Hello everyone, I hope you are all well.
This is a work of art for the Percy Jackson series. Characters except the Original ones are owned by Rick Riordan.
The story of book 1 is summarized; some parts may have not been added. Doesn't means that they didn't happened. Just that I couldn't right about everything.
Hope you enjoy the story.
Bold- Story told by Percy,
THIRD PERSON POV
Artemis was also present when Percy agreed to tell his adventures to the kids. Shee summoned her hunters and went to sit with her boyfriend.
Annabeth snapped her fingers and the dining tables in the pavilion transformed into couches and mattresses for people to get comfortable into.
"Settle down everyone, this is going to be a long night." Annabeth said, motioning to the couches. She sat with Percy, and Artemis on their own side. The ladies cuddled into Percy's side. Annabeth cradled her daughter Eva on her lap, while Percy had Piper sitting on his lap.
Once everyone settled down, Percy spoke, "Well this story starts with me being friends with a weird satyr, and a centaur as a teacher."
The kids looked at Chiron, asking him a silent question 'Was that you,' to which the centaur nodded.
"See up until the age of 12, I was a loner, I had no friends. My first friend was Grover, he was scrawny, handicapped, and cried a lot. Miraculously though, he could run like an Olympic athlete when it was Enchiladas day at the cafeteria." Percy said smiling, reminiscing about the old days.
"Nice description you had there of me Perce," Grover's voice called out, though he just looked amused.
"Love you too pal, and in a plainly platonic way Juniper." Percy shot back, smiling at Juniper at the end. Juniper rolled her eyes, if she hadn't known better, she really might have believed the two friends to be lovers.
"Grover and I were on our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, under the chaperone of Mrs. Dodds, and Mr. Brunner. We were looking at millennia old Greek arts. I know it sounds like torture." Percy said, laughing, knowing full well it was going to piss some people off.
As expected, Annabeth, Piper, Sasha, and the whole of Athena's cabin started yelling at him. Athena flashed in looking particularly annoyed at Percy, "Should've known better than to expect a sea spawn to appreciate good arts."
"What are you doing here Thena?" Percy asked the wisdom goddess smiling.
"We were watching you describe your adventures, up on Olympus. I had to comment on your disregard of ancient arts, so I flashed in." Athena explained herself to him, blushing slightly at the nickname Percy gave her.
"Well if you want you can join us and spend some time with your children. I think the King of Olympus can overlook the ancient laws for this time." Percy posed his demand as a question. "Can't we Lord Zeus?" He asked innocently.
Thunder rumbled in the sky as reply. Moments later, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, and some minor gods flashed in and sat with their children.
When everyone settled down, Percy scooped Piper against him, which caused her to sigh in bliss. He continued, "Mr. Brunner, talked about a lot of Greek history, then he asked me a question. One that I knew the answer of, it was a statue of the Titan Lord, showing him eat his own kids. Mr. Brunner, then asked me if I knew how the story of Kronos applies in real life. I didn't know the answer to it at that time."
"Can any of you tell, how it applies to the real life?" Percy asked the demigods who came after the second Titan War. A little girl about 9 years old raised her hand and answered, "Kronos tried to control something he didn't have control over. The prophecy that his children would be the end of him. In doing so he cemented the prophecy; he shouldn't have tried to control the prophecy. He killed his own father, so his children killed him. Which applies to the real life is that no bad deed goes unpunished."
Everyone clapped for the girl, who was bustling with pride, and blushing at the same time. Percy, Annabeth, and Athena's face had pride shining on them.
"Daughter of Athena?" Percy asked the little girl. The girl nodded to him, "Name?" He asked her.
"Karen Sir?" She replied softly. Percy smiled at her, and she relaxed. "You're smart. A smart little warrior, needs a special weapon. Would you like that?" Percy asked her, and she nodded.
Percy summoned a bronze spear and walked up to her and handed it over. "The spear is a magical one, it wouldn't break even if a god tries to do it. It will always return to you. It will grow along with you. Your mother is one of the fiercest spear wielders the world has ever known. You will share her skills too, but you will have to train hard for it. Understand?"
The little girl nodded and happily examined her spear. The trait of a warrior, they always examine their weapons, no matter who gifts it. Percy caught the eyes of Athena, smiling at him, and mouthed 'Thank You' to him. Percy winked at the goddess, who looked down to try to cover her blush.
Percy continued to tell his story, "After that Grover and I were eating our lunch, when a girl was bullying Grover and I snapped. My powers over water progressed and the girl was pushed into the fountain. Mrs. Dodds believed that I pushed her myself, so she took me inside the museum to punish me. She then told me, that I will suffer for what I have done. I had to really think what I had done, because as I understood the only thing I did was sell candies from my dorm room illegally, and plagiarize Tom Sawyer."
Everyone except Athena, and her children were laughing at him.
"She then transformed into a fury and attacked. Fatefully Mr. Brunner came in his wheelchair and threw a pen at me, which turned to a sword. I slashed the fury and she turned to golden dust. Mr. Brunner then asked me for his pen back. What I didn't know was they had manipulated the mist to make me forget, that these events ever happened."
"Your first monster was one of Hades' fury?" Piper asked, looking up at Percy from her place in his lap. Percy answered her, and the rest of their questions, by nodding his head.
"Why would they want you to forget about all this sir? Wouldn't you be safer if you knew the truth?" A camper asked, getting over his shock. Percy shook his head at him, "Not this time, there was a war brewing between the gods, which will be told later in the story." Percy satiated the questions of the demigods.
"After that I was snappy all the time. The oceans were raging, my mood along with them. I was going home after they kicked me out of the school. Grover was following me home, when our bus stopped. I looked outside the window to see three old women with silver hair, sitting at a fruit stand. The weirdest thing was they were knitting an electric blue sock. Then they looked directly at me and snipped the string."
Percy received shocked looks from everyone except his three girlfriends; they were fuming at him. He hurried on before they could beat him, "Grover was acting weird the whole ride after the fruit stand, so I decided to ditch him. I reached home, my mom and I decided to visit the Montauk beach that evening. At the middle of the night, Grover knocked on our door looking scared. My mom knew something happened, so she started driving us to the camp. When a lightning bolt struck our car and we were thrown out of the road. Thankfully, we were all safe and started running towards camp. When I looked back we were being chased by the Minotaur."
The younger kids gasped, startled that he had to face the Minotaur at age 12.
"The Minotaur eventually caught up to us and grabbed my mother by the neck and squeezed, she dissolved in yellow light after that. Rage consumed me and I attacked the Minotaur, I don't know what happened next. All I know is that one moment I'm crying, and the next I have killed the beast with his own horn. I carried Grover to the border and saw a really pretty girl, one I would fall in love with and passed out."
Many people were looking at him with open mouths. Aphrodite and her children were squealing at the pretty girl part. Annabeth herself was blushing and pulled Percy in for a kiss. Eva got off her mother, grossed out, and went to sit with Hestia, who was tending the camp's hearth.
"Grandma," Eva shouted; Hestia smiled and transformed to her 30 year version and took her granddaughter in her lap.
"When I woke up the pretty blond was there tending me. She asked me something and I passed out."
Laughter was all that was heard at the dining pavilion. Percy was blushing at his own confession. Artemis, and Annabeth were busy teasing Percy about that, while Percy pouted. Piper to his defense, kissed him, saying it was natural.
"You know Pipes, you're my favorite," Percy told her, smiling. Immediately, Artemis and Annabeth gasped and started hitting him.
"Mercy I was kidding, you know I love you all equally," Percy stated in defense. The girls rolled their eyes and gave him a kiss each.
Athena, Zoe, Sasha, and Thalia smiled at them. Not knowing why they felt content yet hurt at the show of love between those four.
"When I woke really, Mr. Brunner who turned out to be Chiron, gave me a short rundown of the godly world. Then he asked Annabeth to show me around, and to get me settled down in the Hermes cabin, where all the unclaimed demigods used to go. The cabin was full with campers, there wasn't even enough space for me to lay straight on the floor."
Hermes, and his children, who saw how the cabin used to be, winced, at hearing the cabin's description. The kids who came after the second Titan War were all confused. (I'm going to call the kids who came after the second Titan war, just New Kids.)
"Why would you stay at Hermes cabin, and what do you mean unclaimed demigods?" A random kid asked.
"Things used to be different back then. The Gods used to ignore their kids until they needed something. Some gods like Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Athena, were the only one who used to claim their kids regularly. Rest of the gods didn't care, they only claimed when they wanted to, and when the kid does something, that they seem worthy. There weren't any cabins for minor gods, so their kids were jammed into the Hermes cabin." Annabeth explained, to which Percy continued, "Because Hermes is a decent god compared to the rest of self-absorbed, narcissistic, pathetic excuse of Gods, he got the short end of the stick."
Thunder rumbled in the sky in defiance of Percy's words. Percy rolled his eyes and said, "Bite me."
Lightning struck the pavilion, almost harming the demigods. One of the kids got blasted back by the explosion. Percy stood up, enraged, his pentadent, which he had named 'Hope' in his hands. "Zeus show yourself," he screamed at the sky.
"Artemis, Annabeth, Athena, cast a spell to keep the kids safe." He ordered them, to which they complied. The kids relaxed when the protection spell was casted and watched in fascination as their King raged.
The oceans started churning. Earth was shaking to its very core. Zeus flashed in, his master bolt at his hands. He looked enraged too, "You would dare disrespect us, in front of the demigods." He asked, his body crackling with energy.
"You would dare harm my demigods?" Percy asked, his voice low. Zeus almost looked scared, but refused to back down. He knew that he would have to attack first. Percy wasn't going to let him go free; not after he put his charges in danger. So he threw his master bolt at him, out of fear. Percy made a wall of water appear and trapped the master bolt at it.
He walked up to Zeus, every step shaking the earth from his rage. Time slowed down, the trees stopped moving from the winds. Animals stuck in their path. Percy's eyes turned into a poisonous shade of green, the gold in his irises glowing with power. Zeus never would've thought he would fear someone more than his father, but he did. At that moment, Percy wasn't the sarcastic, easy going person they had seen. He was the personification of vengeance. His pentadent in his hand, transformed into a scythe. Completing his look of a Grim reaper, he looked like the reaper of the immortals.
The demigods sat in shock and fear, not knowing what to do. The being in front of them wasn't the easy going friend/mentor/idol he usually was. He was their King now, a true King, ready to slaughter his enemies, to go to war, for the life of his citizens. They finally understood, why the latest myths spoke of Percy as the most dangerous thing to ever walk the earth.
He slashed Zeus' cheek with Hope and made a nasty gash. Zeus could feel his energy draining away. He understood true fear. Percy spoke in a cold voice, "How does it feel to be powerless Zeus? This is how those you've punished felt. How does it feel to finally pay for what you have done? You've done a lot of horrid things in your life, just because you had the power. Shall I do the same to you?"
"I warned you, to change your path, to change how you rule. Look around you Zeus, no one, not even your children stand with you. I urged you to not turn in to your father, yet here you are doing the same thing. Attacking those, who stand against your tyranny? Not anymore." He declared and raised his scythe to strike the King of Gods down.
Fortunately, Hera flashed in between them and fell to her knees. She pleaded with him, to show Mercy. Nico put a hand on his cousin's shoulder and shook his head. Percy nodded in reply to him, respecting the God of Punishment's decision. Hope vanished into thin air. Percy grabbed Zeus by his throat and picked him up.
"Remember this is my last warning Zeus, one more of your incessant rule of tyranny. And I will declare you unfit to rule, understood?" Percy asked Zeus, barely containing his rage.
Zeus nodded his assent, and Percy let go.
"The fates are angry with you for attacking me, and how you've ruled so far. The only thing keeping you alive is me keeping them in bay. Even the thought of going against me, would make the fates take necessary steps for you to join the faded in the void. Mark my words, if you don't change your ways, I will end you without second thought." Percy said, and threw him to the ground.
Zeus understood the significance of his action and flashed out to Olympus, with Hera. Percy turned around to see the rest of Olympians there, some looking at him in fear, some smiling. He calmed down and looked towards the demigods, who were all looking at him in awe, "I promised, I would stand up for you always didn't I? I mean to honor that Promise." He smiled. Baffling them at how he could switch his emotions like a switch.
They all smiled and settled down, along with the other Olympians who decided to stay.
Percy caught Thalia's eyes; she was looking at him in concern. He smiled at her and mouthed, 'I'm okay.' Thalia smiled, and Percy felt his heart do jumping jacks in his chest. He looked away, not being able to process his emotion right away.
Percy continued after they settled, "I was shown around camp, and told how things work. Made friend a guy named Luke Castellan. Humiliated an Ares camper, and made some toilets explode. Later that day I was picked for capture the flag."
People were murmuring among themselves about who Luke Castellan was? The veterans of the Titan War never spoke about him.
Clarisse was glad he hadn't used her name. She never would've heard the end of her siblings teasing.
"Before capture the flag Grover told me about the kids of Big Three. That they were very dangerous, he told me how they were considered too dangerous. So, the three sons of Kronos made a pact to not have children. They swore it on the Styx."
A loud thunderclap was heard at the mention of Styx.
"Later he told me a story about the daughter of Zeus. A girl about the age of 12, a satyr was allowed to be her keeper. When the satyr found the girl she wasn't alone, she had 2 other demigods with her. The daughter of Zeus was being hunted by Hades. Hades released the worst monster out of the pit at her. They almost caught up to them. The girl was tired of being hunted like an animal. So she made a decision and stayed back, allowing her three companions get to safety. She made her final sacrifice on the hill. Zeus took mercy upon his daughter and turned her spirit into a pine tree. The pine tree that protects the camp. That is why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."
Thalia looked pained at the memory of her death, but what surprised her was, there were actual tears flowing from Percy's eyes. Like the very thought of her being in danger was tearing him apart from the inside. That made Thalia feel warm and mushy; she hated it.
"The day after capture the flag was about to start. When a wonderful daughter of Athena decided to use me as bait, Ares campers attacked me in rage, which I survived, and had them beat. We won the capture the flag game, after that I was attacked by a hellhound. Chiron killed it before it could cause too much damage. I was then claimed as the son of Poseidon."
Annabeth glared at Percy for calling her out, about her plan of capture the flag.
"The next day I was picked for a quest; the quest was to return the stolen bolt of Zeus to him, or else he would declare war upon my dad Poseidon. Poseidon is a lot of things but a thief. He declared that if he didn't receive a formal apology before the Solstice, he would rage the Seas against Zeus."
The new campers gasped at the information of Master Bolt being stolen. While Poseidon, smiled shamefully when people turned to look at him incredulously.
"I was given a prophecy which was-
You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.
As you can imagine the prophecy was a whopper. Chiron told us that the God in West could only be Lord Hades. So the quest was, go west to the underworld, confront the Lord of Dead, and ask him to give back the little Firecracker of Zeus."
The demigods gasped collectively, hearing the quest. Some of them felt ready to faint, hearing about Underworld.
Hades and Nico smirked, feeling the fear roll of the demigods.
"Despite the risk a very brave, and stupid satyr, a know-it-all daughter of Athena, volunteered to the quest. So the next day we were departing, when Luke came and gifted us a pair of Hermes' winged shoes. He then hugged us, which almost had your Queen faint." Percy told the last part, chuckling, as he ducked to dodge the punch thrown to his face.
Annabeth was red in embarrassment as Artemis, and Piper laughed at her. She settled down when they both kissed her. Percy smiled, seeing his girls so close.
"As a son of Poseidon, I wasn't allowed in Zeus' domain. Therefore, I couldn't have used the shoes. So, I gave them to Grover to use, and soon enough, he was hopping like tiny broncos. Like a possessed mawn lower." Percy said laughing.
Everyone present joined Percy in laughing. Grover had a betrayed look on his face, that his best friend would tell stuff like this about him. His fellow satyrs were having trouble controlling their laughter.
"The first thing went wrong when the three furies attacked us, we defeated them after a small fight. Then Zeus decided to blast us, and sent a lightning strike at us. Thankfully, everyone was out of the bus at that point. We had lost all our supplies, so we decided to travel in foot, and later arrived at Medusa's layer. With team work that included, a flying goat, a science nerd, and a very handsome son of Poseidon. All that was left of Medusa was a severed head. Which I later sent off to Olympus."
Annabeth hit him at the science nerd part, while Grover puffed out his chest.
The campers, and hunters, had their lives shocked out of them, at the blatant disrespect of sending Medusa's head to Olympus.
Apollo and Hermes started laughing, remembering Zeus' expression at receiving a monster's head.
Hestia, Poseidon, Artemis, and Athena shook their heads at his stupid reckless behavior.
"After Medusa's layer, we slept in the woods. Grover told me about how he wanted a searcher's license to search for the Lost God Pan. Every generation a satyr was sent to look for the God of Wild. No one had ever returned alive from the quest. After that he played some songs in his reed pipes, which made me fall asleep. That night I had a dream, in which a dark presence was trying to use me, to pull itself out of a dark pit. Tartarus. When I woke up there was a pink poodle hitting on Grover. We returned the lost poodle to his owners, and used the money to travel."
Annabeth tried to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine. Piper squeezed her hand to comfort her.
Grover was blushing like crazy, as Juniper laughed at his misery. Everyone also laughed at hearing Grover getting hit on by a poodle.
"We then traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, and had some time to spare. So we decided to visit the Gateway Arch. That looked like a shopping bag handle stuck to the city to me."
Athena, and her children looked really offended at that.
Annabeth outright decked him for insulting one of the best examples of her domain.
Others were laughing seeing their King get told of by their Queen.
"After we were done sightseeing, I pushed Annabeth, and Grover to go down alone. The elevator was full for another person, so I stayed behind. Turns out one of the tourists and her dog was none other than Echidna, and Chimera. Fun Fact : Never call her an anteater to her face. She told me how Zeus sent her to 'Visit' me. They attacked me, and I was scared."
No one could say anything; this was the first time they heard that their leader, their Savior, their King was scared. Even those who fought with him in the wars were shocked; they had never once known Percy to be scared. If he had shown his fear on the battlefield, they might not have been able to fight themselves. Seeing Percy fight bravely was the motivation they had to fight for themselves.
Annabeth turned to Percy, "You were attacked by the Chimera, and you didn't say anything?" Her voice cracked, hearing how close she was to losing him.
Percy pressed a chaste kiss at her head, "Relax love, I'm right here."
"I wasn't a great fighter back then, so I didn't have any chance to defeat the Chimera. It sank his fangs onto me, poisoning me. I could feel my soul leaving my body, I could feel myself dying. The only thing going through my mind was that I had to keep the mortals safe. I didn't know what to do, I had no strength, and if I wasn't there maybe they would've left the mortals alone. So I jumped, straight into the Mississippi river."
"Wait even when you were dying, you only worried about others?" Some campers asked in doubt. Many people shared that doubt.
"He is speaking the truth. I would know I'm the God of Truth," Apollo announced to their doubts.
The people who knew Percy personally smiled at his selflessness. Even as a child, he was the same person they know now, always caring for another before himself.
"In the bottom of the Mississippi River I found a Nereid, a water deity. She talked to me, and said to be careful of the gifts. I didn't know what gift she was talking about. I got out of the river and met with my friends, who were obviously happy to see me. We walked in a diner with no money. Thinking about a story to get food, but didn't have to. A god walked in and paid for our food. He offered a mini quest to retrieve his shield to us."
"Wait a God directly interfered with your quest, and gave you another quest." Alexis asked, Percy smiled at him. He had been silent the entire night.
"Yeah he is sweet like that." Percy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"What Percy isn't telling you is he was insulting Ares to his face nonstop. Grover and I were shit-scared thinking Ares was going to smite us.
"He wouldn't have dared," Poseidon hissed at Ares, with Athena also glaring at the God of War.
Ares nodded vehemently, even he wasn't reckless to piss these Gods.
"We completed the quest which was to retrieve Ares' shield from an abandoned water-park. In return he offered us a ride, and a backpack full of necessary supplies, which was weird because he isn't the most thoughtful of Gods. The ride he offered us was an animal smuggling van. It had an almost dead, Lion, Zebra and an antelope."
Satyrs, Hunters and Artemis looked particularly pissed at this. Percy put an arm around Artemis' waist consoling her, "Do not worry my dear, we freed them."
Artemis nodded at him and rested her head on his shoulder. Percy kissed the top of her head.
Zoe, Thalia, and Sasha looked longingly at them. Wanting nothing but to be able to hold his hands and love him.
"We freed the animals and sat them free, after Grover put a satyr sanctuary at them. After that I had a heart to heart conversation with Annabeth. Grover confirmed that the girl who sacrificed herself on Half-Blood Hill was Thalia, and the satyr escorting her to camp was Grover."
People who didn't knew the story earlier gasped and turned to her. Gratitude shining through their eyes.
Eva ran from Hestia's lap to Thalia and hugged her tightly. "Are you okay, you aren't hurt are you?" She asked scared.
"No honey, I'm okay. Do you want to sit with us?" Thalia asked her two best friends' daughter. Eva smiled and nodded, settling down with her aunt.
"That night, I dreamed and found out that the person who devised the plan to steal Zeus' master bolt was known as the crooked one."
Again they gasped, scared that the crooked one was infiltrating their King's dream.
"We arrived at the Lotus Casino in Vegas. Our whole stay was paid beforehand, which I thought was weird. Anyway we went in our paid room, showered and decided to play some games at the lobby. I played some arcade games, Annabeth played some building city games. Grover however, was playing a shooting game, where the deer goes out and shoots the rednecks. He kept yelling 'Die Polluting nasty person.'"
At once everyone turned to look at the Lord of Wild, who was red in the face from embarrassment. Percy, Annabeth and all of Grover's friends were laughing outright at him.
The Gods present were amused and smiling at their kids. They loved seeing their kids laughing, enjoying themselves and acting their age. If it wasn't for a Paranoid King of Gods, they might have shown up more.
"I went to look around the casino and talked to some people. I found this one guy who was speaking in outdated slangs. I asked him what year it was and he answered that it was 1977, another said 1985, another 1993. I soon realized that the Lotus Casino traps people in time. I gathered Grover, and Annabeth and ran out of the casino. When we reached outside, I picked up a newspaper from the nearest News-stand. Five days had passed, we had only one day left to finish the quest."
Immediately, everyone started yelling. Complaining, there wasn't enough time to complete the quest.
Ignoring them, Percy continued, "We took a cab to Los Angeles, to Santa Monica Pier to be exact. I went into the Sea to meet with the same Nereid who I had met in the Mississippi River. She gave me three pearls, the pearls were magical. After we left Santa Monica, we ran into a bed selling monster crusty. He was actually my half-brother Procrustes."
One half-blood raised her hand, "Sir who is he? I haven't heard about him, and you speak of him like he is famous."
Percy smiled, "Well he is somewhat famous. Procrustes was a son of Poseidon, he was a robber. He used to make his victims lie on an iron bed and would force them to fit the bed. If you were bigger than 6ft' he would cut the parts that hanged off from the bed; and if you were shorter than 6ft' he would stretch you to death to fit the bed. That's what his name means 'The Stretcher.' I believe my brother Theseus, killed him in Ancient Greece."
Athena nodded in confirmation to his explanation. The girl that asked, and some of the other young demigods smiled that their curiosity was satiated.
"He pushed Grover, and Annabeth into the bed, leaving me to figure out a plan, to get the hell out of there. So, I tricked him, into showing me how his bed works. When he sat down on the bed, I pushed him to it and made the ropes grab him, after that I proceeded to chop his head off. We went through the store and found the address of the Underworld's entrance."
Annabeth, and Grover shuddered, remembering the feeling of being stretched to death. Percy smirked at their reaction; even after all these years it was funny to see them like this.
"We went to the entrance of Underworld and found Charon, sitting there, looking at a magazine of suits. Fun fact: if you want him to be nice, don't call him Chiron."
Chiron looked mildly offended at that. While Hades, Persephone, and Nico doubled over in laughter. "Please tell me you didn't, he hates that." Nico asked, choking on his own voice.
Annabeth, and Grover were laughing at Percy, "Oh he did, it was both funny and scary to see Charon's reaction." Annabeth said, between her laugh.
"Hey in my defense, I had dyslexia." Percy defended himself, as his family made jokes at his expanse.
He turned to Grover and grinned, "What are you laughing at? You weren't any better yourself."
"What do you mean?" Grover stopped laughing and turned serious.
"When Charon asked how did we die? You said all three of us died by drowning at a bathtub together. How do you even come up with that? You had a son of Poseidon with you, and you said we drowned." Percy asked, smirking; it was fun to call out his best friend on his lie. Knowing full well Satyrs weren't good liars.
Everyone started laughing at the red-faced Lord of the Wild. Poseidon, and Hades were staring at the satyr incredulously.
The demigods were smiling, seeing their Heroes, Leaders, Idols joking around, teasing each other. Many reserved themselves from talking to them, thinking they were legends who would not have the time, or humor to converse with them.
However, seeing them now, they realized that they may be legends or heroes now; but the people who saved the world weren't legends; they were just kids. Like them, just normal kids. It helped them familiarize themselves with the legends.
"We tricked Charon into letting us cross the Styx in his ferry. After that we were confronted by Cerberus, the three headed guard hellhound of Hades. I thought we were toast, but Annabeth tamed Cerberus into playing a ball with her, and letting us pass. After that we looked around the underworld, we saw horrible sight of Fields of Punishment. We saw the long never-ending Field of Asphodel. We saw Elysium, it didn't even have 2% of people compared to Asphodel. So few people did good in their life it was disheartening."
Hades, Persephone, and Nico nodded their agreement to that. The other gods were silent, knowing full well the horror of the mortal world, and how the deeds of mortals were done mostly out of greed, and lust.
The demigods didn't know what to say to that. They were dwalled at what they just heard. They knew that death was imminent; even more so for a demigod. The only solace they had was that maybe they would receive Elysium in the afterlife, but to hear that not many people went, there was something they didn't know how to react to.
Percy saw the indecision in the eyes of his demigods. His eyes softened at that. He cleared his throat to break them out of their daze. "You should not dwell on the facts that have been revealed. Remember, as long as you do some good in your life, you can achieve anything. I felt what you are feeling too."
"What do you mean Sir?" Karen asked, the daughter of Athena, who spoke earlier.
"When I was sitting where you are, when I was a mortal, I was always scared. I mean there was a prophecy decrypting death, at that time I thought it prophesied my death. So many of my friends had died, and I thought I was next. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of reuniting with the friends I had lost. As a demigod I did a lot of things, I manipulated people. An explosion I caused, made nearly half million people to evacuate their homes. If I had just used a little bit power more, there would've been a second Pompeii, and the reason would've been me. However, I had hope, that no matter what happens, maybe the good I do would outweigh the bad."
Percy took a deep breath, "The only thing you can do is hope that the good you do is what defines you, not your bad deeds."
Everyone was silent at his words. No one said anything, just taking in the wisdom their King shared. They were once again thankful, that they got a King who not only understood their predicament, but also was willing to clear their doubts. Like a father consoling his child.
The Gods were saddened at the fact, that their kids at such a young age had such thoughts. They hadn't even lived their lives, yet were wishing for a better place in the afterlife.
Hades nodded at his young nephew's words, a small smile tugging at his lips, "What Perseus said is true. Just try to do some good things in life, and you will receive what you deserve. Death is nothing if not fair."
The kids nodded at what the Lord of Dead said.
After some moment of silence, Percy continued, "The shoes Luke gave us started malfunctioning, dragging Grover towards the opposite of Hades' palace. Towards Tartarus, he almost fell over the edge. What saved him were his hooves, the shoes weren't meant to be worn by a satyr. The shoes came off his feet and we ran away from the edge to the pit. There was someone we could sense in the pit, waiting for us to reach down. When we were running I realized that the thing in the pit was evil, and very powerful. I finally realized who this being was."
"It was the Titan Lord wasn't it?" Sasha spoke for the first time in a long while. Percy nodded at her question.
"We finally reached Hades' Palace. He was waiting for us, and he was angry. What we didn't know walking in was that his Helm of Darkness was also stolen. He thought that I had stolen his helm, and was down in Underworld to threaten him with the master bolt to return my mother. We tried to reason with him that we didn't have the master bolt. He then told us to open the bag pack I had. When I opened the bag pack, sure enough there was the master bolt. That's when I realized what the Nereid meant by 'do not trust the gift' I had gotten the bag from Ares."
Everyone turned to look at Ares, as he glared at everyone trying to look his way.
"I knew we couldn't convince Hades of our innocence. I thought about using the pearls I got from the Nereid, but Hades already knew of those. He brought my mother in front of me and gave me an offer. He would return my mother, but one of us would have to stay back. Grover, and Annabeth both offered to stay back. I had to make the hard decision, one of the hardest I ever had to make. Sacrifice my mother, or sacrifice the friends who were willing to die for me. I knew what I had to do, my mother would never forgive me If I saved her. In the end I made my decision and gave Annabeth, Grover each a pearl. Then we smashed it beneath our feet and teleported out of the Underworld."
The demigods were silent; making that kind of decision at the age of 12 was not something anyone could do. To sacrifice someone you loved was the hardest decision anyone could ever make.
"We arrived at the Santa Monica Pier to see Ares already waiting for us, to kill me. He had Hades' Helm with him, he confessed to catching the bolt's thief. He confessed that he was the one who planted the blame of the bolt's thievery to Poseidon and Hades. To start a three way war. He then planted the bolt at the bag pack he had given me, so that I could deliver it to the Titan Lord in the pit. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one wearing the flying shoes, which ruined their plan. However, I realized soon that he was being manipulated by the thing in the pit. I was angry at Ares, for using me like that. So, I challenged the God of War to a duel."
Many gasped and turned to look at Percy incredulously. Some even yelled at him for being an idiot. Percy just laughed at their reaction.
The Gods were amused just as much, watching Percy get berated by a bunch of children.
"Ares and I fought for a while. The only thing he did wrong was he fought me near the ocean. No matter how small I was, I was a son of the sea. I was at my strongest, in the sea. I defeated Ares by sending a large wave at him; and then I drove my sword through his heel. He screamed in agony and cursed me, that 'whenever I would hope for victory my sword would betray me.' I took Hades' Helm and tossed it towards the furies. They were watching the duel from above. I told them to return it to Hades, and to call off the war."
"What," screamed many people, even some of Ares' own children. Looks of disgust were thrown his way. Cursing your opponent after being defeated fairly was a sign of a petty warrior.
Ares himself looked down in shame, ignoring the barely contained rage emanating from the Goddess of Hearth.
Percy continued before anyone could attack Ares, "We took a flight, and reached Manhattan just in time. I sent Annabeth, and Grover to go to camp. I didn't knew how Zeus was going to react when he saw me, I wanted them to survive."
Grover, and Annabeth smiled at Percy. He always cared for them before himself. The audiences present were once again baffled at his selflessness.
"I returned the bolt to Zeus, had a talk with my father. He told me that Hades had returned my mother. I went home to talk with my mother; after that I returned to camp. We burnt the shrouds they had prepared in our absence. Grover departed in his search for the Lost God Pan."
Grover looked down remembering Great God Pan's passing. Annabeth, Percy and Nico did the same.
"The next day Luke castellan, asked me to join him in the woods. I accepted his invitation, there he confessed he was the half-blood who was helping the Titan Lord to strike against the Gods. He summoned a scorpion from the depth of Tartarus, and told me I was supposed to die in Tartarus. He left, I moved to go after him, that's when the scorpion got me. I started to lose consciousness, I only had 60 seconds left to live. Thankfully, I reached the camp border. Someone blew the conch, after that I woke up to the same beautiful blonde girl hovering me. The one I developed a crush in, somewhere down our quest. The prophecy was finished. I went home after that."
"Gods Percy, you never told me he said you were meant to die down there," Tears threatened Annabeth's eyes.
"Hey wise-girl, you know we got out okay. Don't worry about it." Percy tried to mollify her.
"Why did Luke Castellan betrayed the Gods?" Someone in the crowd asked.
"He was misguided, hurt. Luke felt abandoned by his father Hermes. Kronos took advantage of that. The Titan Lord had a silver tongue; he could manipulate most to his bidding. He was known as the crooked one for a reason. He manipulated the pain, resentment Luke held against the gods to his advantage. In the end though Luke did the right thing, he sacrificed himself to save the world. He died a Hero's death." Percy told them, and they nodded. Hermes and his children, who knew Luke, had tears in their eyes.
"So why isn't there a monument for him near Zeus' fist? Like there is for Silena, Beckendorf, Michael, Lee, Castor and others." One of the kids asked.
Annabeth also leaned in to hear his answer. Even before he left camp all those years ago, he had refused the decision to make a monument for Luke.
"Because everyone has to pay for their deeds. Luke might have been manipulated, but he was an adult, who not only betrayed the Gods himself, he convinced others to join too. Thalia herself was manipulated too, by the Titan Lord, but she didn't agreed with him, despite having her own problems with her father. Luke was the reason that many people died, he recruited demigods to his cause, and left them to die. He manipulated and blackmailed Silena to become their spy inside the camp. He may have died heroically, but he wasn't a hero. He doesn't deserve the honor and respect to have his monument among those that sacrificed their life for their siblings, for the world." Percy told everyone, no doubt in his own words.
Annabeth was silent, she never thought of it this way. Now she agreed with Percy's decision.
Everyone else also understood his reasons and agreed with him.
"Do you respect him?" Alexis asked his Lord. He wanted to know what Percy personally thought about his brother. He may have not known Luke; he was still his brother.
"I respected the man he once was. I respect that he saw a 7 year old girl alone fighting monsters, and decided to help her. I don't respect the person he became. I respect him for finding the fault in his crusade." Percy said with finality.
Alexis nodded, as if becoming an assassin had opened his eyes to the world. He understood things he hadn't before; he understood Percy's reasons.
"Alright it's late, everyone off to sleep. We will continue the second quest tomorrow. Lord Perseus will tell you all about it tomorrow." Chiron ushered the demigods out of the pavilion. The Gods that had children followed their kid to talk with them, not missing the chance to connect.
Percy told his girlfriends to go ahead without him. They nodded and flashed out, taking Eva with them. Leaving only Percy and his assassins alone.
Percy turned the couches back to tables, and joined Alexis and Sasha.
"So what did you think of the quest?" Percy asked Sasha smiling.
"I'm happy for you," was the only answer she gave.
"What for?" Percy asked, confused, along with Alexis.
"Before my parents died, I was raised as a Catholic. We used to go to church every Sunday, there would be sermons and many stories about the saints. Then I would read about Greek heroes, and in the end, I finally realized something. The saints, the heroes, every one of those holy and righteous men, that fought and lived for other people, never got a happy ending. I am happy that you finally got yours." Sasha looked at him directly in his eyes as she told him.
He nodded and advised Alexis to take Sasha to his cabin; after that he flashed to his palace.
ANOTHER CHAPTER FINISHED
UPDATE DATE- 23/FEB/2022
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