Energy Unbound
Chapter ?
Ascension
Ari gently pushed open the doors to the Throne Room of Poseidon's palace. They swung on invisible hinges. The sound of grinding stone echoed off the coral floor like a rumbling earthquake. It seemed the doors were infused with Poseidon's power for added theatrical effect.
"Showing off much, Dad?" Percy called into the Throne Room from behind Ari.
Annabeth gasped and smacked his arm hard. "Percy!" she hissed.
The idle chatter that had been present between the subjects of the Sea and the Lord abruptly died out. Poseidon looked up at them as they cautiously moved further into the grand hall-like room. "Percy! My son!" he exclaimed with joy. He set down his Trident to lean against the arm of his throne and stood up.
That was a mistake.
Now that it was out of direct contact with the current Lord of the Sea, the Trident, Poseidon's symbol of power, began to vibrate. Everyone except Ari locked their gazes upon the anomalously behaving weapon with curious expressions. Poseidon was incredibly confused. Nothing like this had happened to him, nor had he ever heard of such a thing.
Ari cursed under her breath. Cat, bag, about to be very blown! she thought. She concentrated on the other entities in the Throne Room, incredibly thankful neither Amphitrite or Triton were present when they arrived, and waved her hand over them all. The fabric of reality wavered around each being for but a moment, with a low rumbling hum, before they all disappeared. A snap of her fingers and the throne room doors slammed shut, sealed with her power.
Poseidon instantly grew fearful and grabbed his still vibrating Trident from it's resting place. He aimed it at Ari and growled. "What are you?" he bellowed.
Percy was about to defend her when Annabeth wisely clamped a hand over his mouth. She drew him backwards, away from the impending divine confrontation. Ari sent her a thankful nod. She returned her focus to the angry Lord of the Sea.
"Poseidon, I took preemptive measures to prevent an unveiling of truths to the others present, or those listening, that they should not hear," she calmly explained.
Poseidon blinked in confusion. He gripped his Trident even stronger as the pulling force being exerted on it increased. "What are you doing to my Symbol?" he growled.
Ari raised up both hands and waved them. "That's not my doing. It is, however, related to why we came here today," she replied, gesturing to the two former demigods behind her.
Poseidon spared a single second to take in his son and his girlfriend. His eyes returned to her and blazed with blue power. "What spell have you woven on my son and daughter in law that they follow you so?"
Annabeth squeaked at how Poseidon had addressed her while Percy just wore a loopy grin.
Ari grimaced at his accusation. "None. They're actually here to talk to you. I'm… uh, their escort, you could say."
Poseidon narrowed his eyes. "And why would the Prince of the Sea need an escort in his own domain?"
Percy lost his grin in about two seconds flat. "Um, excuse me," he interrupted, raising his hand, "'Prince of the Sea'? What domain?"
Poseidon's eyes shot wide open and he gulped. It was evident he hadn't meant to reveal that. The power gathered around him drained away, his voice losing it's dimensional tone. "Uh…" he stammered.
Any explanation would have to wait, for that raising of Percy's hand was too much for the Trident. Before the son of Poseidon could begin interrogating the Lord of the Sea, the weapon ripped out of his hands and rocketed down the avenue of the Throne Room. It left a small void of displaced water behind it and a wake of bubbles that formed as it collapsed. The Trident went straight for Percy's open palm, causing Ari to dive to the side as it traveled right through the space her head had been in. "Shit!" she exclaimed.
The moment the three pronged godly weapon met Percy's hand it let out a shockwave of power. Sea-green nebulae ripped out into reality and smacked hard into the shields Ari had only barely thrown up in time. The Throne Room shook from the blast. Despite the shielding, Poseidon and Annabeth were pushed backwards. Burns were scored into the three thrones of the gods of the Sea, Poseidon's more than Triton or Amphitrite's. Despite his relatively new state of being, Percy was affected as the Sea made its claim upon him.
He screamed.
"Annabeth!" Ari yelled over his rather high volume, "help him!"
Annabeth tried to look at her, but the current exploding off her boyfriend's hand was making it extremely difficult. "What?"
"Grab the Trident! Don't take it, just… share the burden!"
The daughter of Athena looked back and forth between Percy and Ari with an annoyed look on her face. "And you expect me to do that how?"
"You are just as much a daughter of the Sea as Percy is a son now, Annabeth. Use it!"
Poseidon's eyes grew wide. "What?!" he bellowed. He glared at Ari and began to unleash his godly power. "EXPLAIN NOW!"
Ari spun on him with a frown. "We have bigger problems right now, Poseidon. We've got to prevent the currently active Ascension Event!"
Poseidon's face grew pale. "How can I help?"
"Boost Annabeth's control over the Sea so that she can get to Percy!" Ari told him. More power exploded out of the Trident, battering into the shields she was maintaining, both on the occupants of the Throne Room and the room itself to prevent this energy from flattening Atlantis. She grunted with the effort of reinforcing those shields against this new level of power. "Now you two! I can't keep this up forever!"
Annabeth and Poseidon locked eyes. They slowly nodded to each other. Poseidon raised a hand and bestowed Annabeth with his blessing. This would have given her power over the sea like one of his own children, as was its primary purpose, but ended up supercharging the already present connection. Poseidon's eyes shot wide open at that fact. He then remembered that Ari had said as such.
We will discuss this later… Daughter, the Lord of the Sea sent to her mind. He was unsure how it had happened, but Annabeth was definitely now one of his kids.
He was incredibly surprised when her response didn't return over the mind link he had created with her specifically for that reply, but instead he felt the touch of another divine being upon his mental defenses. I have to save Percy first.
Poseidon leveled an incensed glare at Ari while Annabeth began to mould the sea to push her towards Percy. "Would you care to explain why Annabeth is now a goddess, Ari?" he asked, his tone dangerously hard.
"Ascension! Event!" she reminded him.
He lost all will to interrogate her at that moment. The reason? Because it meant that Percy was a god too. Only a divine being could initiate an Ascension Event with a god's symbol of power, after all.
The shitstorm to come, as mortals these days say, now had the potential of an apocalyptic world-ending cataclysm.
Zeus was that paranoid.
