Chapter Two: The Contractor

All things considered, Poseidon was only mildly pissed that Zeus had broken their oath… twice. Three times if you count that Jason kid in Camp Jupiter. Honestly, he didn't have much ground to stand on since he just claimed his own son, Perseus Jackson. Zeus called in an emergency meeting, making everyone drop what they were doing.

...Just in time to see a foolish demigod who Chiron was implying was Zeus's son.

...Who hated Zeus.

...And worked for/adopted by Hades.

...And associated with foreign gods.

Watching Zeus's face slowly swell up in anger had been one of the most entertaining things he'd seen in weeks!

...And just did the impossible and tanked a lightning bolt directly from Zeus himself in a fit of rage.

What?

Then Zeus claimed him out of spite… right in front of everyone. Okay, sure, he was a son of Zeus, that explained the cocky attitude.

But still… what?

Poseidon had seen Zeus strike many things with his bolts throughout the centuries, and very few things could walk away unscaved. Either this man was extremely powerful for a half-blood, or he had some kind of artifact that nullified lightning.

"Dionysus!" Zeus roared, furious. "Come to Olympus, and bring my impudent son with you!"

Poseidon took a glance at Hera… biggest mistake all century. He hadn't seen her this livid since Hercules ascended into godhood. But the absolute storm of pure rage that was about to be unleashed was going to be amazing. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a bottle of wine, one of his best, saved only for special occasions.

"Zeus..." Hera growled. "You broke your oath… AGAIN!?"

The expression on Zeus's face right now. How just realized he did and said all of that right in front of his toxic, psychotic wife.

Poseidon took a big swig of wine.

Priceless.

"I-I can explain, Hera!" Zeus exclaimed in panic.

Poseidon hid his grin under the bottle. No you can't.

Just in that moment, as if to save Zeus from Hera's wrath, Dionysus showed up with Zeus's newest spawn. Who dropped to his knees, a look of utter despair in his eyes.

"Jesus Fucking Christ, of all the people I could've been related to in this inbreed, circlejerk of a pantheon consisting of college frat and sorority members, why did I have to be related to history's most infamous serial rapist!?"

Silence overtook the throne room as the words left Jack's mouth.

Poseidon took a big gulp of his wine.

...It hurt how accurate his words were.

Zeus's fear of Hera was immediately forgotten. "Mind your tongue, child."

"Mind where you stick your dick for once and I'll think about it." Jack shot back without missing a beat.

"PFFFT!" Poseidon and Hephestus went into a coughing fit that suspiciously sounded like laughter.

This demigod… he had some audacity, some courage, maybe some full-on stupidity. But at the very least, he was entertaining. Athena had some thinly veiled interest in him, though it was mostly centered around how he survived Zeus's half-hearted attack with little, if not any, damage at all.

"Alright, so," Jack clapped his hands together and took a good look at the throne room. "Any particular reason I've been brought here? I kind of got a job to get back to."

"Not so fast!" Zeus shouted. "You have quite a bit to answer for, son."

Jack made a gagging sound. "Oh god, for fuck's sake, don't call me your son. It makes me sick."

Zeus took a deep breath. "You have forsaken your father's name and legacy..."

"You haven't done a damn thing for me my whole life, and your legacy is sleeping around, raping, and generally causing 90% of this pantheon's problems." The throne room was quiet. No one had heard anyone outside of Hera so blatantly call out Zeus on his failings. "Your legacy is worth less than the shit I flushed down the toilet."

Dead silence filled the throne room as everyone just stared at Jack.

Poseidon quietly sipped from his bottle of wine. Chaos damn…

"You work for Hades!" Zeus bellowed. "Your sister's murderer!"

Jack shrugged. "I never knew her. I don't give a shit. Hades was trying to kill me around the same time she died, but at least he acknowledged I existed."

Poseidon frowned. Sure, he sort of understood where the young man was coming from. But to disregard family so easily… that was something he couldn't stand by.

"You associate yourself with foreign pantheons!"

Ah, Poseidon almost forgot that bit. He could sense quite the number of blessings bestowed upon Jack from foreign gods. Even a couple from their own pantheon. Those being Hades, obviously, and…

Nyx.

Why in Chaos does he have a blessing from Nyx!?

He looked around the room at the other gods. Athena noticed it, but kept it to herself. The constant tapping of her fingernails against her throne's armrest was telling of her nervousness. Dionysus noticed it, and so had Artemis.

Hephestus, Apollo, and Hermes looked like they wished they had some popcorn. Demeter showed some vague interest. Ares was more interested in the sword the young man was carrying. And Aphrodite looked at Jack like a hungry (in this case, lustful) wolf looked at a steak.

"I don't remember that being against the rules. It's just your personal preference to not get emasculated by a more powerful god of thunder."

"I am Zeus, King of Olympus. There are no gods of thunder or lightning powerful enough to challenge me!" Their king arrogantly claimed.

Jack was unimpressed. "Mhmm. Thor would have some choice words for you." He turned to Dionysus. "Can we go back to the camp already? I have a job to get back to."

Dionysus cracked open a can of Diet Coke. "Not my call."

Jack sighed. "Of course it isn't. Anything we can do to make this go by faster? I would legitimately rather be in Hell than here."

"How did you survive Zeus's lightning bolt?" Athena cut in before anyone else could get in a word edgewise.

"Alright, Twenty Questions it is. I absorbed it." Jack explained. "Forced myself to read a few textbooks on electricity and electrons after I discovered my powers. If I've got something that gives me an edge, I might as well learn everything I can about it. Mortal science and a bit of creativity can take you pretty far, especially if your..." He took a deep breath and grit his teeth. "Parentage allows you control over the elements in some way."

Dionysus scoffed at the mention of science but Poseidon humed quietly. If mortal science allowed Jack to do something like that, then what could it do for Percy?

Athena gave him something resembling an approving look before moving onto her next question. "Who exactly are you?"

Jack stood up straight,looking profesional. "I am Jack Sakai, son of the now deceased Aoi Sakai, and adopted son of Hades. I am part of a supernatural PMC mercenary group called the Contractors founded by my foster father and I."

This caught everyone's attention.

"And what does this group do exactly?" Athena inquired further.

"Pretty much what it sounds like. You need us to take care of a problem like monsters, gods getting too big for their britches, or even straight up world ending calamities. As long as the job fits with our moral standards, you can count on us to get it done."

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. That was quite the claim.

"Compensation?"

"We settle on payment and what it will be beforehand." Jack clarified. "We accept three forms of payment: Monetary, blessings, and favors. Once the contract is signed, both us and the customer are bound by a divine geas that can only be broken by beings far higher than those involved in the contract, usually primordials."

The God of the Sea looked at Jack in disbelief, as did the other gods. The child was insane.

"You willingly bind yourself to a divine contract to ensure you complete a job?" Athena asked for all of them.

Jack nodded. "It gives the customer reassurance and it ensures that we get paid. Cause if they try to skip out on the bill… well lets just say that shit is way worse than breaking an oath on the Styx."

"And why exactly have you shown up now after all these years?" Athena asked. "You seemed so content staying out of our sight."

"If I had it my way, this entire meeting would've never happened and I'd would've been in Japan sharing sake with Jesus and Buddha..." Jack paused, probably realizing that they'd need context for that sentence. "They're roommates. Long story." He shook his head. "Anyway, to answer your question. I'm here for a few reasons. Mainly, I'm looking into possible suspects for who stole the Helm of Darkness and, by extension, the Master Bolt." He leveled a glare at Zeus. "Spoilers, it's not Percy Jackson."

"Impossible!" Zeus's voice boomed throughout the throne room. "That little thief is the only one that could have done this."

Jack deadpanned. "Yes, the fucking child that had no idea any of this was real until yesterday stole your toy, and not one of the campers that was actually here on Olympus during the winder solstice… you know, around the time your Master Bolt went missing?"

Zeus froze. It almost looked like his mind had begun rebooting.

Poseidon facepalmed. "He really never thought about that?"

Jack turned to Athena. "Why am I related to him again?"

Aethna sighed. "Because he couldn't be bothered to use a condom."

Jack groaned in frustration. "Anyway, the other big reason is because the spat between Zeus and Poseidon is killing our business. Barely anyone is hiring us right now since the Greek pantheon is on the verge of civil war and wants that drama brought to their doorstep since our organization is Greek in origin."

"So this is about losing profits?"

"Kind of," he shrugged. "It's incredibly irritating, but we'll live. All I care about really is getting the Helm back to calm Hades down. Zeus and Poseidon can tear each other to pieces for all I care."

Poseidon's eye twitch. That was rather rude.

"What is your interest in my son?" The Father of Horses asked, his voice sharp.

"Nothing of ill intent," The demigod assured. "He's just a bystander that shouldn't have been involved in the first place. And since it was partially my fault he's in this mess, I'm going to teach him a few ticks of the trade to make his life a lot easier."

"Oh," Poseidon wasn't expecting that as an answer. "That sounds… reasonable enough."

"Listen, I gotta head out, I'll see you all later." Jack turned around and walked as the floor split open into the realm of the Underworld.

"One more question, young man," Athena called out. "...How old are you?"

Jack blinked, confused. "Uh, eighteen. I was born in 1987, why?"

Poseidon felt his blood run cold.

The Great Prophecy had already been in motion for two years and none of them had even the slightest clue. All because Zeus couldn't keep track of his own kids. And now they have someone who would push the "Destroy Olympus" button without a second thought!

Everyone slowly turned to Zeus, who was trying to look unphased and imposing, but it was ruined by him sweating bullets.

"That is… classified, Jack Sakai." Athena answered.

"Fair enough, have a nice day - oh, wait!" Jack perked up, remembering something he forgot. "I have a question of my own." He looked directly at Hera, his eyes gaining a near manic gleam. "Did you kill my mother…?"

The tension that overtook the throne room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone turned to Hera who stared at Jack with contempt and disdain. Poseidon braced himself for the upcoming shitstorm that was about to be unleashed.

"Of course I did," Hera spat. "And I should kill you like I did that whore!"

Dead silence reigned over the throne room as Jack slowly processed her words. The popping of his knuckles could be heard as the smell of ozone filled the room, spark arcing across his body for a few seconds before stopping. His expression was stoic, almost emotionless, but his eyes gave away the utter hatred he was feeling.

"I see," He said before walking down into the Underworld. "Thank you for clarifying."

Poseidon felt a shiver down his spine as Jack left the throne room.

There were no threats, no shouting, boasting of his power, punishments, and whatever Zeus and his usual little shit brats would spout. Jack was in near full control of himself at all times, he was rude and disrespectful… but it was measured. Like he knew just how much he could get away with before he was met with actual consequences.

He wasn't justany child of Zeus.

Jack was a smart child of Zeus. The last time that happened was Hercules.

And that made Poseidon far more wary of him than most of the gods in this throne room.

Chapter End