So what is this world like?"
"It is much like ours with humans except no gods. The people have their own beliefs. The main difference is that instead of animals there are creatures known as Pokémon."
"Poke-what?"
"Pokémon. Honestly, Pablo, keep your ears open. You can't expect me to repeat everything, do you?"
He just nodded blankly, causing Dionysus to sigh, "This is going to be a long few hours."
Hours later, after Dionysus had explained every aspect about the world in detail, they were sat together, discussing his role in the world. (A/N couldn't be bothered to describe the world of Pokémon in detail.)
"So I will be your champion?" Asked Percy.
"Precisely. My representative of sorts. Now, of course the inhabitants of the world are not aware of whom I am but I want you as my test subject. I have already put in a lot of history for this world and it has been progressing well. You will research about Pokémon, train Pokémon and participate in Pokémon battles. You will do everything possible with Pokémon."
"Cool, now anything else? Or will I be going into the world?"
"Two more things, first of all, you will have riptide and it will work against Pokémon and people alike because they are my creations. So be careful on who you use it on, don't misuse it. Second of all, I have a gift for you. You are my champion and I will pamper you because you will have a hard road ahead."
Percy smiled, "What is it?"
"I will allow you to pick one Pokémon from a list of them."
"Really?" He asked in excitement.
"Yes, now one thing that I forgot to mention is that the world is divided into many regions. They are Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and Alola. And each region has special Pokémon that are only found in specific areas. There are Pokémon that you may find in Kanto but not in Hoenn."
"Alright, what's that got to do with the Pokémon I can pick?"
"Every time an aspiring trainer starts their Pokémon journey, they are given a Pokémon from a selection of three. They are known as starter Pokémon. Now the three Pokémon differs for each region. So I will be giving a selection of Pokémon from the Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn regions."
"Ok, why not the other ones?" Replied Percy.
"Not Kanto because that is where you will be starting out your journey and so the gift wouldn't be that special. Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions are the closest regions that you will be traversing while the others Unova, Kalos and Alola will be quite a distance away and you won't be there for a long while."
His eyes gleamed with the new information. "Cool! So what are the selections?"
"As I said, a selection of three and each region offers a fire type, a water type and a grass type."
Percy was excited, he might have been uninterested initially but the more he heard and learnt about Pokémon; the more he wanted to see them, capture them and train them.
"I'm guessing, that you want your first Pokémon to be a water type?"
He thought about it for a moment and decided, "Ya, it would make sense and I would connect with it most. Give me a good idea of how to train a Pokémon. But I still want to see the other starters."
"Alright, Patrat." Dionysus didn't seem it but even he was excited, this was one of his better creations and he was finally going to get information on it first-hand.
Percy looked at him weirdly at being called Patrat. "It's a Pokémon." Explained Mr. D.
"Anyways, here is the selection." and a hologram showed the starters.
(A/N I'm not going to describe any starters other than the water ones.)
There were nine Pokémon in total. They all looked different and Percy was intrigued, to say the least. These creatures looked so different from normal animals yet they also looked so similar. They were essentially a modified animal with slightly different features.
Mr. D told him which Pokémon were from which regions.
The Pokémon from the Johto region was a bright blue and looked a lot like a crocodile. It also had red spines along its back as well as a patch of yellow in the shape of a 'V' on its chest. It looked so cool. Mr. D said that it's called a Totodile.
The Pokémon from the Hoenn region was also a blue but it was a lighter shade. It looked like an amphibian and was very cute. It had nice light blue fins with orange, Star-shaped gills. Its name was Mudkip.
Finally, the Pokémon from the Sinnoh region was very much like a penguin. Again, blue in colour, which would probably be the trait possessed by most water Pokémon. It had a bright yellow beak with two white ovals on its chest and a crown like shape above its nose. Its name was Piplup.
"Hmmmm, this is hard to choose." Said Percy, going over the pros and cons of all Pokémon. While he found the other Pokémon cool, he was definitely going for a water type even though the fire-mouse, Cyndaquil, looked very cool.
He decided, "I'll choose the Totodile!"
"Good choice, may I know why?" Questioned Mr. D.
"Well, the personalities of the Pokémon played a massive part. Piplup was an almost immediate 'no' because of its prideful nature. While, Mudkip had a docile nature which is really good but what caught my eye is the playful nature of a Totodile and it reminded me of myself and thought that this would be a good first Pokémon."
Dionysus just barely stopped himself from smiling, seeing Percy so excited about his creations and even showing thoughtfulness made him feel proud of himself. "I didn't need such a monologue but whatever, Peter. Good choice, well any of them would have been good so it doesn't really matter."
"Ummm, right. Could I see the Pokémon now?"
He nodded and removed a small ball with a mix of colours. Red on top and white on the bottom.
He clicked a button and a flash later, there was the Pokémon that Percy had just selected, Totodile.
"He's so cute." Percy gushed.
He went to pet the Pokémon when suddenly "Crunch!"
"Ahhhh!" Percy let out a shout as the Pokémon had latched onto his hand.
"Right, I forgot to mention, Totodiles have a tendency to bite everything they see, even their trainers." Said Dionysus with a slight amused smile.
A/N so, a Pokémon story. What can I say? I love Pokémon, as childish as it seems. Anyways, after constantly reading about the Percy gets betrayed story and joining the hunt, I decided to do a Percy gets betrayed story with my own twist.
And all of the blessings will help in some way or the other. Other than Hestia's, I suppose. Hestia's was just for the bants. Apollos blessing is quite possibly the most important as well as the most useless. I mean a blessing for singing is quite useless but being able to heal Pokémon without having to go the Pokémon Centre will be quite cool
Percy will be a lot like Ash in this story except like less confident or should I say overconfident. Anyways he'll be like Ash considering his love for Pokémon.
Also, I doubt that my other chapters will be even half this long. I don't know how this happened; I just kept typing and typing.
Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.