Authors Note: Alright, its time for more Percy! And an important note at the end of the chapter that hopefully might answer some questions.
Chapter 4: The Gods raise an immortal the hard way (grow up already, please…)
It was a normal day in Olympus. Birds were chirping, some minor gods were having a chariot race, and there was a reed pipe competition among the satyrs. It was a peaceful and quite a lovely day that's for sure. The same can't be said though, if one passed through a certain Hearth goddesses palace right now.
"Where is the bottle?! He's been crying for too long now!"
"Are you even sure if he's hungry? He may just have had an 'accident' you know."
"Oh no way in Hades am I going to check that."
"Must you use my name as a swear? Di immortals, I am right here you know!"
"Stop appearing using that damned helm of yours, its freaky!"
"Well…I wouldn't have said it if you were here so…"
"Aww, is Poseidon scared of a helmet"
"Says the goddess who screamed like a little girl when she first saw it."
"Because I WAS a little girl when I first saw it!"
"ENOUGH!" Hera shouted, who was already glowing a bit due to anger, courtesy from the bickering Gods. "All of you yelling at each other wont help calm poor Perseus down. So instead of acting like immature children, which I wish Perseus won't turn out like, start behaving like the respectable adults you are!
"Now, Hades go see if Ares hasn't messed up something as simple as preparing a bottle for Perseus. Poseidon you…" Hera placed her hand on a crying Perseus's head, which momentarily flashed green. "are on diaper duty." Poseidon groaned while Athena snickered. "Athena help Poseidon." "What?!" "Demeter prepare some baby food, just in case." Demeter nodded, going towards the kitchen where Hades and Ares were. "Hestia, you of course try to calm Perseus down. Meanwhile I, will drag my husband down here like he was supposed to ten minutes ago." She then flashed away.
Three minutes later, a grumbling Demeter came out of the kitchen with a bottle and a bowl of milk and baby food respectively, followed by Ares and Hades, both having food and milk on themselves. Hestia had to take over changing Perseus's diaper when Poseidon accidently levitated the dirty diaper towards Athena. She of course didn't take it too kindly. Hera had managed to drag a disgruntled Zeus over, who grumbled about there being absolutely no need for him to be over here in the first place.
"I don't need your help when it comes to Perseus." Hera told him. "It's just that, remember Ixion? The guy who you strapped on a chariot wheel and threw him into orbit for me."
"Um, yeah? What about him?" replied Zeus.
"Well, you know how you made that replica of me out of clouds to see if Ixion was really making pass at me? I want you to do that again but for Perseus."
"…You want me to make a replica of you for Perseus? For babysitting or…?
"No you dolt! I want you make something to give him company like a puppy or something."
"Oh alright, here you go kid enjoy." Zeus said as he formed a miniature wolf pup for Perseus. However, the minute the wolf pup gained life, it immediately darted to a nearby and ran out of the palace.
Poseidon snorted. "Now that was impressive, good job Zeus."
"But wait! Why can't we leave him with someone else? It would be better to get him some babysitter, right?" Ares asked.
"Because of what happened last time." said Hestia, setting Perseus down at a particularly shady area of the room. "We left him with the Horai and five minutes later he disappears! It took them at least fifteen minutes for them to search for him and they didn't even know if he was even in the house. It was only when we appeared that he made his presence known but was still hiding from us. If it wasn't for Demeter promising to give him her newly made chocolate chip baby formula infused with nectar, he'll probably still be hiding from us giving us the occasional giggle and squeal." Hestia finished, shaking her head fondly at her pseudo-son's antics.
"And that's what I prepared now, since two grown Gods couldn't prepare a simple bottle of milk." Demeter grumbled but nonetheless smiled when she saw Perseus head perk up and immediately on hearing what Demeter said and started making grabby hands at the bottle. "Here you go little one, enjoy."
"Hey, my formula was actually quite good, you were the one who dumped it on us saying it wasn't 'nutritional' enough." Hades said, fuming.
"And why did you even dump it on ME in the first place." Ares cried out.
"Because you unlike Hades couldn't even heat a bottle of milk. And as for you Hades, babies need their nutrition, not that unholy amount of sugar you put in the damn formula.
"It tasted bland though…" Hades muttered.
"Anyway, how is he though. How are you actually Hestia, everything alright with taking care of Perseus?" Athena asked her as they steeped outside the room.
"I'm quite alright actually thank you for asking, and taking care of Perseus is somewhat a breeze. I am obviously new to this whole baby thing but Perseus is such a sweetheart though he is quite active during night time but that may be because of his parentage, and he never actually has caused any trouble except for that time with the Horai and when Ares- "
"AAHH!" came the shout from the living room. Hestia and Athena immediately went inside to find Hades staring at where Perseus was, only to see that he wasn't there.
"Where- " "He was right there sister, I swear! But then he disappeared, like me!" said Hades.
Athena narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by 'disappeared like me'?"
"Exactly what I meant! Wait no, you might need some context. Okay so… you know how I can melt into the shadows, right?"
Athena nodded "shadow travel yes." While Hestia exclaimed, "Get to the point Hades!"
"I am, I am! So, I was showing Perseus that you know when he also did it! Not dipping his hand in a shadow no, he straight up went into one!"
On hearing this Athena just stared at Hades with her mouth opened while Hestia stared at him with a blank look at her face. And blank face Hestia was low-key scary. The other Olympians had also come by then to see what was the matter.
"Brother, are you trying to say that Perseus has travelled somewhere else, instead of being in Olympus?" Hestia asked calmly, but with a slight edge in her voice.
Hades gulped. "Um… maybe…? But I might be able to find him, if he's shadow travelled I will be able to sense him."
Suddenly a giggling noise was heard echoing causing some Olympians to either jump or groan simultaneously.
"Please not this again." Poseidon muttered. "Demeter, go make another batch of that milk please."
"And what makes you think he'll come for after he already had one of those just two minutes ago?"
"I don't know, he is a baby, he might definitely want more that's for sure. Plus that lured him out the last time and I am pretty sure our older sister is not in the mood for Perseus's antics right now." Poseidon said, whispering the last part.
Demeter sighed. "Fine. I'll be in the kitchen."
"Perseus, can you please come out sweetie. Mum- I mean I'm admittedly not in a mood for your version of hide and seek and your relatives have to be somewhere else. You don't want to trouble them as well right?" Hestia asked. Though she didn't like the fact that she was more or less manipulating the baby, it was sort of necessary for this situation. More giggles were heard followed by a squeal of delight when Demeter came back with a fresh bottle in hand.
"Okay, I got the bottle. Where is he- WOAH!". A shadow that was being casted by a couch rose up and took the form of a hand. It then grabbed the bottle out of Demeter's hands and sunk back into the ground, with the bottle going through the shadow and effectively disappearing. Stunned silence filled the room after that spectacle happened.
"What in the world was that!" Athene shouted.
"That, my dear niece may just be one of Perseus's abilities." Hades said dumbfounded.
"Wait so he can materialise objects from…shadows? How is that even possible, its not matter and…and…"
Hestia sighed, "Niece, we are immortal mythological beings. Nothing will make sense. And looks like this is one more thing I have to watch out for now."
Hera chuckled "Look at you sister, you are look more or less like an exasperated mother. Ahh, welcome to the club."
Unnoticed by the gods, shadows started to creep up towards the ceiling until a portal like structure was formed. A wooshing noise was then heard, followed by a loud shriek and Perseus popped out from the ceiling, as he slowly descended, almost like levitation on the couch below, an empty bottle clutched between his hands. He looked up at the gods staring down at him and shyly waved.
"Alright Perseus, I'm guessing you came out because you either felt bad for making us worry again, or you must be sleepy.
Perseus merely nodded, though he did have an apologetic look on his face. He then gave out a yawn and snuggled up on Hestia, resting his head against her neck.
She smiled. "Looks like its both the reasons." She then turned towards the other Olympians, addressing them. "Thank you so much for coming out of your busy schedules and helping me out today. It really means a lot to me."
"Not a problem sister. Anytime you need help, just send a iris message. We'll be there, even if I have to be the one dragging out some of you'll." Hera said.
Athena glanced at Ares and then everyone else. "Is no one really going to bring up the fact that Ares screamed like a little girl when Perseus popped out from the ceiling?"
"I did not! That- that was you! Poseidon also said the same thin g!"
"That was way before and doesn't have to do with what happened now.'
"Yeah but- "
"Argue about this outside please." Zeus said, flashing them both out of the palace. He and the rest of the Olympians then flashed away as well, except for Hades.
He then said to Hestia. "Sister, if you like, I can try to find some research on shadows and their uses since Perseus has an affinity for it. Might help you when needed and you can maybe explain his powers properly to him as well once he is older."
"That would be greatly appreciated, thank you."
Hades gave a small smile and flashed away as well, leaving the duo behind after quite a long day.
Alright fourth chapter is done and yeah this may seem filler and all but next chapter will continue the story and it's a bit short as well so sorry about that :(. But this also means a special someone is going to appear soon. Who will that be? Well, you have to wait for a couple of more days for that. And as you can see, Perseus has shown a snippet of his powers and what he is capable of doing. He is definitely going to acquire more skills down the line which means more fight scenes (which are kinda lacking tbh). Also, I mentioned in the last chapter that I have something to discuss. Now you may be wondering, what's up with the other major Olympians and when will they appear? Well, if you haven't noticed already, story is of course taking place at a time where the gods like Hermes, Aphrodite and Artemis have either not been born or made their presence known. But we will definitely introduce them in due time. As for the timeline, well the myths are kinda convoluted but taking into account Rick's 'Greek Gods' book, I have managed o piece a coherent timeline that works for you guys. And since this is ultimately fan fiction, you cant really complain about inaccuracies really but I will try not to have to many. Until then…\/.