Poseidon

A good, strong opening chapter. I also didn't know that this was the only story under the category of "Percy JacksonDishonored" crossover, so that makes me the top dog in this crossover, just like it is so in "Percy JacksonAvP," "Percy JacksonClaymore," "Percy JacksonTokyo Ghoul," "Percy JacksonBlack Lagoon," and "Percy JacksonAssassin's Creed."

I'm the Mr. Worldwide of PJO fanfiction.

The story continues from last chapter by introducing Poseidon!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Dishonored

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Poseidon was grumpy.

Or rather, angry.

He was angry that Amphitrite was angry with him based on what had happened to make him angry with her which led to why she was angry with him.

The god of the sea had been in the mood for sex for weeks now, and he'd tried wooing his wife, seducing his wife, taking her out on lunches and dinners, buying her things, making her things, minding his p's and q's, and going above and beyond that of all the gods to have sex with, he was the one. He loved her, was loyal and faithful, and he wanted to have sex with his wife.

Amphitrite didn't want to have sex with her husband. She just wasn't in the mood like Poseidon was, not matter how much he tried to get her there.

Thus started a conflict of interest. Poseidon wanted sex, Amphitrite didn't want to have sex. She gave no real reason, only that she wasn't in the mood for sleeping with her husband. That made Poseidon mad. Very, very mad, but he wasn't Zeus. He wasn't going to force himself on Amphitrite, and he certainly wasn't going to find just some vagina to dominate—vagina as in he wasn't feeling like bedding a man and screwing his asshole today.

So Poseidon went for the sea god's equivalent of an angry walk to blow off steam, which caused the seas to churn and the storms to form, no doubt terrifying the sailors and colonists of the fledgling America.

Poseidon had left Atlantis far behind him as he shot across the ocean floor into deeper and deeper water, but not so deep as to temp Oceanus, musing and contemplating about the responsibilities and duties a husband and wife had to each other, while also thinking about the fine lines of what was and was not okay. Farther and farther Poseidon went, lost in his justifications and rationalizations about how a husband and wife were supposed to have sex, and both could decline the other, yet it was still expected, yet not at the same time—so and so forth.

Poseidon was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the water changing around him, becoming not water, until he heard the sound of a whale. He blinked, looked at the source of the sound, and found his godly breath seizing in his throat at the sight of the creature.

It was like no living whale in his oceans, bearing a vague resemblance to the extinct whale species Livyatan melvillei, both of them having a crowned head and a maw of huge, sharp teeth. After that, it was all different. The color of their bodies, the shape of the tail, the spikes coming out of the back, and the barbels hanging down from just behind the jaw. Poseidon had never seen this whale before, had never heard of it, didn't even know about it. Being the god of the sea, he knew about every creature therein, even the ones mankind had yet to discover.

The whale floated past, and that's when Poseidon realized that he was not in his oceans anymore.

Huge masses of rock were suspended, architecture adorning them of places in Atlantis. Chunks of the schools and some businesses, and parts of his palace. Confused and weary, Poseidon continued floating around, noting there was a chunk of the combat arena, Aphros standing by as he watched two young mermen duel in a still shot. There was another of Triton entertaining a group of school children as a guest speaker, and many more.

Poseidon felt like he'd wandered into a cosmic wax museum as he drifted past exhibits of his extended and disjointed family doing things that were less than reputable. He looked over the side of the platform and saw that, seemingly at the center of this strange place, was a ball of light like a star, but one that didn't give off any heat nor was impossible to look at.

"Where am I…" the sea god wondered aloud, completely mesmerized and if he was being honest, afraid.

"Hello, Poseidon."

The sea god yelped and whirled around, trident in hand, stabbing it at whoever had just snuck up behind him. A loud clang echoed in Poseidon's ears as if the tip of his Celestial bronze weapon had struck a ten-foot-thick block of the metal, but in truth, the trident's central prong had collided with, and stopped dead against, the pasty palm of a man that could've been the offspring of Hades.

Dressed in dark trousers that were tucked into dark leather boots, a white button-down shirt worn underneath a brown leather jacket, pasty skin, oily black hair, and solid, irisless, pupilless, scleraless, black eyes, the new arrival gave off a presence that made Poseidon feel incredibly small.That was really saying something, too, considering all the people praying to him nowadays with all the ships sailing back and forth between America and Europe.

Despite having almost been ran through on a trident, the being didn't look angry or offended, or even amused. He just looked…curious…interested…

Poseidon calmly retracted his trident. "Who are you?"

"I am the Outsider. You are in the Void."

"The Void?" Poseidon gasped. "I've faded?"

As far as Poseidon's understanding went, the Void was the place in which the spirits of the faded deities went.

"The Void that you are in is and is not the same as the Void you think of," the Outsider said, voice flat and informative. "This Void is a world between worlds, accessible only to me and a select few others."

"Then…how did I get here?"

"You were sent here."

"Who sent me here?"

"You know them as Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis."

Poseidon's grip on his trident turned his knuckles white. "W-Why-" he cleared his throat- "why did the Fates send me here? Am I to be banished?"

"No."

Poseidon waited for an elaboration, but none came. Based on the way the corner's of the Outsider's mouth were just ever so slightly curled up, and that there seemed to be a gleam in those black eyes, Poseidon was coming to the conclusion that he was dealing with something of a trickster deity, kind of like Loki but less malicious. Instead of throwing his muscle around, mostly because he'd done just that and had his trident stopped cold, Poseidon decided it was best to play nice, especially if he was stuck here for however long.

Best not to piss off the god of the foreign place you were suddenly in.

"Then why am I here?" Poseidon clarified.

"There are things that happen that aren't supposed to happen. Things that need correcting in order to get things moving in the way they're supposed to move. There is a woman in my world by the name of Sally Copperspoon. She is supposed to be in yours, and you were supposed to meet her decades from when you are now."

"Am I to take this woman to my world, then?"

"No."

"Then what am I to do? I mean no offence, Great Outsider, but I have family and duties in my world that need my attention, and would like to get back to them as soon as possible."

The Outsider crossed his arms in a non-threatening way. "What you do with Sally is up to you. You can bed her, love her, kill her, or whatever strikes your whim. The only thing you must do is meet her. After that…I expect a good show."

The Outsider vanished in a black cloud that overcame Poseidon, leaving him coughing and staggering. When his eyes and lungs cleared, he found himself standing at the mouth of an alley in a warm, tropical climate. It looked like he was in a beach town at midday. Poseidon looked down at himself and saw he wasn't wearing his combination garb of armor and toga, but was wearing an outfit that he assumed to be typical of the locals: Bermuda shorts, sandals, and a light blue button-down shirt that was tucked in, a black belt around his waist.

Poseidon honestly liked this look. It was a far sight better than the coats and stockings that the English were wearing. It was comfortable and loose, perfect for a day of fishing. He might have to appropriate this look for himself when he got back home.

Instead of trying to figure out the Outsider's and the Fates' game, Poseidon instead ran a mental check of himself. He held open his palm and willed into existence a conch shell. It appeared. He willed it to change into a musket, and it did. Then he willed it to become nothing, and it vanished completely. Poseidon nodded to himself and then looked at the distant waves softly lapping the shore. He willed them to stop completely, and the water stilled to the point that it resembled a sheet of glass.

He released his hold on the water and mused that it was interesting how he still had all of his divine powers in a world that apparently wasn't his own. He decided that figuring out this whole different world and Void thing was only going to give him a headache, so he didn't bother. He was here because the Fates, and he was only going to be able to leave because he did something with Sally Copperspoon.

Interesting last name.

With his divine powers still wholly intact, meaning he could probably lay waste to this whole world if he wanted since there were apparently no contending gods beyond the Outsider, which Poseidon did not dare go against based on the fact that the black-eyed god honestly creeped him out, Poseidon invoked his power of searching for the woman called Sally Copperspoon.

He found her in a bungalow in the jungle.

Poseidon disappeared from where he was and appeared outside the dwelling. Now he was halfway convinced he was in Hawai'i. Sally's residence was an almost extravagant place with two stories, a thatched roof, a balcony of stained wood, stained glass windows depicting exotic birds, tall trees growing around, situated on top of a hill overlooking the town below—ah.

Sally must've been the town leader or something.

From inside the open door, Poseidon heard the clanging of metal and a female barking out instructions. Sword lessons.

Inviting himself in, Poseidon was respectful in that he just went through the house instead of looking at every little thing. He went straight out to the back and felt a little silly that he didn't just go around the house like everyone else seemed to have done. Yeah, in Sally's spacious backyard was a congregation of adults sitting in chairs around a marked area of grass, two girls that didn't look to be in their teens yet dueling each other with real swords, a woman instructor shouting at them to not be so aggressive, be more aggressive, watch their footing, be faster, etc.

This must've been Sally.

Blue eyes and long brown hair tied up and out of the way, a sword at her belt, healthy skin, sharp features, muscles showing under her instructor's uniform, and the way she carried herself was nothing short of professional, dignified, and regal. Poseidon was instantly enamored with this woman, his discourse just minutes ago about the duties of husband and wife now forgotten.

And with Aphrodite a world away, it could not be said that she had a hand in this.

One of the girls pulled a quick one on the other and sent her to the ground. She levied her sword at her opponent's throat, only to have her legs kicked out from under her. She was pinned when her opponent sprang up and straddled her, knocking her sword away while levying her own against the throat, ready to slit.

"Match," Sally said clearly.

Polite clapping resounded from the audience, parents, friends of the parents, siblings, and other students and their families. The girls got to their feet, one helping the other, and they bowed at their waist to Sally.

"Well done, you two," the woman praised. "This concludes today's lesson. You will have my full report before the evening ends. Dismissed."

The girls bowed again and then broke character by practically skipping over to their families to be showered with praise and congratulations by their mothers and fathers, and awe of their younger siblings. Steadily, the crowd dispersed until it was just Sally standing there with her hands clasped behind her back, looking relieved to no longer have to entertain parents and bubbly children.

Then she looked at Poseidon.

"And what can I do for you, stranger? I trust you kept your hands to yourself when you waltzed through my house."

"I tried my very best," Poseidon sighed. "But I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I just had to investigate further. I will be honest…I figured you to be more of a thong type of lady."

"Only on the weekends. What is your name?"

"I am Poseidon," the sea god answered casually, under no delusion that his name would actually be recognized here.

Sally's brow rose. "Interesting name. Why are you here, Poseidon?"

"For you, actually."

"Certainly not the most intimidating assassin I've killed, and certainly not the worst man that has tried to court me."

Poseidon smiled. "I'm not exactly your average man, my lady."

Sally looked him up and down, noting his physique and tanned skin, his striking sea-green eyes, and his messy, windswept black hair, dark as raven's feathers. She made a noncommittal sound at the back of her throat.

"And what is it, exactly, that you want from me Poseidon? My head or what's between my legs?"

Poseidon laughed at the brazenness of this woman. "Neither…yet, anyway. I was swimming through the ocean just ten minutes ago when suddenly I wasn't in the ocean anymore. This man with black eyes told me that I had to find you, and after that, it was up to me to decide what to do."

It did not at all go unnoticed by Poseidon that when he mentioned the Outsider, Sally stiffened ever so slightly, her eyes widened just a tad, and her mouth parted by a fraction of an inch. Just referencing the god by calling him the "man with the black eyes" was enough for Sally to recognize who Poseidon was speaking of. She knew of the Outsider and was not afraid of him despite his otherworldly appearance, demeanor, aura, and general feeling that he was not a good being. If anything, Sally looked excited and ecstatic at the prospect that Poseidon had been sent by the Outsider.

Of course, none of that was visible like a mountain. Sally did an outstanding job in keeping this hidden, but she was up against a god that had thousands of years of experience in reading body language and facial expressions. Of course, Poseidon could also have just read her mind, but where was the fun in that?

"I would keep that to yourself if I were you," Sally said soberly. "Those who speak like they know the Outsider typically don't live long after they open their mouths."

"And why is that?" Poseidon asked, keeping his amusement hidden at the thought of a bunch of mortals trying to kill him without so much as a Celestial bronze dagger.

"It's been fifty years since the bulk of it, but the Outsider likes to give people his Mark, which grants them certain powers. People who had the Mark went to great lengths to cause a lot of chaos. There was a witch who created a coven, an assassin who raised a whole army, a nobleman that stalked the streets at night, and an empress that was disgraced and retook her throne. On top of that, there are items called Bone Charms that carry the powers of the Void, and people have used these Charms for their personal gain. As such, between the Mark Bearers and the Bone Charms, the Outsider is regarded as an evil figure whose goal is to destroy humanity without lifting a finger."

"You sound like you disagree."

"The Outsider does little more than hand out loaded guns and bullets," Sally shrugged. "It is the people that decide what they do with what they've been given, and for the most part, these people choose evil."

"I see," Poseidon said, picking up on the subtle clues.

"Regardless of what I think, being the prestigious and revered citizen of this town, there are certain expectations and requirements that I must meet."

"I see," Poseidon repeated, lips curling upward. "You haven't asked me what I've decided to do with you."

"And what have you decided to do with me?"

"I've decided…to take you to dinner tonight."

Sally smiled.

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He was very handsome, of that there was no question. He seemed genuine and sincere, but Sally would reserve her judgement on those two things later. He claimed to have been sent by the Outsider, but he could be lying, though thanks to fucking Emily the Outsider and all things associated with him were more than just heresy now, but strictly taboo to the point that to just mention the god was to risk a death sentence.

Of course, that wasn't the late Emily's original intention or design, but things got distorted the further down the line one went, and the reign of Empress Jessamine II, granddaughter of Emily, was a bit stricter when it came to the Void and all things magical.

Besides, with a name like Poseidon, this man was obviously not from around here, so his story mostly checked out in Sally's book. However, man might not be the best description for Poseidon's species. She might not have had her powers anymore, at least, not the ones directly from the Void, but she still had her experience with magic, and this man radiated a kind of power that was and wasn't magical. He was a whole lot more than what he let on.

It honestly gave Sally some conflicted feelings.

She had no interest in romance. She had no desire to share a bed with a man, or a woman, or a woman with man's parts, or a man with woman's parts as some desired to do. She had a mission to pursue, and she'd been doing it just fine in her opinion for the past eight decades and change.

Yes, eight decades had passed since the last chapter, and Sally hadn't aged a day or even come close to the amount of damage she took when she fought Emily and Corvo at the same time.

Anyway, conflicted feelings.

She'd been pursuing her Delilah-given mission with a fiery passion that matched her big sister's because now she had her own personal feelings for the Kaldwins. It was Emily that had banished Delilah into her own painting, Emily that had defeated Sally and taken her powers away, Emily that murdered so many of Sally's long lost sisters, and Emily that had gone out of her way to unintentionally make Sally's life that much harder with the wholesale destruction of Runes and Bone Charms, and the grand commission to find an alternative energy source to whale oil, eventually banning the hunting and killing of whales altogether once it was discovered how batteries worked, and how the sun and the winds could be used to generate the electricity needed to live as they currently did.

Sally had needed every year she'd lived to get as far as she had in her projects, and she'd had no time for romance, or even sex. Very, very sparingly would Sally masturbate, as she spent the majority of her time engaged in one of many projects, taking advantage of her immortality to stave off sleep. A romantic life was the farthest thing from her mind, especially because she'd outlive any partner.

But like was previously said, Poseidon was no ordinary man.

He seemed like the whole package—looks and personality—and that's what made Sally so weary. What was the catch with this guy? What curveball was going to be thrown at her that was going to destroy any hope of love? You know, beyond who and what Sally was and what she had going on in her secret basement.

It wasn't just that Poseidon posed a threat to any potential relationship with some secret, it was also Sally, perhaps even more so than he.

Sally looked at herself in the mirror, her face dolled up, her best dress neatly arranged over her body, the long sleeves that went over her hands concealing knives. She schooled herself. Tonight was not a night about secrets. Tonight was not a night about agendas or missions. Tonight was supposed to be a night of fun.

Sally was entitled to a little bit of fun in her life.

After all, she still had over 300 years of life left.

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Almost two months later, and Sally was left speechless as she beheld Poseidon, god of the seas, wearing gleaming armor of a metal she'd never seen before, a trident in his hand that buzzed and hummed with terrific power. He stared back at her, face neutral, eyes, blank, and thoughts guarded. He was ready for anything, and his hopes weren't high.

Sally swallowed hard, heart thumping even harder in her chest as gravity seemed to increase ten fold on her shoulders. She hadn't expected this relationship to go on for almost two months—seven weeks and two days since they spoke after the sword lesson—yet here they were. They'd had sex, they'd just curled up in each other's arms, they made meals and set up surprises for each other, they walked on the beach together, they'd gone swimming together, they'd gone on a fishing trip together, went hiking through the jungle in Sally's backyard, and more.

The town was abuzz with gossip over Sally and Poseidon, who turned out to be great with kids and adults alike, able to play the ukulele, tell dirty jokes, makes great one-liners, calm tantrums and meltdowns, and even change diapers. He was, like, perfect husband material.

And he was a god.

From another world.

Who wanted to bring Sally back with him, build a palace for her, and make her his wife…on top of the other wife he already had, making Sally both totally flattered that Poseidon thought she was enough to compare to a goddess, and skeptical of his loyalty.

He was running around behind Amphitrite's back, which was a scorn to any woman. Many witches of the old coven had been subject to husbands that cheated on them, in the least, while others had husbands that cheated on them and beat them. Poseidon didn't at all seem the beating type, but faithful he was certainly not.

Sally could only imagine how Amphitrite would feel about this, and she knew exactly how she herself would feel, as Poseidon's second wife, if she found out that he'd been cheating on her too with some other woman…or man. Poseidon had told her that he'd had male lovers as well, making him bisexual as the word went in this world of the Outsider.

Sally was certain she wouldn't be able to handle the love of her life cheating on her, on top of the wrath of an angry goddess, even if Poseidon promised that he could keep Amphitrite at bay. That in and of itself seemed kind of off to Sally; what was he going to do to restrain his justifiably angry wife from getting to Sally, exactly?

However, beyond any of that…Poseidon had revealed his secret in full to Sally, and he was still in the dark concerning Sally's. His whole hope of her coming with him was going to be dashed.

"You've shown me your secret," Sally said evenly. "I will show you mine."

Sally led Poseidon through her house to the main bookshelf she had in her living room. She pulled a book off to reveal a little panel. She slid the panel aside and punched in a code on the keypad. A little beep signified the right code, and the whole bookshelf slid down into the floor. Poseidon blinked.

Sally went down the staircase, the god following her, still armed and armored. The stairs turned at 90-degrees to continue going down, and Sally led Poseidon into a chamber with walls that were full of swords, guns, and bow-type weapons. There were drawers that were no doubt full of maintenance supplies and ammunition. Another wall was covered in trinkets of shaped bone, with piles of other bones on the table before the wall, crafting tools next to the bones. The last wall was full of shelves, and on those shelves were several books, and dozens of jars full of things.

The scariest thing was suspended in a beam of hazy blue light next to the bone wall. In that beam of light were tiny little human bones, a skeleton missing several pieces. An infant's skeleton.

"You are a witch," Poseidon deduced, remembering similar chambers he'd seen before with the likes of Circe and Medea.

"Indeed, I am," Sally admitted. "I am Sally Copperspoon, the last witch of the Brigmore Coven, the little sister of Delilah Copperspoon, the leader, and rightful ruler of the Empire of the Isles, now banished. My mission, as assigned by Delilah, is to avenge her and the coven by destroying the Kaldwin family, and my personal mission is to free Delilah from her banishment in her painting due to Emily Kaldwin's machinations. Everything you see here is my progress in doing that."

Poseidon looked at the skeleton. "What is that?"

"My creation," Sally answered shortly. "Every bone is shaped from a whalebone and inscribed with the marks needed to make each bone a Bone Charm. I used to have my own magical powers, but in my haste and folly, I was defeated in combat by Emily and Corvo, her father, and Emily stole away my connection to the Void. However, I retain all of my knowledge in rituals and potions, and how to craft Bone Charms and Runes."

I'm making a living weapon in the name of a sacred and uncompromisable bond, and I will not abandon the mission assigned through that bond, no matter what you say or do, unless you kill me. If you steal me away, I will never forgive you.

That was the unsaid message, spoken by Sally's eyes, in tandem with how much pain she was in, torn between her honest and genuine love for Poseidon and her desire to be with him, and her sense of duty, loyalty, responsibility, and love for her sister Delilah and the spirit of her sisters in the coven. Poseidon saw the fear of rejection in Sally's eyes.

He could've blown up, condemned her for what she was doing, gone on a rant and tirade about how they were all dead and how she got to live her life now as she saw fit, unburdened by the wishes of the deceased, but he didn't. He could see how important his mission was to her. Her very life revolved around it, around revenge, and where he could give a sermon on living for revenge, being as old as he was, all the things he'd seen, he didn't. Poseidon could see how twisted up Sally was as she herself realized all of these things, and it made her hurt all over.

Unable to bear seeing Sally in pain, Poseidon made the choice for her.

He went forward and hugged her tightly to him.

"I do not care about what you're doing or why you're doing it. I see that you would never abandon this cause for any reason, and for that kind of devotion, you have my undying respect. My one request is that you love this child that you are making. Do not see them as just a tool to be used, but as a beloved baby to be nurtured and cherished. I love you, Sally Copperspoon, and a part of me will always be with you."

Sally burst into tears and sobbed against Poseidon's breastplate. She sobbed so much she sobbed herself to sleep. Poseidon took her and gently tucked her into bed, leaving her with a few things, before he went to sea. He shot through the dark waters of the night, going deeper and deeper, a storm beginning to roil above, the waters churning around him as he himself was choked with emotion.

And then he wasn't in the water anymore.

Poseidon took a shuddering breath.

"You'd best choose your words carefully, for they may very well be your last," he threatened.

The Outsider stood behind him, looking neither amused, frightened, or sober regarding Poseidon's warning. His expression was as neutral as it ever was, and his tone remained just as flat.

"This will not be the last time you encounter Sally Copperspoon. The child that has been conceived has a role to play in your world, and in time, he will stand before you."

Poseidon whipped around. "Child!?" he gasped. "Sally didn't tell me she was pregnant!"

"She isn't."

"Then…what?"

"All answers will come to you in time, Poseidon."

"In time!?" the sea god balked. "I don't want to know in time—I want to know right now!"

"Goodbye."

Poseidon swore the Outsider was actually smirking at him as the Void vanished around him and was replaced by the familiar salty waters of the Atlantic.

Poseidon just floated there for a few seconds, struggling to comprehend what the hell had just happened, before he huffed.

"That black-eyed bastard…and fuck you too, Fates!"

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Sally woke up and couldn't bring herself to smile because it happened. She dragged herself out of her bed and back downstairs. The secret passage was still open, but instead of closing it and flopping on her couch, she went down inside. She needed to do something to take her mind off of things, and so she was going to craft some more Bone Charms and continue working on her child.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she rounded the corner to the chamber.

It wasn't just the smell of the sea, nor all the photographs that now lined the gaps in the walls, or the few weapons that hadn't been there before, but the little skeleton. All the carvings in the bones were glowing gold.

Sally stared at the incomplete baby, mouth agape. Even from as far as she was, she could feel the energy in those little bones, the energy of Poseidon. Somehow, someway, part of him now literally lived on in those bones, meaning…

Meaning that skeleton was the makings of Poseidon and Sally's child.

Sadness turned to elation, and the desire to craft Bone Charms to occupy her mind turned into a relentless mission to finish things.

Sally closed up her house, locking all the doors and windows, putting up signs around the house to let everyone know that lessons and events were cancelled because of private matters. In her workshop, she was busy night and day crafting Bone Charms and then sacrificing them to ascribe their power to the little fragments that made up the missing parts of the skeleton.

A week passed, Sally painstakingly going over notes and journals and academy textbooks, making sure she got every bone needed for a perfectly functional skeleton. She already had everything she needed for muscles, organs, and blood, and had the ritual ready to go to combine all this to form a baby that could be raised and taught the arcane and assassin arts, it was just the skeleton that was the hard part.

The reason Sally was crafting a baby instead of an older child or younger teen was because whatever she made would have all the intelligence and function of a baby anyway, and what she did not want or need was a huge, baby-brained child or teenager to deal with.

After that week has passed since Poseidon's departure back to his world, Sally was finished with the skeleton. Getting all the material was what had taken so many years, along with acquiring enough wealth to just buy a lot of the things she had as opposed to stealing them and drawing that much more attention to herself.

Finally, after all these years, she was ready.

Sally moved the skeleton into the center of the chamber and it took a while to draw the necessary symbols and sigils around it. She placed the jarred items in their appropriate spots, and the whole formula glowed to life in a soft sea-green color. The jarred things were reduced to swirls of light that went up and started spinning around the skeleton in rings. All the rings spun faster and faster, getting bright and brighter, humming louder and louder, until Sally had to cover her ears and avert her eyes.

Then there was a pulse that sent Sally staggering, and all was quiet.

Sally look and saw a baby in the middle of the circle, still and not making a sound. Terror gripped her and she went rushing forward to kneel beside the baby, checking over it. She breathed a sigh of deep relief when she realized it was just quietly sleeping, the little chest rising and falling.

Tears of joy sprung to Sally's face as she gently picked her child up, cradling it to her bosom. All these years later, all the strife and the struggle, and it all culminated to this moment here. Sally didn't just have the weapon she needed for her revenge, but the daughter she'd dreamed of having. Her and Poseidon's little baby girl.

Her little Andromeda Breanna Copperspoon, named after the wife of Perseus according to the story as told by Poseidon, one of the few women to have a happy marriage; named after the woman that raised Sally after Delilah's initial imprisonment, the one that taught Sally how to shave and what puberty was, along with being a trusted confidant and shoulder to lean on; and of course, the family name of the greatest woman in Sally's life.

Yes, it was not lost on the new mother that her daughter's initials were ABC.

"Hi," Sally said softly, eyes sparkling. "Welcome to the world, my little darling. I'm your mommy, and you're my Andromeda. Your daddy is—penis."

Sally's whole world came to a complete, grinding halt when her child shifted just right, their pudgy little legs uncrossing to reveal equipment that was certainly not native to the female body. Sally blinked a few times, making sure she wasn't seeing things. She lightly poked at it, making sure it was physically there. Then she moved it, looking to see if there was a hidden slit somewhere.

Nope.

That was a penis.

Sally did not have a daughter; she had a son.

Oh, no. Nonononono. NO. No. NO.

Sally honestly felt like everything was coming apart over this development. She'd been so sure that her ritual would create a girl based on no real reason. It just hadn't even crossed her mind that she would end up with a boy. She was so consciously certain that her subconscious hadn't even considered the possibility of a boy. The rug had been ripped out from under her and she was left floundering.

You see, Sally knew girls. Practically speaking, she knew the female body. She knew how to properly clean and maintain the female body, she knew the ins and outs of the female body, and she knew how to handle the female body. She did not know the male body. She didn't know how shave a set of balls as opposed to a vulva; she didn't know how to handle male puberty; she didn't know how to advise a male in matters of the heart or any matter for that matter.

Practically speaking, Sally did not know how to raise a boy. She knew how to raise a girl.

Spiritually speaking…a boy? Sally still very much considered herself a member of the Brigmore Witches, the last surviving member of a coven of all-female witches. All-female. Delilah had been a woman, so had Breanna, the rest of the coven, and obviously Sally. It was only right, just, and appropriate that a girl be raised and groomed to shoulder the hopes of the coven and avenge them. In the name of sisterhood, it had to be a girl.

Had to be.

…but…

Sally's eyes trailed over to the wall of blades, eyeing a knife. Her eyes trailed to the baby's crotch, then back to the knife. Well, she could make this boy a girl; he was small and wouldn't feel a thing. However, Sally hesitated. She hesitated at the thought of grabbing a blade and causing such damage to her son's body. She'd never actually castrated a baby before, and didn't know if he would survive.

Sally swallowed.

Okay, no castration, but for the sake of solidarity, unity, sorority, and what was right in the eyes of Sally, it needed to be a girl. It had to be a girl, since her child was officially the second member of the Brigmore Witches in decades, and only women and girls were permitted in the coven. It had to be a girl, because it was only right that a girl represent the coven in this story of revenge.

Sally swallowed again, a fledgling plan forming. The new plan…would be the same as the old plan. Just raise a girl. Girl diapers, girl baby clothes, and when he was older, girl underwear and more girl clothes. She'd get girl toys, put on girl cartoons, girl plates and sippy cups. Girl bedding—she'd just raise her son as a girl and pretend nothing was wrong. There were concoctions she could make that would alter his development to prevent the typical deep voice, the broad shoulders, the muscles, the facial hair, and instead develop curves and a chest.

When asked about the thing between her legs, Sally would simply lie to her daughter and simply claim she was a special girl.

Her stomach twisted the more she thought about this course of action.

Sally valued independence and autonomy. She had made the choice to kill those watch officers almost a century ago, she had chosen to follow Delilah, she had chosen to stay with Breanna, she had chosen to join the Grand Guard and receive the specialized training, and she had chosen to become Delilah's secret queen. Because she valued individual choice so much, Sally actually abhorred the power of Possession, despite how undeniably useful and versatile it was. Going inside of somebody, robbing them of their free will, controlling them like a puppet—Sally hated it.

Hated the idea, hated the concept, hated it every time she saw one of her sister's use it.

That was why she had trained herself to be totally Possession-proof. Not even Delilah, after her return from the Void with her increased powers, was able to Possess Sally. She kept her big sister out of her mind so well that Delilah didn't even get the chance to make Sally take an involuntary step.

Because of this staunch abhorration for taking control of another person and make them do things against their will, at least in magical terms as she'd used blackmail and extortion before, Sally likened raising her son as a girl to suit her own desires and views of what was and wasn't appropriate regarding the future of the coven as the same kind of violation that Possession was. She would be effectively robbing her son of his identity and forcing a lifestyle on him out what was essentially her own selfishness.

A fleeting thought shot through Sally's head about simply starting over and making sure she got a girl this time, but she dashed those thoughts. One, that would take too much time. Two, whale bones were extremely hard to come by today thanks to Jessamine II. And three, this boy carried within in him the power of a god—Sally could feel it, and she had no idea how to extract that power and put it in another being anyway.

The baby's face scrunched up and he went KACHEW. His very first sneeze. It woke him up, too. His little eyes popped open for the first time, revealing the same sea-green circles of his daddy.

Sally instantly melted.

She'd wanted, expected, and prepared to raise a daughter, but got a son instead. She didn't know if that was Poseidon's doing, the Outsider's, random chance, or if some other, higher power had a hand in her child's gender, but it didn't matter anymore.

She had a son. She was going to love this boy and train him well, and was going to make Delilah proud of her, and was going to fulfil the coven. And this boy needed a name. It was easy for Sally to decide.

"Welcome to the world, Perseus Breanna Copperspoon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And that's this chapter completed. If anyone can spot the irony behind Sally's discourse on how to raise her child, you will get an honorable mention next chapter.

Also, yes, Corvo and Emily are dead by now of old age, but Jessamine II reigns as Emily's granddaughter, and I've got something special for her.

Now for my own personal thoughts on something: After almost six years of writing fanfiction, I finally figured out how to check how many people have Followed my profile. As of this chapter, 06/17/2021, there 2078 people that Follow me. If I understand that correctly, 2078 other fanfic profiles got a notification email that I released a new story. As of today, there have been 314 visitors to this story, meaning that out of 2078, 314 showed.

And that 314 doesn't necessarily mean that only followers came to read.

It strikes my curiosity as to why only that many out of the total followers. How many of them are in fact dead IRL? How many of them logged into Fanfiction for the last time and didn't know it, moving on with life to a new chapter that doesn't involve reading fanfics anymore? How many of them just simply had to get a new email and didn't come back? Heh, how many saw "DelayedInspiration" and instantly hit the delete button on the email?

Anyway, questions like these are fun because the potential answers fascinate me. Just what's going on inside your noggins behind the decisions you make…

The next chapter is about Percy, concludes the intro arc, and kicks off PJO canon.

Fav, Follow, and Review please!