I looked up. My dad was looking down at me, an actual smile on his face, and said: "Well, you look terrible Percy."
I looked down at my clothes. I was covered in dried blood – was it blood though? – and monster dust, with two enormous cuts in each arm that had mysteriously stopped bleeding.
I looked around. The whole Council of the Gods was united – not one Olympian was missing. And they were all staring at me. I can tell you, my dad was the only one smiling. If they could, they'd probably all kill me on the spot. Don't ask me why, they're gods, that explains everything.
"This is against the law Zeus, he should be punished" Ares started.
"Nonsense. He didn't do anything wrong" my dad answered.
"The law clearly states…" continued Ares, raising his voice.
"The law doesn't apply in that case" interrupted Athena.
"But the boy clearly did something we are not aware of" Artemis said, clearly not caring to call me "the boy" in front of me.
"Wait, we aren't even sure there's anything yet." Dionysus jumped in. Mr D? Getting involved? Really? What in Hades was going on… "We have only formulated a hypothesis, that we couldn't verify, until now."
To sum up the situation: I was in the middle of the Council of the Gods, and they had no idea of what was going on?
"Well, if the Spirit of Delphi hadn't been imprisoned, we could have known a little more about what's going on here" Hera snapped, throwing a menacing look towards Apollo.
Apollo didn't respond. He was staring at me, intrigued, as though I was a scientific problem that needed solving.
"Hum, can I know what's going on?"
"Come on, don't pretend Jackson, what did you do? Eat the Golden Apples? Made a deal with Hades?" Ares continued, clearly annoyed with… with what?
The whole room exploded in discussion, gods arguing in every direction. Now imagine the voice of twelve super-powerful, 20 feet tall beings, arguing across a gigantic room (big enough to accommodate all of them and their powers).
Lightning cracked and Zeus screamed "Enough!", the room shaking under the strength of his voice. It was a miracle I could actually follow the rest of the conversation – even with the ringing in my ears.
"Apollo" Zeus continued "as you were incapable to protect the Spirit of Delphi, make yourself useful, and see if the boy is really what we think he is."
I was half tempted to ask "And what do you think I am?" but for once in my life I actually kept my mouth shut.
Apollo slowly rose from his throne and shrunk back to human size. I heard him say something like "can't do anything with all that dust" and before I had the time to think about it, I felt as if something was scrubbing me. Sure enough, when I looked down, all the dust and dried blood had gone.
He turned around me, watching me carefully. I couldn't help but giggle. Yes, I had an all powerful god watching me super intently, looking for all the details he could get, and I giggled. He approached the wound on my arm – the one that I got at the Little Tiber over a month ago, and that looked as if it had been made a few minutes ago. I started getting suspicious. He took my arm. I backed away involuntarily. Whatever a god wants to do with me, it can't be good. That's when he squeezed. I tried to get away, expecting pain, but he kept squeezing harder and I didn't feel any more pain. Well, it's never really enjoyable to get your arm squeezed, but it should be a lot more painful with such a deep cut into it.
"Interesting" Apollo murmured.
Blood started dripping off the wound. Apollo took a few drops of it on the tip of his finger, and put his hand over the fire. That should have hurt. But I guess if he did it, it was for a reason.
His eyes widened, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He was definitely enjoying himself. Sure, it's totally normal to enjoy squeezing a very deep wound and see the blood coming out of it.
The twelve Olympian gods moved in closer from their thrones. Some of them seem to understand Apollo's idea, and sat back into their thrones, a look of bewilderment on their faces. I couldn't help it anymore.
"Hey, can anyone tell me what this is all about? Why is everybody so obsessed about my blood?"
Of course, nobody answered. My dad just looked at me, surprised, and said "Nobody said anything about blood."
Oh crap. Apollo didn't react, but I felt a menacing warm wave coming from him. I got the message: 'just keep your mouth shut'.
Poseidon kept looking at me. He probably knew now that I was hiding something, but he didn't try to question me on it.
Unfortunately, Athena wasn't as understanding. "You are hiding something, demigod. Speak."
Fortunately, I was saved by Apollo, who decided right at this moment to explain his diagnosis. "Ichor" he said, the word resonating nervously in the room. Wait, what? "His blood is turning into Ichor. In fact I believe the process to be nearly over. Blood burns; and even though this blood is not entirely golden, it does not burn."
The twelve gods started talking again. Zeus silenced them again – to the detriment of my hearing – and asked me: "Demigod, how do you explain this?"
It was the last thing I thought I'd hear. A god, asking me to explain something I could not possibly explain, or even start to understand? I didn't think about what I was saying, I just said everything.
"Well, I don't know. Maybe it has to do with the prophecy that says I have to sacrifice myself and bleed to death so I can resurrect Gaia and seal Olympus's fate. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I bled on that stele for more than half a day and I'm still standing. I don't know. You're the one sitting on the throne and watching us die, so you tell me…"
Yes I just said that to Zeus. If you hear about a hurricane somewhere in America today, do not wonder why. But I don't regret it. I was tired; I was the one who needed answers, not accusations.
Poseidon rose frim his throne and shrunk to face me. I looked him the eyes; whatever he wanted to say, I was not going to simply comply and obey. But he didn't say anything. He approached my arm, and looked at the wound. As he touched it, I felt some kind of warmth going through me. The wound on my right arm (the one the monsters had done to empty me of my blood on the stele) completely disappeared. From the other wound started falling golden drops of pure, golden ichor.
For the first time, the throne room was silent. Apollo was the first one to speak: "This wound is the proof he has done nothing to become immortal. He very certainly didn't eat the Apples of Immortality or his blood would have turned to ichor straight away. I don't think it comes from the blade either. But the fact remains: he is immortal now."
I don't know if I wanted to laugh, cry or scream. I had refused immortality years ago for reasons that are even more valid today. And I had just… become immortal? How is that even possible?
"That is unheard of" Poseidon said to me, as if he had read my thoughts. If I was horrified at the news, him, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine with it. Actually, I thought I could even see a hint of pride in his eyes.
Then I thought of the prophecy. Now there was two lines that made sense: I had scarified myself to save Ophelia, and that's how sacrifice opened my veins. And then I had lost my blood in vain in now stele – just as if I had to loose all my blood to replace it with ichor.
But the process had started before. It had started when I got the first wound.
"Tell us about the prophecy" Athena asked. "How did it come to you? And what does it say?"
Apollo jumped in at that point. Thank the gods because I had no idea what I was going to say. "I gave it to him. I thought unwise to talk about it to the Council, as I was afraid to be wrong about it. But it seems clear now that I am not."
Zeus looked like he was going to crush the sun god in tiny pieces. I could actually see little hurricanes forming in his eyes, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. Apollo recited the prophecy as if nothing was happening. And I understood why he hadn't said anything before. I was actually happy to be immortal now, or I'm quite sure I would be dead. I don't think Zeus liked hearing about how Gaia was supposed to resurrect and the sealing of Olympus's destiny – or the fact that this was supposed to be the Last Prophecy.
"I did not fail to protect the Spirit of Delphi" continued Apollo. "It is dying. It was supposed to deliver only this prophecy. It called on Python itself."
"What about the Saviour of Olympus? Are we sure we are talking about Perseus?" Athena asked.
"The second and third lines are already true." My father answered, with the same hint of pride echoing in his voice. "Blood must be lost in vain through sacrifice. That's what happened."
"Yes, but Gaia didn't rise from his pain." Apollo jumped in, apparently interested in the conversation now – possibly relieved that his father hadn't thrown him off Olympus. "And he hardly feels any pain now."
"Maybe it doesn't refer to that pain." Aphrodite suddenly said. "It could be emotional pain. Do you think of someone you have hurt that could make you feel pain in return?" She winked at me on that comment.
Yes I definitely knew someone like that. But I don't see how she could resurrect Gaia…
"We will discuss this subject further between us" Zeus continued. "But, Perseus Jackson, you must now decide the way to follow. You became an immortal for a reason that you must discover. You cannot be a god without my approval. You must find your path now. Either you accept my laws and kneel in front the gods, accepting godhood for a role that I will give you, or you will be a simple immortal, destined to fade as your role in society becomes less important."
Involuntarily, an image popped in my mind. The image of a drawing in a cave, with on the left someone kneeling in front of the Council, and on the right, someone standing with the three symbols of powers at his feet, Riptide in hand. I guess I understood what these drawings meant now.