Percy didn't know how he had ended up in this situation.
As far as he knew, there shouldn't be mammoths running freely around New York, like stray dogs. Because even if he could admit he wasn't the smartest crayon in the box, he was pretty sure that these animals were extinct. Scratch that, he definitely knew that these animals weren't supposed to even be alive because there was a reason they were labeled prehistoric. (having a daughter of Athena as one's best friend certainly had its benefits)
But as he watched a twenty-ton mammoth barrel past him, into the streets of New York, he suddenly didn't feel too hot about the quest he was assigned. A string of curses threatened to escape his mouth as he reminisced over the events of that day's morning where Chiron had given him the rundown of the problem.
("Oh, come on!" Percy had said indignantly, noticing Chiron's grim features. "Not again! We just got out of a war, Chiron! Do those monsters have nothing else to do except harass twenty-year-olds who just want to spend time with their best friends?"
Chiron had offered him an uneasy smile. "I apologize, my boy," he had said. "but the issue is, the beasts terrorizing New York aren't monsters. They're prehistoric mammals."
Percy had blinked. "Run that by me one more time?")
Chiron had then proceeded to explain the situation in detail. According to him, these animals were brought into the mortal world by an unknown deity, whose motives were unfounded. The deity had eluded Olympus for a while now. As a result, Zeus, in all his paranoid glory, had ordered Chiron to send Percy to investigate.
Percy, being the nice person that he was, had accepted, thinking the deity was probably an amateur god who had some outlandish goals of taking over Olympus, which would never come to fruition. But now, looking at the twenty-ton prehistoric mammal on the streets of New York, which, no doubt, was conjured up by the unknown deity, he didn't feel so confident.
He shook his head and dismissed the negative thoughts. He couldn't be thinking of failure so soon in his quest. A deafening trumpet snapped him out of his musings and he blinked.
Screams of people sounded, amongst crashes and Percy cursed. The only reason he hadn't run towards the mammoth to subdue it however he could, was because he knew how outclassed he was. The thing was massive, to put it mildly.
He remembered the time his mom took him to watch lions in the Central Park Zoo. Seven-year-old Percy thought that lions were the coolest things ever until he had stumbled upon the elephant exhibit. Their wondrous trunks and fascinating ears, and large forms were all he could talk about for the next week.
The mammoth in front of him was twice the size of the elephants Percy had seen all those years ago.
The prehistoric beast was completely covered in dense brown-colored fur, the coat clearly suited for cold, harsh climates. The animal was easily over twenty feet long and fifteen feet tall with its limbs rippling with muscles, visible even beneath the dense fur coat.
However, the features that stood out to Percy the most were the two long tusks protruding out of its jaw. The ends of the teeth curved menacingly upwards reminded Percy of the Khopesh he'd wielded against Setne. Large and bulky, but wickedly sharp nonetheless.
He knew if he went to fight the thing without any plan, he'd get stomped. Which would honestly suck. He had to make a plan before he charged in like a lunatic. Even if he used his Hydrokinesis against the mammoth, he knew it would only do so much as tickle the big guy since he'd have to restrain himself to not trash his city.
His best bet would be confronting the god who was responsible for this, defeat them, and then hope the mammoths would vanish by themselves. It was a risky plan, and the screams and crashes emanating from the streets were enough to almost make Percy forget his plan and rush towards them.
Ignoring his instincts screaming to go stop the mammoth, he ran towards the path in Central Park, following the animal's footsteps.
The closer he got to his destination, the surer he felt of himself, that he was doing the right thing and making the correct decision. Soon, he approached the end of the trail and could see a clearing some feet ahead.
He reached the meadow and froze. Because the scene in front of him looked remarkably close to when Setne had tried to take over the world.
A lone figure stood in the middle of the area, his back facing Percy. He seemed to be holding a scroll in his hand as his free hand moved animatedly as if performing some sort of spell. However, this was far from the strangest thing about him.
He was dressed in about the weirdest clothes Percy had ever seen. His upper body was covered loosely in a colorful robe that had numerous vivid designs embossed over it, accompanied by strange characters, probably the letters of a language, emblazoned on the fabric. A golden belt, not unlike the belt of Hippolyta he'd seen with Hylla, was fit around his waist and large colorful bracelets and beads covered forearms.
"Skata," Percy muttered, realizing he couldn't see the god's face from his position. Careful not to step on the dried leaves, he crept around the heavy bushes and glanced towards the god, who didn't even seem perturbed.
His eyes trailed over the torso before they moved up to see the god's face and-
He froze. His mouth fell open in shock and he had to restrain himself from making any audible sound of bewilderment.
The god didn't have a face.
Rather, he had two.
The same body structure he had seen all those years ago, in the Labyrinth, greeted his eyes. Unnaturally broad shoulders, previously hidden by the folds of his robe, came into view. Two faces jutted out of the sides of his neck like a hammerhead shark's eye orbits, prompting Percy of the bipolar sides of the God of Doorways, endings, and beginnings.
"Janus?" He blurted, the words tumbling out in utter disbelief, his voice laced with incredulity. "What the fuck?"
The god froze, as his mouth stopped moving and Percy realized his mistake. He turned around and looked straight at the bush Percy was hiding behind. Percy cursed. The god narrowed his eyes.
"A greek," He tilted his heads, his faces speaking in synchrony, giving his voice a strange sort of reverb. "How very ironic. Tezcatlipoca must be smiling upon me today. You can come out now, Ixiotl. There is no reason to hide further."
Percy frowned. Teza- what?
His jaw clenched before he took a deep breath and stepped out cautiously. Confusion over Janus's actions was still evident on his face. He didn't know what had the god mentioned but it seemed like a deity's name. His one hand snaked into his pocket as he felt the form of his beloved sword and relaxed slightly.
"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, stopping a couple of meters away from Janus. "The last I saw you, you were trying to make my friend's life hell in the Labyrinth. Didn't Hera, uh, warn you against future shenanigans?" He joked, opting for the humorous route. "To stay away from trouble?"
However, the voided expression on the god's faces didn't change in the slightest. No form of recognition was evident on his blank countenance. Percy's smile wavered.
"Janus?" He frowned confusedly. "Are you okay? You're giving me the creeps."
"Okay," the god mused as his eyes flitted over the scroll in his hands. "Ironic that your kind should ask me that, isn't it? It's a surprise too. I had presumed that every last one of you was baleful to the roots. Greeks were notorious for their vice and wickedness, weren't they? No surprise there. Like King, like people."
"Greeks?" Percy blinked. "Uh, I get that you're a Roman, Janus, and you don't like the Greeks but-"
"Roman," The god pondered softly, tilting his head. "Ah, the Romans. Not much better than their predecessors. But better nonetheless. Then again, the merit wasn't high to reach, to begin with," He hummed before frowning. "Always the ones to get stuck in their own webs of politics. That was their greatest downfall, wasn't it? Too much ambition. But at least they were honorable. Unlike your kind."
The riddles were now beginning to irritate Percy, whose jaw clenched in annoyance. The little jabs at him weren't helping things either.
He straightened his back. "Look, Janus," he said crossly. "I'm not in the mood for your riddles, right now. I don't know if you're here to offer me a choice or make me take a decision but enough with the Greek-bashing. I know my family isn't the best or the most chaste but it is still my family, and I won't let you badmouth them."
Percy didn't know why he was getting defensive over his godly side, especially when he knew what Janus had said was pretty much true, but there was something about the god in front of him that was compelling him to take a stance.
The god narrowed his two sets of eyes. "Loyalty," he observed. "Interesting. Very interesting. I have to admit, I'm surprised. I've noticed it's rather uncommon in your kind."
Percy's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Who's spawn are you?" He asked finally.
Percy looked taken aback. "What do you mean? You addressed me by my parentage in the Labyrinth. I'm a Son of Poseidon."
And like a switch being flipped, the intrigued expression on the god's faces vanished, replaced by the utter void that it was before their conversion. Percy took a step back in surprise at the abrupt change.
"I should've known," He murmured. "The Fates torment me by sending you here."
"The Fates?" Percy asked, irritated. His patience had finally run thin. "Look, Janus, I've been sent here by Zeus to investigate an unknown deity who has been slipping under their radar for quite some time and I really cannot be bothered by your dumb riddles, right now. This deity has released a fucking prehistoric mammal onto the streets of New York, for a reason God knows what, and I've risked the lives of civilians in hopes that the mammoth is, at least, semi-divine so it would leave the mortals alone.
"You've been acting super weird, even by your standards. I don't know if you've been possessed or what, but I do not need your nonsensical words on my plate right now. So unless you are the rogue deity, I suggest you-" Percy froze.
Fuck.
"Ahh," The god nodded, absentmindedly looking at the golden scroll. His hand moved to the back of his waist as he raised his eyebrow. "You finally understand."
Everything clicked into place. The strange behavior and attire of the god. The lack of banter between the two heads. The unusual incantations. The lack of recognition in his expressions. Percy inhaled sharply.
"You're not Janus."
The god's expression remained unchanged. "Yes and no," He replied. "But I assure you, the Roman has been disposed of."
"Who are you?"
Percy's hand snaked into his pockets, holding onto his pen tightly. While the interaction between him and the god had been, more or less, courteous, he didn't want to take any chances. The god narrowed his eyes and glanced at his pocket.
"You must be incredibly naive to believe that you can defeat me," He said, looking at Percy's hand buried in his pocket. "Or, incredibly arrogant. It must be the second seeing-"
"Yes, yes, seeing that I'm greek," Percy snapped. In one fluid motion, he brought out his pen, uncapping it in the process, and placed the Xiphos under the god's neck. He glared at him harshly. "You don't have to keep repeating it every time you open your mouths."
"Hmm."
"Now, I'm only going to ask this once. Who are you?" Percy asked sharply. "And what have you done with Janus?"
Percy tried to look intimidating as he stepped forward and gripped his sword tighter. However, the god looked completely unfazed, continuing to stare at him with his cold, dead eyes.
"Your Roman deity is no more, Greek," The god said, uncaring of the deadly blade at his neck. He flicked his hand and the scroll vanished in a column of flames. Percy almost fumbled his sword at the display of power but managed to regain his wits before he could embarrassingly drop it. However, this took nothing away from his surprise at seeing the god perform Pyrokinesis.
"He is nothing but a vessel for housing my essence until I discover a body fit for my powers," The god stated, his two sets of eyes intensely meeting Percy's. "A mere urn to provide me with his body and abilities until I ascend once again."
Percy narrowed his eyes and dug the point of Riptide further into the god's neck. "You're lying. Gods do not have the power to take over other deities' bodies."
"How little you know, child," He sneered, showing the first glimpse of an expression other than intrigue. "Perhaps your gods do not. But I have been waiting for centuries to encompass the power needed for the transfer. It was hardly a challenge for my abilities. Moreover, the god was exceptionally weak-minded. All I had to do was plant the seeds of doubt against the Olympians and he was all but ready to give up his body."
"If you're as powerful as you claim," Percy said. "Then why did you need another god's body? Why not just appear as yourself? Why inhabit someone else?"
The god pursed his lips. "You wouldn't understand my reasons. They are far advance than your simple mind can grasp."
Percy's jaw clenched as leaned in. "Every enemy of Olympus has claimed to be as powerful as you are. Some more so than the others. And you know what? Every one of them failed. So, what makes you different from them?"
The god gazed at the lake on the far side of the meadow, humming.
"The difference is," He whispered, before facing Percy. "I'm someone from another Time."
With a jerk, Percy felt himself blasted backward. With a grunt, he collided with a tree and collapsed on the ground. His left hand flared in pain and he cried out, immediately knowing it was broken, presumably by his own weight. Riptide slipped from his grasp as he groaned, writhing in the leaves.
"You asked me who I am," The god wondered while Percy coughed and cradled his broken arm. His eyes met those of the deity, his breathing heavy. His heart thumped wildly as he looked at the two faces.
"I am Xiuhtecuhtli," The god said, holding out his hand. Percy's eyes widened when he saw flames erupt from the god's outstretched hand. The fires spread outwards, lengthwise, seeming to be morphing into a staff. Embers burst into life above his head, igniting a ring of fire, which exploded into a red-hot brazier, made of molten bricks and stone, adorned with tribal engravings.
"The Aztec deity of Fire, Time and the creator of Life," He proclaimed. "And the rightful ruler of the Ancient Lands."
Percy struggled to get up, careful not to put any weight on his left hand. Checking his pockets for his sword, he shakily stood up, looking warily at his opponent. His arm screamed and throbbed in agony, and he had to restrain himself to not cry out loud. He looked at the god, breathing heavily, and unsheathed Riptide.
"For years, I've seen your kind desecrate our sacred ground," He said, his reverbed voice never wavering in the slightest. "For years, I've seen our demise at the hands of the Greek. I've seen your vice and evil and dishonor and sin, all against your own people and mortals. I've seen-" He paused, closing his eyes as if he was about to choke up in emotion. "I've seen my people murdered. In cold blood by your...gods."
Xiuhtecuhtli opened his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I've seen the worst of your kind," He whispered, staring straight at Percy, who seemed to have frozen over. "Tezcatlipoca was kind enough to grace me with an opportunity to travel to here and I'll be damned if I let this opportunity escape my grasp."
"What do you mean by opportunity?" Percy grit out. "What opportunity?"
A slow smile spread across Xiuhtecuhtli's (or Janus's, Percy was still confused about the 'whole taking' over thing) two faces. He waved his hand. The flames around his arm wove into the golden scroll that he had disappeared before. The god looked at the scroll reverently and opened it.
"An opportunity to put an end to your kind and restore the lands' balance," Xiuhtecuhtli said. "A way to bring back my people while simultaneously ridding the Earth of the vile. The scroll of Quetzalcoatl not only creates civilizations but also replaces them. The Greeks have ruled long enough. They've brought nothing but death and disease with their meddling. I will vanquish them into Mictlan."
"Well, too bad, I'm not going to let you 'vanquish' them into Milan," Percy stepped forward bravely, barely stopping his voice from quavering. His arm still throbbed in excruciating pain, but it was slightly dulled due to the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He knew he needed water, both to heal and battle, if he wanted to even think about defeating this god.
"Then you'll die first," Xiuhtecuhtli replied simply. "Your name will be etched into history as the Pantomath. Someone naive enough to believe he could stop a revolution of the gods despite being a mere mortal."
"You're not the first one to claim that," Percy said, uncapping his sword. The pen extended into the famed bronze Xiphos. "I don't know what the Olympians have done to you or your pantheon, but it doesn't justify your plans to destroy the world. You can't kill billions of people just because the Olympians defeated yours. Revenge is just tyranny if it harms the innocent," He said, quoting something Chiron had taught him all those years ago.
"Destroy the world?" The god asked, looking genuinely surprised by Percy's statement. "I am afraid you misunderstand me, Ixiotl. I am the creator of Life," He remarked. "I am going to make it better. A breathtaking place without the damaging influence of your kind. I have no intention of killing anyone except your king."
"That's what they all say," Percy muttered. "Look, if you just surrender, I'm sure we can work something out. I don't want to fight you, and if we do, there's a lot of innocent people who'd get caught in the crossfire. So, would you please put down your staff and come with me, peacefully?" He asked.
Xiuhtecuhtli stared at him, offering him no reply. A minute passed.
"Okay," Percy muttered before shrugging. "Was worth a try."
He readied his sword and charged at the god.
Percy swung his sword in a downward arc, straight at the god's neck, aiming to cleave it in half. There was a bright flash and his sword stopped in its downward path, blocked by Xiuhtecuhtli's staff. Percy quickly withdrew his weapon before swinging at the god's midsection. Percy's left arm was placed behind his waist, to protect it from any further injury. However, the jolts and jerks from the fight did nothing to improve the pain.
Xiuhtecuhtli blocked his swing easily before stepping forward and raising his staff. Percy ducked under the weapon, and stabbed at his lower torso, expecting to pierce the go. However, to Percy's surprise, the god fluidly pirouetted away from his blade and pointed his staff at him. Before he could cast a spell on him, Percy thrust his blade into the god's guard and Xiuhtecuhtli swung his staff to parry it.
However, before the god could block the swing, Percy's blade changed its direction and cleaved downwards. Percy expected to see Riptide cut through the god's thigh but was unbelievably blocked by the hilt of Xiuhtecuhtli's staff. He pushed Percy backward. The son of Poseidon was thrown off-balance by his weight and fell back.
The god muttered something under his breath as the staff glowed a brilliant golden.
He pointed his staff towards Percy, whose eyes widened. The end of the staff glowed a hot orange before it spewed an enormous column of fire. Menacing red and orange flames shot towards Percy, incinerating the very ground in their path.
He could only do so much as raise his sword before the fires struck him and he was thrown backward.
He was weightless for a moment before his leg erupted in pain.
He grunted harshly, colliding with the hard ground beneath. He groaned, clutching his arm close to him. A surge of bile threatened to erupt when he noticed the state of his right leg. It was mangled. He could barely see the skin beneath the layer of blood and sinew. He was pretty sure he could see a bone.
The heat had not affected him as much, fortunately, due to his father's nature. However, the blunt force of him crashing into the ground definitely did. His limbs screamed in pain as he had to stop himself from crying out loud. He took deep breaths. He could not go into shock, right now.
"Was that your attempt at defeating me?" Xiuhtecuhtli's voice sounded, swinging his staff absently. "I have to say, it was better than what I'd expected, yet at the same time, it was disappointing."
Percy's eyes caught the shine of the lake's surface some hundred feet away and he closed his eyes, amongst heavy breaths.
He could feel the water flowing in the lake, like a dam waiting to burst. He breathed and willed the currents to form into a thin stream of water before ordering it towards him. He could feel Xiuhtecuhtli walking towards him, the temperature of his surroundings increasing. The strand slithered across the grass silently as it slowly moved towards him.
Percy's eyes opened as he looked at Xiuhtecuhtli stood a couple of meters away from him. He swallowed thickly from the ground, clenching his jaw.
"I warned you," The god said. "You are nothing against me. I'm centuries old, child. One of the most important gods of my pantheon, I preside over Time, itself. What you faced, was hardly a fraction of my power. Being the last one of my Pantheon, all their power and energy resides in me."
Percy glanced at the water slithering towards him. If he wasn't so weak, he could've summoned water long before then. He turned towards the fire god.
"If their power is inside you, then why do you want to bring them back?" Percy swallowed, realizing stalling was his best bet here. "You'd lose that if they came back."
Xiuhtecuhtli's eyes narrowed. "You still believe I'm like your pathetic gods? I do not care about the power. I just want my family back! I want my wife and my children back!"
Percy flinched.
"It was never about the power, child. I care about all life. My pantheon consists of nature gods. We'd never harm mortals, even if they destroy our domains because we are the gods. Not them. We are the higher beings. Not them."
"You set mammoths free in New York!" Percy said incredulously, his mind still over the god's words. "You should be the last person to claim that you care about mortals."
Xiuhtecuhtli's nostrils flared. It was quite comical to see his twin faces contort in rage simultaneously as the intensity of his glare increased. "They were not going to harm any mortals!" He snapped. "I released them to distract your gods until I completed my spell! I would never stoop so low as to hurt the innocent."
"What do you think will happen when you bring your Pantheon back?" Percy asked in disbelief. "The shift of the flame will affect the mortals in all the wrong ways!"
"You think, I haven't considered that possibility?" The god asked. "I have been preparing since your people displaced mine, almost seven hundred years ago. The flame of the 'West' as you so call it, won't affect the mortals if there are balanced transfers. Quetzalcoatl for Zeus, Tezcatlipoca for the Fates , Huitzilopochtli for Apollo and Ares."
"You're crazy," Percy breathed out. "It won't work like that. There are Ancient Laws!"
"Ahh, yes the Ancient Laws," the god mocked, spreading his arms. "The Laws which your gods break regularly. Aren't you the product of a broken oath? I can sense the Styx's curse on your aura. It'd be hypocritical for your gods to reprimand me when they violate those very laws daily, wouldn't it?"
Percy's head hurt. His arm, despite being healed slightly by the water, pulsated in pain. He was sure he had broken his ribs or bruised them, and it felt like someone was knitting a sweater with hot skewers in his gut. But primarily, he was having a huge headache, not because of his injuries, but because of his confusion over Xiuhtecuhtli.
To put it simply, he did not know what the fuck was going on. An Aztec dude had ended up in the middle of Central Park, New York and supposedly had a scroll that would wipe out the Greek Pantheon. His every sentence was filled with contradictions and vague words. He was supposedly from another time and wanted to destroy Olympus because they'd replaced his pantheon around a millennium ago.
Okay, Percy understood revenge. He wasn't exactly sure about how Olympus had replaced the Aztecs but he suspected it might've had something to do with the colonization of their territories by the Spanish. So, he understood that.
But something that he didn't understand, was why Janus? Why did Xiuhtecuhtli choose a minor Roman deity of crossroads to possess? What did Janus have that the other greek deities didn't? Percy remembered Xiuhtecuhtli mentioning something about choosing Janus because of his abilities, but he wasn't sure what he had meant by that.
A cool feeling crept up his waist as Percy relaxed slightly. The strand of water, finally reaching him, traveled up from his waist, out of Xiuhtecuhtli's eyesight. Repairing and mending his superficial injuries, it traveled beneath his t-shirt flowing across his bruised ribs. Unfortunately, he was wearing shorts, so he couldn't discreetly will it to heal his leg.
If only he had ambrosia.
His arm, which had been screaming in pain, was now on bearable levels of pain. It was nowhere near fully healed, though. The water had acted more of a painkiller, than a healing agent.
"But how would you even bring your gods back?" Percy demanded. "Scratch that, how the hades were you able to bring mammoths to New York, first of all?"
"Were you not listening?" Xiuhtecuhtli said. "I am the God of Time. These mammoths are from the past, over ten thousand years ago. They obey me because I am their Lord, a god of nature and Life."
The water was almost entirely covering Percy's arm at this point, forming a supportive cast. Thankfully, he was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt so Xiuhtecuhtli couldn't see it.
"And what about the Aztec gods?"
Xiuhtecuhtli narrowed his eyes, staring at Percy suspiciously.
"I suppose it wouldn't matter telling you. Just like the Roman, you're going to be disposed of very soon," He decided. "The answer to your question is the Scroll of Quetzalcoatl. He was our king in the first age. The God who created the revered universe and molded it into how it is today. I am nothing but a grain of sand in the face of my lord's power. It is told that he had created humans by mixing the blood of Tezcatlipoca, the god of sacrifice, and Destiny and Fate, into ground maize.
"The various Ages of the Humans that you know of were created when Quetzalcoatl fought with Tezcatlipoca, which were subsequently destroyed due to the same reason. During the fourth age, Tezcatlipoca had come dangerously close to destroying the wicked humans, when Quetzalcoatl, who was fond of his creation, breathed his thoughts and powers into the hide of a jaguar. The scroll of Quetzalcoatl was enough to keep Tezcatlipoca at bay, and consequently improve the lives of the humans, creating the first civilization."
"So, the scroll formed the first civilization of the humans," Percy breathed out. "And if it wanted, it could also destroy one?"
"Replace," Xiuhtecuhtli corrected. "I do not want to destroy an entire civilization. I merely want to replace its gods."
Percy swallowed roughly. Suddenly, the danger of the god in front of him came to light. He couldn't lie, he had not taken the god as seriously as it was required before. He had been overconfident in his abilities and past achievements and disregarded the evident powers of Xiuhtecuhtli. If what he was saying was true, then Percy had some serious problems on his hands. He would have to defeat the god as quickly as he could without wasting any more time.
"Wait," Percy realized. "When I mentioned that I was a son of Poseidon you had grimaced. You said that every greek deity would be replaced by an identical Aztec one. Who would replace my father?"
Xiuhtecuhtli froze. "Chalchiuhtlicue," He replied softly. "The goddess of the Seas and river. The Lady in jade. The most beautiful of goddesses-"
Wooosh!
Xiuhtecuhtli inhaled sharply and looked at his torso.
Percy exhaled deeply, looking at the wickedly sharp icicle embedded in the god's abdomen. His arm was extended in the direction of the ice dagger. Orange blood oozed out of the wound, like a molten river of lava amongst the volcanic rock. His eyes met the surprised ones of the god.
"I'm sorry," Percy swallowed, retracting his hand causing the icicle to move out sickeningly from the wound. Xiuhtecuhtli stared in disbelief at him and then his wound, switching glances between the two. The orange blood spurted out of his abdomen.
Guilt was plastered over Percy's face. Shame bloomed in his chest. He had not only used his wife against the god, but he had also attacked an unarmed opponent.
A soft chuckled sounded.
Percy snapped his head towards the god.
"I wasn't wrong, was I?" Xiuhtecuhtli pondered quietly. "Your kind is the farthest thing from honorable, there is. The last hope I had of the Greeks being righteous just disappeared."
Percy just looked down in regret. His chest felt hot in shame.
"But," He said and Percy looked up hesitantly. Xiuhtecuhtli smirked.
"A pity your actions do not matter."
The god met his eyes intensely and Percy forgot how to breathe.
The two pairs of orbs seared into his own and he inhaled sharply. His eyes widened as those piercing red eyes burst into wrathful flames and danced across the irises. Like miniature suns, they burned into his retinas, spreading excruciating pain through his eyes rendering him unable to blink. A scream escaped his throat as he shook desperately to tear his gaze away from the god's eyes.
His hand froze in its place, locking the sword underneath. He couldn't move despite his every effort, nor he could look away from those hellish eyes. His breathing increased as did his heartbeat.
And then suddenly, it stopped and Percy felt himself being blasted backward. With a grunt, he collided with a tree and collapsed onto the ground. His ears rung loudly, chest heaving in panic. His leg oozed blood in spurts, painting the ground below crimson. His arm pulsated in pain erratically.
He grunted, trying to open his eyes but they felt like lead weights. Giant red sunspots danced in his vision as he rubbed his eyes gingerly. He opened them with difficulty and looked at himself and-
Darkness.
He couldn't see anything.
"What have you done to me?!" Percy said hoarsely, stumbling slightly. He blinked rapidly, to get his vision back to normal but to no avail. Blurred images were all he could perceive in his state of dizziness. "My eyes- I can't see-"
"Solar retinopathy," his voice sounded. "What you experience is just something why mothers tell their children to never look at the sun directly. Your retina and pupil have been harshly damaged. Don't worry, the damage is not permanent. Being the god of Life, I try to minimize the damage to my creations, if I can help it."
Percy shook his head wildly, trying to shake away the darkness in his eyes but nothing changed. He could barely see anything beyond the blurred details of his own hands. His heart thumped in panic at the loss of his vision and his breaths became ragged.
Before he could call upon the water from the lake beside him, a hand shot out and grabbed his neck.
His lungs screamed due to the lack of air and Percy clutched Xiuhtecuhtli's hands blindly. The god slowly lifted his body off the ground by the neck as Percy choked and gasped.
"I have to admit, you caught me off-guard," His reverbed voice said in Percy's ears. "I am impressed by your wit and tact. You did much more than I expected of you."
Percy grabbed at his throat blindly, trying to loosen the god's grip.
"I applaud you for your resilience. But do you not see? Your gods sent you against an enemy they knew you couldn't defeat. You're nothing but a pawn for them, child. Join my side and I vow that I will be a far greater ruler than Zeus."
Percy could hardly feel his own toes now, due to the dangerously low levels of oxygen in his system. He was delirious, dizzy, and in no state to summon water. He literally couldn't fucking see because he was blind for the time being. Still, he wasn't about to let a god one-up him without at least one impertinent comment.
He opened his mouth and choked out a single sentence.
"Go to Hades."
He heard a deep sigh from the deity.
There was a pause.
"I read your thoughts, you know," Xiuhtecuhtli said out of the blue. "I was quite surprised by how simple they were. Not a single relevant query. Apart from just one," He hummed. "A single relevant question; Why? Why did I choose Janus, of all people? What did he have, that a thousand other deities didn't?"
Percy was starting to lose consciousness. He still couldn't see anything clearly. Everything was just a haze of colors, a palette of muttered hues. Yet, he could, somehow, hear the god distinctly.
"It was because of his ability," He heard Xiuhtecuhtli whisper. "Something that Zeus could've exploited if he wasn't so proud of the high and mighty Olympian council."
Like a fabric being torn rashly, a sharp sound emanated from Percy's right.
He felt the air get sucked out of the area. Like what he would imagine happening in space when an air-filled vessel is opened. Just like a vacuum, the surroundings just stilled. Percy was barely conscious at this point, yet even in his addled state, he could feel that something was wrong.
"Janus is the god of doorways," Xiuhtecuhtli's voice told. "Different places are just a door's step away. Usually, the door is nearly impossible to find but Janus finds them every time he teleports. He just creates doors to different locations in this reality. However, I am the god of time, and time is weaved with space. I can find the right doors to different realities.
"I can't open those infinite doors, by myself, no," He said, taking a deep breath. "But Janus can."
The strain on his neck, along with the asphyxiation due to the god's grip was too much to handle for Percy. His mind started shutting down due to the lack of air. A sharp gasp of breath was all he was able to take before the god pushed him harshly.
The last he felt was being weightless before he succumbed to the realm of Morpheus.
"Easy there," A voice sounded and Percy opened his eyes.
The first thing that Percy noticed was how sore his body was. His muscles felt stiff, regardless of where he shifted. His leg seemed to be completely numb over and appeared to be wrapped in heavy bandages while.
The second thing that Percy noticed was that it was completely dark around him. His mind recollected over the events against a particular god and his breathing quickened. Panic enveloped his entire body, thinking his vision still hadn't returned. He shook and grunted as he tried to feel his eyes with his palm.
"Easy there," The same voice repeated, and Percy felt someone wrap their arms around his hand to keep it from moving. "You're alright. Those are just the bandages on your eyes. That's why you cannot see."
"Remove them" Percy croaked, surprised by how parched his throat felt. "Please."
There was a shuffle before a pair of dainty hands rested upon his eyes and undressed the bandages.
Percy's eyes fluttered open as the person was done with their job. He squinted slightly, to adjust to the light of the room he was in. He glanced around to see that he was in a dimly lit cave. Low stalactites hung from the ceiling, providing an eerie sort of beauty to the cave.
"How do you feel?"
Percy turned towards the person's voice and his throat went dry. He stared at the beautiful girl in front of her. It felt very similar to his experience in Ogygia, except this time it was a pretty girl with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes staring at him, instead of Calypso.
"Well," She raised an eyebrow as Percy gawked at her.
Percy cleared his throat, before grimacing. "Water?"
The girl grabbed a bowl of water at her side and offered it to Percy. He quickly downed the elixir, feeling the coolness of it running down his throat. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where am I?" Percy asked once he had drunk to his contentment, glancing around.
The girl pursed her lips. "Who is your parent?" She questioned, ignoring his question.
Percy immediately tensed as his hand moved to his pocket.
The girl sensed his uneasiness and raised her hands to placate him. "We just saved you," she said. "If I wanted to harm you, I would've done it while you were unconscious. I know a demigod when I see one. And I'm just asking who is your godly parent."
Percy stared at her for a moment longer before he nodded hesitantly. The girl put down her hands and looked at him expectantly.
"I'm a Son of Poseidon," Percy answered after a second. "And my name is Percy."
Her lips thinned as her jaw clenched. "I assumed so," She muttered before shaking her head. "This is bad. I have to tell my mother about this new development. I'm sorry but I'll be gone for some time. You can make yourself comfortable here but do not go outside. There is fruit and water beside your cot."
Percy stared at her open-mouthed as she got up and turned around. Percy quickly snapped out of his stupor before she could leave.
"Wait!" Percy shouted. "What do you mean I can't leave? Where am I?" He demanded. "Who are you and why did you save me?!"
The girl hesitated before she spun around slowly. Percy stared at her defiantly.
"You're on Themyscira, the island of the Amazons," She said after an unnerving pause, her blue eyes boring into Percy's. "My name is Diana. And I'm a daughter of Zeus."
A/N: Possible continuation.This submission was a part of an Emerald Library writing competition starting on June 30, 2021. To participate or vote in the competition, you're welcome to join the discord link we have on the profile.