It's been five hundred and ninety-nine years, six months, eight weeks, and two days since my arrival in Tartarus, and I still can't believe what I had accomplished. Before Zeus banished me, monsters had mostly negative opinions about me. Some feared me, others just hated me. Now, they all love me. I am the most popular leader Tartarus has ever seen.
I am ruling from a magnificent palace, aptly named the "Imperial Palace of Tartarus". It's about half a mile in diameter and towers three miles into the endless darkness of Tartarus. It quite literally sticks out like a sore thumb.
I have two very close friends here in Tartarus. One is Zhenkile, the Arachnotaur I saved back when I was first banished to the pit. She now works as my personal assistant and advisor. The other is…you'll never guess…the Minotaur. He's now my Lord High Marshall, the guy in charge of all the military forces of Tartarus and second only to me in military authority. Over the past few centuries, we've talked things out and buried the hatchet. Speaking of which, I even made him a new axe, one made of Tartarean Steel. It's become his darling. He never goes anywhere without it.
Won't be long now. Soon my secret weapon will be completed, and I'll lead my armies to the surface and personally wreak vengeance on that son of a whore, Old Thunderbutthole himself. Yep, won't be long.
(Back on Olympus)
It was about five months since Percy's banishment, and though life continued for the gods, nothing was ever the same. Most of the Council members wanted nothing to do with Zeus now, and whenever they held meetings, they would just ignore him. Any words from him would just be blocked out, and should he attempt to order any of them around, he would just get a whole bunch of middle fingers. As far as the rest of the Council was concerned, he was no longer worth listening to.
Athena was currently lounging in the living room of her palace. She had told Annabeth about Percy's banishment a few weeks prior, and needless to say, she was pretty shaken and horrified by the fact that Percy, the boy she loved, was in Tartarus once again. Athena had done her best to comfort her, but sadly, being a parent wasn't one of the things she was good at. It was one of the reasons she used to hate Poseidon: he was good with kids, particularly his own.
Truth be told, Athena had come to respect Percy, albeit somewhat grudgingly. She admired how strong-willed and persistent he was; how tenacious, fearless and resourceful he could be, how skilled he was in battle, and how he never abandoned those he cared for who were in need, even if it meant breaking rules. Deep down inside, Athena wished one of her kids could be like him. The only equal to him in terms of intelligence was her daughter Annabeth, but when it came to actual fighting skill and sheer guts, she was nowhere near his level. Eventually, the goddess realized that she did not fear for Percy's safety in Tartarus. If anything, she feared for that of the monsters living there. Percy would be their worst nightmare. No question about it.
She was about to get up and browse through her limitless cabinet of science, art and nature documentaries when she heard a knock at the palace door- well, it was less of a knock and more of a constant, heavy hammering. Someone, it appeared, was very desperate to talk to her.
Rushing to the front door and flinging it open, she was surprised to see her "sister", Aphrodite, with whom she didn't quite get along.
"What is it, Aphrodite?" Athena asked, rather annoyed by the interruption.
"Hestia has called an emergency council meeting!" The goddess of love replied, almost shouting. "She says there's someone in the throne room we all have to meet!"
Athena stroked her chin, trying to figure it out, until Aphrodite shouted right in her face, "Athena! Are you even listening?! We have to go now!"
"Oh, right!" was all Athena could say, as the two of them then flashed to the throne room together. When they got there, Athena let out a loud gasp.
In the middle of the room, casually chatting with Hestia, was a man in his late forties, wearing typical Victorian attire; a black suit with a long coat, a necktie, a top hat and monocle. He had a moustache, and his hair was somewhere between auburn and light grey. Taking a close look at his eyes, she saw that they were…gold…
"Kronos," she breathed.
All the other Olympians were already here, and when they heard her utter the Titan's name, they all sprung up with their weapons at the ready.
Hestia stood up and defended her father. "Please! Brothers! Sisters! Nieces and nephews! He is only here to talk to us!"
"And what would the King of Titans want to discuss with us?" Poseidon growled.
"Oh, nothing really," Kronos replied, rubbing his hand against his shirt, then checking it for dirt. "Just thought you'd might like to know what Perseus has been up to."
At this, everyone snapped to attention.
"Percy?!" Poseidon exclaimed.
"That insufferable worm is alive? In Tartarus?!" Zeus shouted. "How could that be?!"
"That's Emperor Perseus to you, Zeus!" Kronos stated coldly. "And he is many things, but a worm? Certainly not. He has become two thousand times more powerful than all the gods in this room combined. More powerful than me…or any Titan for that matter. He is on par with Chaos himself." As everyone guffawed, he continued. "But in any case, yes, Perseus is still alive, and much more than that. He is ruling all of Tartarus as an emperor. All the monsters bow to him. They respect and adore him, where they once feared me." Kronos sighed. "If only I'd learned to treat my troops properly. I would've managed to triumph in the Second Titan War. Alas, I was thinking only of myself back then."
"What exactly has young Percy been doing down there?" asked Apollo.
"Why, bringing civilization to Tartarus, of course," Kronos answered. "Before he came along, for hundreds of thousands of years Tartarus has been a horrible place rife with lawlessness and chaos, a bleak and desolate wasteland where countless bands of monsters wandered, preying on the weak and unprotected. There was no hope in Tartarus, no peace and no compassion. Only war and the need to survive at any cost.
"But then, good old Perseus appeared one day, sword in hand, and after he saved the life of a little monster girl, he started gaining attention. And followers. He told all who would listen of the fate that had befallen his family, of his unjust imprisonment by the gods- or one god in particular-" he stopped to glare at his son "-and it wasn't long before he had an army at his command, and one of considerable size at that. Over a hundred thousand. He set up a base in what remained of the Iron Fortress and launched a campaign of swiftness and ferocity that no one could have expected. Several of my fellow Titans- Pallas, Lelantos, Krios, Hyperion- all marshalled armies of their own and tried to defeat him, but one by one they all were routed and forced to submit.
"Let me tell you, my whole life I had never feared a single being as much as I now feared Perseus. I had underestimated him countless times before, but I finally realized that it was folly to resist him, as powerful as he now was. So, when he finally showed up at my own citadel with a mighty army at his back, I decided to surrender without a fight."
By now all the gods were speechless.
"You…surrendered…to him?" Hera repeated.
"Surprised, dear Hera?" Kronos asked her. She just nodded, unable to even speak.
"Well anyway, Perseus has complete control of all of Tartarus now. All of the Titans- save Atlas, who you well know is still holding the weight of the sky on Othrys- now loyally serve him. My wife Rhea is in charge of one of the major provinces, and she very much enjoys the work. Pallas and Lelantos both have key positions in the military, Krios and Hyperion have provinces of their own, Prometheus is doing a lot of administrative work, and as for me, I have decided to take up a quiet residence in a country villa, ruling over a small fiefdom. My days of attempting to overthrow you Olympians and enslave the mortals are long behind me, I assure you."
For a minute or so no one said anything. They were simply flabbergasted that their former enemy, the Titan Lord Kronos himself, had changed his ways.
"This alters nothing," Zeus finally said after a rather long silence. "That Jackson brat will never succeed in destroying me."
"Well, it seems the golden apple didn't fall far from the tree at all," Kronos remarked with an apparent glee. "If you underestimate him as I once did, Zeus, you won't stand a chance. Not that you do now."
Hera tried, and failed, to suppress a giggle.
"Oh, and did I mention that he has been blessed by many of the Titans and Primordials in Tartarus, myself included, as well as Chaos himself?"
Dionysus spit out his Diet Coke.
"Huh?!" Apollo managed.
"Say WHAT?!" Hermes exclaimed in shock.
"Blessed…by…C-C-C-Chaos?" Poseidon let out.
"Exactly how many Titans and Primordials blessed him?" Athena asked, curious as ever.
"Oh, well, let me see," Kronos said, playfully pretending to count on his fingers. "One, two, three…uh, seven. Exactly seven."
"Which ones?"
"Me, of course, Chaos, Lelantos, Erebus, Nyx, Pallas, and…what was his name…Aether."
"So…so you're telling me that Jackson's been blessed by no less than three Titans, three Primordials, and Chaos himself?" Ares clarified.
On receiving a nod from Kronos, he turned to his father with a grin, "Damn, Pops, you are fucked beyond compare."
"And Krios, Hyperion and Prometheus are all planning on blessing him as well," Kronos add.
At this, Ares let out a booming laugh.
"I wager you're sorry you ever came after his poor mortal family, eh, boy?" Kronos asked, smiling.
"No! Never!" Zeus shouted. "Those foolish mortals deserved to die! As does Jackson! I'll rip him apart! I'll turn him to the blackest of ash where he stands! My reign will be eternal and unending!"
"Oh?" Kronos smiled wider. "And why do you say that?"
"Because the Oracle has not issued a prophecy! That proves that I will not be defeated by that miserable, insufferable son of-!"
His rant was interrupted by Apollo, who had his hand raised in the air. "I think it's happening. "
"What is happening, brother?" Artemis asked.
"The Oracle's about to give a prophecy."
At this, the Olympians' eyes widened and their jaws dropped to the floor.
"How remarkably convenient," Kronos said, obviously not fazed at all.
Apollo flashed Rachel to the throne room, where she began to speak in the voice of the Oracle.
"The dark angel shall rise to avenge his family
In a moment passes an eternity
New faces appear to play their part
In bringing an end and a new start
Nine lights will be found and together as one
They spell the doom of the Titan's youngest son
An army shall march to the heavenly gates
A final duel to seal the tyrant's fate"
Rachel collapsed as she finished, but thankfully Apollo caught her.
The throne room was silent as they absorbed what had just happened. They were all rather unnerved, but no one as much as Zeus. He already knew that the prophecy was referring to him when it mentioned the "Titan's youngest son" and the "tyrant", and the dark angel coming to avenge his family was obviously Percy. But who were these "new faces"? And the "nine lights" the prophecy mentioned that were to be found? So many questions.
He wasn't the only one wondering what certain words of the prophecy meant. Athena was still thinking about the lines "in a moment passes an eternity" as well as "an army shall march to the heavenly gates". Did that mean that an army was going to storm Olympus itself? Impossible. But then, given this was a prophecy concerning Percy Jackson, was anything truly impossible?
"And there you have it!" announced Kronos. "That's all for now, Olympians. Take care! Except for you, Zeus. You are going to get it later."
With a final wave, the Lord of Time flashed back to Tartarus.
Poseidon was the first to recover from the shock, standing and regarding his brother with a cold expression. "Hear my words, Zeus, for I will not repeat them: my boy is coming, and you'd better hope he comes soon, because it's taking all the self-control I have to keep from dragging you down to the bottom of the sea, chopping you up into little bits and frying those bits until they are nothing but dust drifting on the current. No matter what you do, the prophecy will happen, for we all know you can't resist the pull of destiny."
Poseidon then flashed out, followed by Athena, Ares, Apollo and the others until only Hestia remained.
She sadly shook her head at her younger brother. "Percy suffered under the abusive boot of Gabe Ugliano. Then he suffered in the Titan and Giant Wars, watching his dearest friends get hurt and lose their lives protecting us. If you have any goodness in your heart, dear brother, you won't make him suffer any more." With that she vanished.
Zeus leaned his head against his arm, which was propped up on the armrest of his throne. Though power-hungry, he had some decency still remaining in him. Now that he was aware of how Percy had suffered all his life, a small part of him sympathized with the boy for what he had been through. Alas, that small voice was drowned out by the voice that was screaming for him to destroy the demigod, before said demigod destroyed him.
"Who cares if Perseus got hurt protecting Olympus?" he told himself. "He's always been an annoyance. I must deal with him before it's too late. And I think I know exactly how to do that." A smile spread across the king's face, his mind already developing a plan.
That night, Athena tossed and turned. What was she dreaming about? Well, Percy of course. She saw him, brutally punching metal statues of her father Zeus to pieces with his bare hands, all the while shouting insults.
"Selfish!" Pow. "Idiotic!" Pow. "Arrogant!" Pow. "Power-hungry!" Pow. "Murdering!" Pow. "Lowlife sonofabitch!" Pow.
Finally, he stopped, before summoning a sword of some bizarre green fire and slicing the last statue clean in two.
"Shit on me while I'm down, huh?" He growled in almost an animal-like way. "Well, Zeus, I'll make you sorry you ever heard the name 'Percy Jackson'. Mark my words…"
Athena then woke up in a cold sweat. When it came to Percy Jackson, she had hated him, respected him, perhaps even pitied him. But now, she feared him as well. And she knew that she never wanted to be the subject of his wrath.
So, that's the third chapter out of the way. I think I'm starting to get the hang of uploading fanfics to this site. I had a lot of fun devising the prophecy that the Oracle recited. Perhaps you guys can figure out what it means? Good luck!