Hey all! Sorry for the next late chapter to this, and sorry again that I haven't been updating much! I'm not trying to use it as an excuse, but I still just haven't had the motivation to keep going, but because I'm stubborn as all hell, I will continue with this story. I want to see it through to the end. So, here we are; chapter six of Sed Usque Amare Adflictus! Hope you like it!
(Percy POV)
It was slightly interesting to see the reactions of the Olympians as Calypso, Hermes and I flashed back into the throne room. I saw multiple expressions of guilt, happiness, annoyance (from Zeus), and others that I couldn't make out. Calypso bowed to the gods while I stood with a slight smile.
"Thank you, my lords and ladies, for allowing Percy to remove me from my prison after so long. If possible, I would like to live at Camp...Half-Blood was it? I would like to pass any skills of my own to the demigods there." Calypso asked of the gods. Even though Zeus didn't seem to really want to, he nodded his assent of this request of the nymph. She smiles at me once more before Hermes flashes her away, to camp I suppose.
But I stay back for a couple more minutes and look the gods in the eyes.
"I kinda want to ask something else if that's o-" I started, but was immediately cut off as the King of Gods sighed wearily.
"Nephew, just ask of us. If it is not too big of a deal, then just ask and be on your way. I grow weary of you pestering us gods for small matters." He grunted out, looking at me bitterly once more.
"Well uh….okay then. I would like to have the ability to sense other demigods and monsters. I want to be able to go out and do something, and not let other demigods be killed. Not if I can help it."
"But what about camp? Don't you have responsibilities there?"
"Well...yes, but I don't that many. Clarisse can take over my sword classes while I go and find demigods. I plan on coming back after getting a demigod then staying to ease them into camp life. But for now, while the ex-traitor demigods take their quests of redemption, I can come and get more demigods to fill the camp, plus, if I run into any demigod on a quest, then I can help them before sending them on their way." I reasoned.
Athena of all of the gods seemed to be most affected by my little speech, and she looked down at me curiously. I guess she wasn't that...threatening to me now that she sees that Annabeth wasn't "with" me, or had any intentions of doing so.
"As much as I hate to admit it father, the sea spawn has a point. With him going out and finding demigods they would be as safe as they could be. Perseus is quite powerful, even nearing the strength of some minor gods. I suggest we let him do as he wishes and find some of our children." I was...surprised to say the absolute least. The rival of my father was agreeing with me on something. This was not how I thought that this was going to go.
Zeus sighed wearily once more (he seems to be doing a lot of that) and nodded before announcing,
"Fine! If my daughter says it is a good idea, then I must oblige and agree with her. Perseus Jackson, you are being given a power by the Olympians that not many oth-" He was quickly cut off by my father groaning and snapping his fingers, letting a sea-green light emanate from me slightly before slowly disappearing.
"Please brother, no need for the dramatics, we already know you should have Dionysus's domain of theatre." Dad huffed out, seemingly annoyed but with his lips trying not to quirk up.
"Why- You- Poseidon!" Zeus yelled out to his brother. They started to squabble like normal as I tried to figure out my new powers, and even though I felt the presence of gods before it was nothing like now. This was...intense. I didn't get any warning when the presences of the gods shoved themselves onto my senses.
It was like everything was muted before, and even though I thought I had a handle on it, another barrage would enter my senses, and if I kept this on for a long amount of time...I feel like I would go crazy in my encounter with the gods.
I could feel each of the gods as if I was standing right next to them and they were letting out their true forms with as much power as they could. If they actually were doing that...well, I feel like that would just be sensory overload. You would have to feel it for yourself to truly describe the feelings that were assaulting my brain.
Each god had a different aura, for example; my dad felt like an ocean of lightly churning waters, Artemis felt like a calm forest after a light rain on it, Ares just felt like chaos and war.
It was...overwhelming. There was too much! My head started to spin, my vision distorted and I started stumbling backwards. There was a slight noise to my left and suddenly I felt thin and warm arms hold me up. Then I sensed the calmness and home like feeling of only one goddess. Hestia.
My vision slowly cleared and I no longer felt like I had to throw up, as my brain was washed over by the calming presence of Hestia. Of course. The Goddess of hearth and home was the one to calm me down, and quickly I thanked her for it.
"O-oh! Thank you Lady Hestia. Sorry for getting all dizzy.."
"No need for that Perseus. I am just glad you are okay. I see that the power that your father had given you had unintended consequences. Are you still dizzy, or can you stand on your own?" The kind, mother-like goddess asked me calmly. I smiled softly at her and nodded, saying,
"Yes. Thank you Lady Hestia. I can stand now. I don't suppose you can teach me how to...suppress this power?" I asked warily, making my way and standing up lightly, almost getting overwhelmed once more by the auras of the gods.
Surprise flashed across the goddess's face before it went back to serene calmness.
"Oh! Of course, I would be happy too. Since I do not know how it is for a demigod, I can only say that it is like using your powers over water but backwards. You feel a pull on your stomach area as you use your powers correct?" I nod here and she continues, "So then you should do the opposite. Focus on your head and brain, and push down on it. Like you are trying to muffle a sound with a blanket or pillow."
I nodded once more and did as she said, focusing on my head and trying to do the opposite of using my powers and force my enhanced senses down to normal. And slowly but surely I felt the enhancements to my senses being dulled down to normal, and only felt a slight buzzing in the back of my mind telling me that the power is still there for me to bring out and use.
"Good. I'm glad that you are all better now! But I suppose you cannot leave the others in your camp waiting for long. I wish you luck on your next adventures Perseus." She smiles softly at me before she disappears in a warm glow of flames.
I sigh in happiness before catching Artemis's eye and pointing to my head, then smiling at my goddess friend(?) before bowing and walking out of the throne room.
What a day.
(Annabeth POV)
Percy had gone to Olympus, we had just gotten the shocker that there was a second Great Prophecy, and now we learned that Rachel is the new Oracle of Delphi. On the good side, we don't need to have that mummy for an oracle anymore, and the new one is infinitely more welcoming than the old one.
I didn't know what to do anymore, for one Percy just seemed to just be resigned, which isn't like him at all! I'm happy with Luke now but Percy just seems miserable. I don't want him to feel like that but I'm just happy that he doesn't want to hurt anyone. I just want his happy-go-lucky attitude back.
Before this happened he was the first one who would even start a fight just so a person would smile or laugh. Now though...it's rare to see a genuine smile. But...he's still doing what he wants. Annoying the gods and helping the demigods. He's even letting the ex-traitors gain the trust back.
Percy had gotten back from Olympus, reported to Chiron about what happened on Olympus, then went...back to his cabin? Didn't he come from there when we were going to talk to Rachel? How was he still tired? Maybe...it was just after-effects of the battle with Kronos. He did get tossed around way more than I did.
I was jolted out of my thoughts when my boyfriend(I shivered as I remembered I had gotten my wish) Luke popped up from nowhere behind me and whisper-shouted,
"Annie!" I jumped and then narrowed my eyes at him
"Luke, I swear if you call me Annie one more time I'll-"
"Annabeth, do you have something to say? Or can I keep talking?" Chiron interrupted me with a knowing smile, and I felt my cheeks light up slightly before shaking my head negatively.
"Good. Then I would like to make the announcement that Percy today had gone up to Olympus to free the peaceful titans from their prisons. He has also informed me that the...reunified demigods will be getting quests from their godly parent to regain trust from the rest of the camp." Chiron started to say, then he paused for a moment and looked behind him before sighing and looking back to the campers.
"Percy has also brought one of the peaceful titans back with him, one named Calypso." There were some gasps at this and I froze up. Did...was Percy 'with' Calypso? I mean...he did end up on her island a year ago right? Then I blinked in confusion as the nymph started to glare at the crowd- no, not the crowd. She was glaring at me.
"I-" I was interrupted from saying anything by the look Luke and Chiron gave me, then the centaur continued.
"She will be living here and teaching you all more things that she has never been able to teach to anyone before, so please be grateful to our possible newest 'camper'" and at this, there was silence.
(Artemis POV)
I groaned inwardly at the end of the of the meeting where Uncle Poseidon and Father were starting to argue once more for the millionth time this year. Seriously, they just have to get over themselves.
Eventually, my brother broke them up with an unusually somber look on his face and I sat up, slightly interested now that my brother was being serious.
"Yes Apollo? What is it that you need?" Father asked of my brother, looking slightly annoyed at my brother for stopping his argument with his brother.
"A...a couple days ago I had gotten a new oracle.." he started, now I had noticed that everyone was paying attention, aside from Dionysus who looked bored and was reading a magazine about wine. Per normal. Did he already know this?
"And it seems we have gotten a second Great Prophecy on our hands." Everyone sat up straighter now, even the drunk.
"How did it go Apollo? We need to figure this out as fast as we can." Apollo nodded quickly and sat up stiffly as a green light engulfed him. His mouth opened as far as it could and a green smoke trailed out of it and spoke in a raspy voice.
Eight ones of the blood of gods,
Shall answer the call of all.
Seven will sail on but one will fall,
The earth will sleep by storm or flames.
An Oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Door of Death.
There was silence for a moment, then chaos erupted all around the throne room. Father had to shoot his Master Bolt at the ground at the floor before everyone quieted down.
"Athena...can you figure this out?" He asked, immediately turning to his greatest thinker.
"Father...this one is somewhat hard to decipher. I suppose eight demigods will answer a call of one of the gods, then one will 'fall' along the way. That could have multiple meanings, and the first one I can think of is that one of the original eight will die. The other would be falling from a high place somewhere. The earth could be either great-grandmother or the fall of the world itself and the storm or flames seem to suggest Perseus or possibly one of your children Hephaestus." Said god seemed confused at this but Athena forged on.
"Someone will take an oath that they will keep until they do it or die trying. Finally, the last line suggests…" Athena huffed and looked a bit mad now as the struggled to speak the last line, "I am going to take an educated guess that it is the Romans." She said with obvious disgust in her voice at even talking about the romans.
All of the gods groaned and held their heads in their hands as they flickered between their two forms. Then they slowly stabilized into their greek forms as Father groaned out,
"Fine...We will have to cut off Olympus from the demigods then." Even before he finished I had shot up to my feet and started to yell.
"What?! I will not stay away from my hunters! They may be capable without me, but I do not want them out there without any godly help from me, especially if a new Great Prophecy is going to be going on! I refuse!"
"Fine fine! Artemis you may still interact with your hunters like normal. Everyone else, none. Nobody is to talk to the mortals."
Everyone groaned but eventually they gave in and nodded. I, on the other hand sat confidently on my chair, slightly glaring at my father who had tried to take me away from my hunters. Eventually the meeting ended and I got to leave, and I was the first one to flash away and go to my hunters.
Girls! Meet at my cabin immediately.
I quickly felt my hunters start running to my cabin, and when the door burst open I saw Thalia first to come inside and sit down on her bed next to mine, next was Phoebe, then Naomi, then the rest of my hunters trickled in and sat down on their respective beds.
"You are all here correct?" I asked and they quickly nodded their heads. I sighed in relief and smiled at my girls softly.
"Good good...So with the council meeting, Father has ordered all gods to no longer have any interactions with mortals. And before you freak out, I am exempt because...well, Father did not want to feel my wrath of not seeing you girls. I just finished and now I wanted to inform you. This, and that apparently Apollo's oracle had spouted out another great prophecy that seems rather...disconcerting."
"My Lady...does this somehow involve Percy?" Thalia warily asked. I blinked and looked at my younger sister with more than a bit of confusion.
"Why would you ask that Thalia?" She chuckled slightly before responding,
"Well, he does have the worst luck. Being the subject of the first Great Prophecy and doing everything he had done. I wouldn't be surprised that the Kelp-Head got himself into more trouble again." she sighed and shook her head wearily.
"Ah...well, it would seem like you are correct. He is the one demigod to have worse luck than even that twice-damned Heracles." I chuckled out, even though I had growled out that horrible son of Zeus's name.
Eventually after a bit more back and forth, I had told them about the prophecy, and I saw Thalia slowly pale.
"Oh gods. That is….that is horrible. So a person on the original eight will die on the quest?" She looked up at me, and I could only make a face that said 'I have no clue.'
"But there is also a problem of the...Romans." even as I said the sentence, I groaned and closed my eyes in pain, feeling Diana straining to climb out of my subconscious.
"I am not sure how long I can stay with you girls before Diana gets through and I would have to leave. Even though my mother is free now, I would think I would have to get to Delos once more to stabilize myself. I will try and contact you girls from there when it happens, but before it does, I would like to stay with you for as long as possible." After my little speech, I smiled at all my hunters and looked outside the window.
"Oh wow! I must have talked for too long, I suppose it is time to sleep! Goodnight my hunters. Sleep well." I smiled at them again, watching them head to their beds under my orders. Eventually, I left to go to my own bed and with a thought untouched, that thought led to Perseus Jackson. He seemed like he had wanted to talk to me again, if that head poke in the throne room said anything.
He would be a good friend to anyone.
(Percy POV)
As soon as I hit my bed I passed out once again. I was just so tired lately. I feel like this is becoming a problem, but I don't have the energy to deal with it.
Eventually my dreams started up again, this time I could see a constantly moving circle of dirt….No wait, the circle of dirt started gaining features. A nose, drooping mouth, closed eyes, and some wrinkles.
Now I was staring at a dirt face. This was...interesting.
"Yes Perseus, it is."
I flinched at my name before sighing and opening my mouth to talk, only to find I was unable too. So at the end I only glared at the dirt face.
"This would be interesting indeed Perseus. But it isn't time to tell you much. The only thing you need to know is that I will wake this time. Goodnight great-grandson."
And with that cryptic warning, I was teleported back to the beautiful forest I had met Artemis before. Had she gotten my silent question to tal-
"Yes I did Perseus."
I sighed and looked at the goddess straight into her silver eyes.
"What's up with you immortals and reading my mind and responding out loud?"
Ahhhhhfkfbaebilafl Finally! Sorry this took so long! I know I'm using it as an excuse at this point, but I just don't have any crazy-scientist motivation, but that doesn't mean I'll let this story die off! Anyways, thanks for reading this. If y'all have any ideas for a child oc then please go ahead and gimme some ideas. I have ideas for dear ol' Perce. Also, how did you guys think I did on the prophecy? I thought I added some things pretty well^^