Family

The last thing in Pandora's box was hope.

Hope it's what keeps humanity going, the hope that a better day will come.

I'd learn that hope is what separates demigods from being gods.

Not because our lack of immortality or ultimate power but because of our humanity, our hope.

But these days, hope has started to feel like what mortals think my world is, a myth.

"What do you mean your trident is stolen! What's that in your hand right there!" I said pointing to the trident he held in his right hand.

"This is a decoy… a mere symbol of my power, I haven't pulled out my real trident in thousands of year. It's power is too strong to be kept in a place full of life and was stored away as a source of power." Poseidon explained.

"I don't understand, a source of power for what!" I said angrier.

Of course on my last day of summer something like this had to happen.

It probably never occurred to my dad to put a tracker on one of the most powerful weapons in the world or, I don't know, not loose it in the first place.

"It keeps everything under the sea and on the earth in balance. It stops the earth from caving in and the seas from drying. It's energy is tethered to everything." Poseidon said with emphasis.

I scoffed.

"And of course, I, the only available hero in the century, has to go fetch your trident and put my own life on pause! Because fates forbid I try to go and be happy for once!" I yell and then turned around and began to walk out.

"Perseus! Do not turn your back on me!" Poseidon rumbled.

I stopped for a second.

Why should I help?

The gods have everything in their power to get their immortal asses up and do something about this so maybe for once, it's their turn to do something about it.

I walked out.


"So what should I do?" I asked Annabeth as she paced back in forth in my cabin.

"I don't know Percy." she said with worried eyes.

"On the one hand, it's our duty to protect the world and it would be selfish to turn our back on it.." She said scrunching her eyebrows.

She then stopped.

"And on the other, you deserve to be selfish… we deserve to be selfish for everything we've done for them." she said coming to sit next to my side on the bed.

"Yeah I know." I said not meeting her eyes.

"The question is Percy, forgetting the fact that this will affect the world, are you ready to turn your back on the gods, our family?" she said.

Family.

Always and forever had a deep and literal meaning with the gods. Family meant everything to me, but would I sacrifice the chance for starting a new one, with Annabeth.

"I'll leave you alone tonight, but know that I love you Percy, and your decision won't change that okay?" She said with meaning.

I nodded my head as she made her way to the door.

The door opened and I heard a gasp.

"Annabeth what's wr-"

I turned to see someone that I'd never thought would step a foot in this cabin.

"If you don't mind, may I have a word Perseus." Amphirite said.

"Um, I'll leave you guys to it then." Annabeth said then quickly dipping out of the room and closing the door behind.

"I'm sensing I don't really have an option.." I say with uneasiness.


Amphitrite sure looked different in land then underwater.

Her dark hair cascaded almost to her waist and the moonlight made her blue eyes brighter.

And of course her change of attire made her look almost.. human.

"Thank you for agreeing to take a walk with me, I find the moonlight relaxing and as I don't come above often I like to take every chance I get to experience it." she said as we walked up the beach.

"No problems but if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" I asked hoping she didn't take offense and turn me into a sea turtle.

Not that sea turtles were any bad but the thought of getting a straw stuck up my nose did not sound too appealing.

"I've come to talk to you about the conversation you had with your father earlier today."

"Look Amphitrite I haven't-"

"Before you make your decision Perseus you need to understand what's at stake here, and for that, you need to know the past." She said turning to the water and raising her hand.

She summoned water in the shape of a long needle.

"Wait what are you-"

But before I could stop her, the needle came flying to me and pricked me in the center of my forehead and then there was darkness.


"Zeus!" Poseidon yelled as he stormed into the throne room of Olympus where Zeus sat on his throne.

"You have gone far enough!" Poseidon said with an unfamiliar trident in hand.

Well it had actually looked like the trident I had in last night's dream.

"And what have I done now brother." Zeus said annoyed as he rolled his eyes.

"You lay your claim on the Earth as if it is yours and you banish our brother to the underworld as if he was an outsider! But you will not toss me aside brother! You forget who is younger!" Poseidon said as the trident beamed with power.

Zeus stood up.

"And you've forgotten who is your superior. Your accusations are strong brother, but can you back them up?" Zeus said as lightning bolt flashed in his hand and then turned into a sword.

"There will be no for fighting, I have had enough, I'm ending this once and for all!" Poseidon said as he spun his trident in the air and then pierced it into the ground.

The ground began to rumble and crack, Zeus stumbled back and looked out the window onto the earth.

Below, the earth began to crack and lava spewed onto humans.

"Poseidon stopped this at once! You will destroy the earth and along with it, your precious seas!" Zeus pleaded.

Poseidon's eyes widen as he removed his trident from the ground and the rumbling stopped.

Zeus gave a sigh of relief as Poseidon walked over to the window.

Humans screamed in pain and water and lava met each other.

Poseidon looked to his trident and watched it gleam in power as it's center gave a brightening light.


When I woke up I had a gasp of relief.

"Now you see only a glimpse of the tridents power Perseus, imagine what it can do in the hands of one of the gods' enemies." Amphirite said looking down at Perseus.

A horn then blew coming from the camp signaling that there was an emergency.

Panic spread in me.

"Go." Amphirite said looking out to the water.

"But remember Perseus that even though the gods are not perfect, we are and will forever be your family." she said.

I got up and started running but could not get that vision out of my head.

I looked back but Amphirite was gone. I then continued to make my way back to camp.

The first person I saw was Will shooting arrows into the sky right outside the entrance of the camp.

I looked up to see harpies outside the camp and plucking demigods that we're fighting outside the camp.

Of course this would happen on my last day.

I ran over to Will.

"How many." I asked.

"Don't know, enough to cause some trouble, but somethings different about these harpies." Will said as he continued to shoot down the harpies.

I ran outside the camp and slashed at as many harpies as I could trying not to think of Ella as I did so as they disintegrated.

Will was right though, they did seem different. They seemed frantic, and had foam dripping from their mouths and their eyes were a bright green that gleamed with hatred.

"Fall back!" Annabeth said calling from up the hill.

I looked at her confused but proceeded to go up as did everyone else.

"We had them, what's going on?" I questioned Annabeth.

"Percy. Look." she said pointing up to the sky.

I turned to see the harpies fighting each other, they ripped and tore at each others wings and when the last one was left, it but at its own wings and body until it died.

"What in Hades name is going on." I mumbled to myself.

Call it demigod intuition but I felt like this was the beginning of the end of my peaceful days.