The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. The wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.
Was this really how I was going to die?
I'm no child of Athena, but even I know that a fall from this high should flatten me like a pancake. If I'm really lucky, the force of impact will crush all of my bones in an instant, and I'll have a quick, painless death.
The dark, glassy surface got closer. Would the next time I see my mom be after I was dead?
And closer. Was Aphrodite going to be powerless against Ares? What about Piper? Man, I really was a failure…
And closer-then: Flaaa-boooom!
A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.
My eyes narrowed. My impact with the water hadn't hurt at all. I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom.
Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage-beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags- swirled up all around me.
At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.
A quick look at my [HP] and [MP] showed that they were refilling at an alarmingly fast rate- was this because of my dad?
I even felt the bones in my arm restructure themselves, albeit slowly. It wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, but at this point, I'd take what I could get.
Ignoring the fish that swam by me cautiously, I pulled up my status screen.
[PERSEUS JACKSON]
[SON OF POSEIDON]
[HESTIA'S FAVORED]
[ECHIDNA'S BANE]
[LVL]: 18 (0/8000)
[HP]: 9500/9500
[SP]: 13,000/13,000
[MP]: 3000/3000
[FEALTY]: N/A
[STR]: 29 (+5)
[VIT]: 17
[DEX]: 32 (+5)
[INT]: 18
[CHA]: 12 (+5)
[WIS]: 15
[LUC]: 7
[SP]: 25
[PP]: 5
[$]: 46USD, 53D
|| Son of the legendary God of the Seas and Sally Jackson, Percy is the current [Child of Prophecy]. Despite his murky past, Percy is ready to take on his future with determination. ||
|| The title [SON OF POSEIDON] permanently grants 1000 [MP] and boosts the rate of mana regeneration. ||
|| The title [HESTIA'S FAVORED] permanently regenerates your health by 30% and increases by a factor of 5% for every 1000 [HP] below half! ||
|| The title [ECHIDNA'S BANE] allows the user to be immune to all poison! ||
[REP] at [Half-Blood Hill]: N/A
You'd think I'd be happy, right? With the Medusa quest and the Chimera quest, I'd leveled like crazy- my stats were going to be off the charts!
Instead, all I felt was an icy feeling of disappointment coat my insides. After seeing Echidna and Chimera, my entire world had flipped on its head.
I'd never faced enemies that strong before. The thing is, I knew that by the end of my quest, I'd have to face someone even stronger than that. How in Zeus' name could I do that? Forget Ares, how can I even survive in this world if my enemies were just going to keep getting stronger and stronger?
I mean, to give you an example, even by the time I return to camp, I may not be halfway to Luke's level- and that's without trying to figure out the perks and titles he probably has. How the hell am I supposed to fight gods?
Well, whatever. I shook myself. I couldn't let myself get too caught up in all of that at the moment- I had to worry about surviving long enough to get to camp, first.
I opened up my perk tree, and unlike last time, I completely ignored the special perks.
Don't get me wrong- I loved the idea of amazing, game-breaking perks, but they were way too expensive at the moment. They were amazing at what they did, no doubt. {GODLY CONSTITUTION} was a prime example of that- I looked and felt older than I was, and my physical stats were getting boosted into oblivion.
The downside, however, was that I got so caught up in it that I neglected even looking at other perks. It helped a little bit with defense, sure, but I needed some full-blown offense- I couldn't just escape every opponent I had to fight. I lost sight of that in the heat of the moment.
The fight with the Chimera showed me just how outclassed I truly was. In a fight like that where just my sword and some pyrokinesis couldn't do the trick, I needed some serious firepower.
Trying to shake that icy feeling again, this time I completely skipped over any perk that didn't seem offensive in nature.
I picked out the three that sounded the most helpful in a battle: {THE REAPER}, {DEATH DROP}, AND {TIME DILATION}.
Okay, maybe I should've gotten perks more equally, but hey, I was just almost blowtorched to death.
Pardon me for being a little careful.
[ACTIVE][DEX] {THE REAPER} [LV: 1][PROG: 0%]
{TR}
|| The Reaper is ruthless and cunning, and is willing to use any means, no matter how amoral, in order to attain his goals. The Reaper can cause opponents to temporarily go blind, get staggered, weakened, crippled, bleed, or even knocked down. Level 1 gives a 5% base chance, which is doubled anytime a combination of subsequent hits is applied (must be within a 5-second timeframe). ||
Look, I know, I know. It does sound kind of creepy…but you have to admit, the perk itself is going to give me some insane things- assuming I can land a series of hits quickly.
Not only that, but this perk could possibly play a huge part in fights with lots of enemies and could even help me take down slower opponents with ease. It cost me two perk points, which seemed a bit hefty, but I was more than willing to part with some of those points if it meant survival.
[ACTIVE][DEX] {DEATH DROP} [LV: 1][PROG: 0%]
{DD}
|| Add this move to your fighting arsenal to give your enemies an unpleasant surprise! Gain knowledge of a nasty attack that warps in and dive-bombs the enemy from a distance. Add in elemental flair at your own risk!
- [BASE][DMG]: (100 x STR)!
- [ELEMENTAL][DMG]: (100 x STR) + (100 x WIS)!
- [COST]: 250 MP! ||
Okay, I won't lie, I wasn't too sure about this one. The keyword there was warps- I was assuming it would give me a burst of speed, which was something I thought I had until I fought the Chimera.
If I was fast, the Chimera was the fucking Flash, because I could barely touch the big bastard throughout the fight.
Plus, if I could work some elements in there, I'd start doing damage in a hurry. Again, two points went down the drain in the acquisition of this perk, but to me, it's [PP] well spent.
Last but not least...
[ACTIVE][WIS] {TIME DILATION} [LV: 1][PROG: 0%]
{TD}
|| Change your body's hardwiring to gain the ability to manipulate time! Time Dilation grants the ability to slow down time until the meter is empty. The time dilation meter drains faster when actions are performed but drains very slowly when standing still. The meter automatically refreshes slowly over time. ||
Do I need to explain this one? Imagine being able to quite literally pause time for everything except for yourself. With that kind of ability, I could think things through in a fight, or maybe use it to escape, subdue- the possibilities were endless! Only one [PP] lost for this one, surprisingly.
Well, the deed was done. I was five perks points poorer, and I had a ton of new knowledge in my head.
I blinked in confusion for a moment. The top right of my vision was filled with a weird bar- it looked kind of like:
[||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]
That must be the bar for the time perk! Might as well try it out right now- actually, why don't I try out all of my new abilities?
I can't really describe how I did it. The easiest way would be to say I activated it, which I sort of did. But, at the same time, it just felt natural. Like breathing or blinking- I just did it without thinking.
Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the river, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and forcing every single fish in the river to stop moving.
I could even see the bubbles frozen in mid-air.
I started counting.
1…2….3…
15 seconds passed, and everything quickly returned to normal. I took another glance at the bar and saw that it was empty.
[ ]
So, I started with about fifteen seconds of {TD} when I was unmoving. Not bad, not bad at all.
Next up, {DD}. I wanted to try an elemental version, but the fire was absolutely not going to work underwater.
….
I slapped my forehead. I was Poseidon's son. I mean, I didn't know if I could control the water…but then again, I'd never tried…
I focused on the water around me, trying to use it like I used Hestia's power. Let me tell you- it was much easier. I should've been doing this all along.
The instant I focused, I felt a tug in my gut. Water started swirling around my hands and fingertips until it coalesced into a watery trident. By now, every fish in the river was looking at me.
|| By using your god-given common sense and tapping into your father's domain, you've developed the skill: ||
[ACTIVE][WIS] {HYDROKINESIS} [LV: 1][PROG: 0%]
|| No, really, though. It took you this long to try to control the water. You do know you're the son of Poseidon, right? You can now control water from any source! You can reconstruct it in any way you wish, and it will obey your every command. ||
- [COST]: 20 [MP] per minute!
My eye twitched. Okay, game, I've had a lot on my mind! I've been busy! Jeez…onto my 25 skill points. I think I've decided that I'd like to focus more on offense than defense, so I'm going to distribute my points accordingly.
[PERSEUS JACKSON]
[SON OF POSEIDON]
[HESTIA'S FAVORED]
[ECHIDNA'S BANE]
[LVL]: 18 (0/8000)
[HP]: 9500/9500
[SP]: 13,000/13,000
[MP]: 3000/3000
[FEALTY]: N/A
[STR]: 29 (+5)
[VIT]: 17
[DEX]: 37 (+5)
[INT]: 25
[CHA]: 20 (+5)
[WIS]: 20
[LUC]: 7
[SP]: 0
[PP]: 0
[$]: 46USD, 53D
|| Son of the legendary God of the Seas and Sally Jackson, Percy is the current [Child of Prophecy]. Despite his murky past, Percy is ready to take on his future with determination. ||
|| The title [SON OF POSEIDON] permanently grants 1000 [MP] and boosts the rate of mana regeneration. ||
|| The title [HESTIA'S FAVORED] permanently regenerates your health by 30% and increases by a factor of 5% for every 1000 [HP] below half! ||
|| The title [ECHIDNA'S BANE] allows the user to be immune to all poison! ||
[REP] at [Half-Blood Hill]: N/A
Alright, that's that. Time to go test out some of my new stuff. I looked around until I saw a catfish minding its own business.
Sorry, buddy.
I started to encase my hands in water- but not the dirty, Mississippi kind. The moment the water touched my hands, it became instantly purified and it started swirling and churning as if I put it in a blender.
My eyes widened. My stomach dropped. It was like that feeling when you're at the top of a gigantic rollercoaster and you take a peek over the cart and see just how far you're going to go barreling down.
I disappeared in a blur. The river disappeared into a flash of darkness-I felt myself go blasting through the water and the next thing I saw was the poor catfish underneath me.
My hands snapped forward and blurred downwards.
- 270 [MP]!
- [5%] chance to blind, stagger, cripple, or bleed!
- (100 x 34) + (100 x 20) = 5400 [HP]!
The catfish was obliterated. My hands melted through it like it wasn't even there, and then the two halves of it went rocketing in opposite directions.
That was insane! Sure, an attack like that wouldn't do much against higher-level opponents as it was right now, but I could definitely see myself working together with the rest of my perks to create truly horrendous combos.
On the top right of my vision, the [5%] quickly changed to [10%] which stayed for a few moments before disappearing.
Okay, it seemed like all of my skills were in working order. Time to get out of this dump.
I kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface. Swam was sort of an oversimplification- I burned through another twenty [MP] as the water churned around me and rocketed me towards the surface- I went shooting through the murky depths like a torpedo.
I came ashore next to a floating bag of McDonald's. I could see sirens glinting off the glass-like surface of the river.
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve. Was that Piper waiting by the riverbank?
"Percy!" Piper screamed, wrapping me in a hug the moment I walked out of the river. I guess maybe she hadn't noticed I was completely dry, or just didn't care. "I saw you fall into the Mississippi from, like, all the way up there! How are you alive?"
"I'm alright, Piper, don't worry," I said, rubbing her back comfortingly. I actually sort of smiled at her concern. "I'm not going anywhere."
I activated Hestia's powers.
"I was just so worried," She was clinging to me now. Poor girl must've been worried out of her mind. "I saw that thing on the way down…I thought you were going to die!"
"Hey, no worries," I said calmly, smiling at her. "It'll take more than that to bring me down. Let's go grab some food, yeah?"
"Yeah," Piper said nervously. She kept looking around like the Chimera was going to come running at her out of nowhere. "Food sounds good to me."
"Don't worry, Piper, I took care of it. I promise," I reassured her. She relaxed a bit.
A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.
Finally, the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"
"We want dinner," I told her with a big smile as I felt my {FLIRT} perk activate. Her demeanor changed a little.
Instead of looking down at us like we were little urchins off the street, she just looked done with life in general- there was no real hate towards us.
"You kids here alone?" She asked lifelessly.
Sheesh. What a ray of sunshine. She went to speak again when the diner suddenly got a little chillier.
I could hear slight whispers. They were unintelligible, but I could tell someone was talking. It felt like I was stuck in Jell-O trying to listen, though. I was immediately on edge. It felt like one of those horror movie scenes leading up to a jumpscare…
But where? I checked under the table. Nope. Looked above me. Nope. I started eyeing everyone in the diner, ready to pepper one of them with fireballs. I had my hydrokinesis, now, too...
The whispers kept getting louder and louder- I was about to lose my mind- and then suddenly, the door to the diner opened, and a man walked through.
All conversation in the diner stopped. All the people rose as if they were hypnotized, but the man waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain.
"Is it just you and your sister here?" She asked, getting her little notepad out. "No mom and dad coming?"
"Well, uncle," A smooth voice said behind her. The man was standing behind her now. He looked like he was in his twenties and possessed a pale complexion, tousled black hair, and warm, melting brown eyes.
The man was honestly pretty good-looking and tall. He was wearing black jeans, combat boots, and a ripped T-shirt. A gold chain shaped like a skull was hanging from his neck behind a black leather jacket.
He sat in the booth. The waitress turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.
"Lord Hades," I bowed my head respectfully. I mean, come on. It's obvious. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Yada, yada, yada," Hades said good-naturedly, waving his hand. "None of that 'Lord' stuff with me, nephew. My ego isn't as big as the big baby up there."
Thunder rumbled loudly outside. The lights flickered for a moment, and everyone in the restaurant continued eating as if nothing had happened.
"See what I mean?" Hades shook his head, leaning back into his booth. I grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes. "My little brother has always had a flair for the dramatic."
For the god of the dead, Hades was pretty lively. He reminded me of that one uncle everyone had that was just chill.
You know, the one that was a little too old to hang out with the kids and a little too young to hang out with the adults-the one all the kids wanted to be around anyway.
Piper was sitting next to me, her mouth open. I nudged her. "Piper, you okay?"
Hades snapped his fingers, and Piper suddenly slumped against the wall of the diner, softly snoring. "Sorry, bud, but she doesn't have to be awake for this part."
"Aw, man," I complained. "She's going to grill me for this when she wakes up."
"I've heard she has a temper," Hades agreed, and we both shared a grimace. "Now, then. Onto business."
I got serious. "What is it, uncle?"
Hades didn't beat around the bush. "I'm sure by now, you've got an idea of who the thief is."
"I have an idea or two."
"Smart boy," Hades complimented. The waitress came back with heaping trays of food- cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. My uncle bit into his burger. "I know what he's going to do with you."
That got my attention. I looked up from my shake. "What?"
"I believe he's going to give you the lightning bolt," Hades said slowly. "Then, he'll try to kill you and your friend. Bringing your dead body with the bolt to Olympus would solidify my brother's belief that you're the thief and cause a war on Olympus. Zeus doesn't even truly believe you're the thief- but your body would be proof enough."
"I always thought that the thief would be in league with the god of war, but after a, uh, conversation I had, I got the sense that he was deeper into this whole thing than I could've imagined," I didn't know what else to say. I looked down, my shake no longer seeming as appealing as it did before. War itself was bad- but a war with gods? I tried to imagine the sky and sea at war with each other.
That sort of thing would result in countless deaths- we were talking millions, at least.
"I see you understand the potential threat, here," Hades continued. A smirk formed on his face. "Don't worry. We aren't letting that happen."
"How?"
"Gods cannot steal each other's symbols of power. That's an ancient rule. Sure, Ares could have just come across it, but I highly doubt that's the case. I suspect that with a little prodding, you can get him to admit to actively playing a role in the theft of my helm," Hades explained, his visage growing darker. A gleam started to form in his eyes. "Once he does that, he invokes the rite of battle- and I can fight the spoiled brat."
"Fight him? Won't uncle"-
"My foolish little brother can't stop me from teaching my nephew a lesson he won't ever forget," Hades said darkly. "The tough part here is that you will need to survive in battle with him long enough to pry the truth out from him. Once that's the case, I'll come to get the job done. Sound good?"
"What is the rite of battle?"
Hades dipped a fry in his shake. "Well, nephew, gods generally aren't allowed to fight each other head-on. This was a rule instated a long, long time ago. Can you imagine if your dad and Zeus fought every time there was a problem? Earth would've been demolished, easy."
"That's a good point. Does that apply to all of the gods and goddesses or just the major ones?" I asked curiously. I'm sure my dad and uncles could cause damage, but what about, like, minor gods?
"All of them. Every deity adheres to the ancient rules. Anyway, under a certain set of circumstances, the rite of battle can be activated, resulting in a diving battle," I listened with rapt attention. "That's what I need you to do. Theft of another god's symbol of power is one of the ways to activate it, so all you need to do is get him to admit it."
"I'm going to need your help in securing something in return," I said, hoping he wouldn't take offense to my request. Instead, he just smiled at me knowingly.
"You want him to swear to never touch Aphrodite again."
I started choking, coughing on my fries. "H-how do you know that?"
Hades rolled his eyes. "Perce, Aphrodite spends most of her time avoiding men who want her for nothing more than her body. The fact that you're doing something 'so romantic' is probably the nicest thing she's had done for her, well, ever. She IMed your dad and me last night."
"Romantic? It isn't romantic at all! She's giving me something in return! We're just partners," I said, weakly protesting. I felt like jumping off a building as I remembered the second part of what he said. "Dad? My dad knows?"
"Yep."
I groaned into my hands. Two weeks ago, I didn't even know my dad existed, and now he knew about my love life? Well, not that I exactly have one- ugh, you get the idea.
"Great, just great. I was under the impression that our deal was private."
"Eh, we're close-ish," Hades waved his hand. "I would've found out eventually. So, you and Aphrodite, huh?"
"Uh…"
Hades busted out laughing, "Relax, man. It's just not every day that Aphrodite talks about a guy. No worries."
"Yeah, no worries," I swallowed nervously. "So, how uh, how exactly did you say Aphrodite tried to paint this as something romantic?"
Hades smiled at me again, the grin reaching his eyes, making them even warmer than before. "Right. Regardless of your intentions, Aphrodite has taken it as an act of affection, and believe it or not, that's already made her a bit stronger."
My eyebrows scrunched together. "Forgive me if I speak out of line here, but shouldn't she still be like, I don't know, strong, anyway? I get that the idea of love itself is sort of changed around these days and that her image is all warped, I do. Still, though, there are billions of people out in the world right now, which means that more people should believe in love than back then, even if they don't necessarily believe in her. Shouldn't that already make her more powerful?"
"Ah. I can see you've thought about this," Hades said, leaning forward and steeping his fingers. "Tell me, Percy, do you know how much pressure your average human body can handle?"
I shook my head, slightly confused about what that had to do with anything.
Hades smiled at me as if he'd expected that but wanted to ask me just for the hell of it. Maybe he did…
"Shame. The average human body, dear nephew, can withstand 50 psi- that's pounds per square inch- and that's if it's a sudden impact," Hades explained to me. "However, if it's sustained pressure, the body can withstand up to 400 psi if the weight is gradually increased. 400 pounds on every inch of your body…do you think you could handle it right now?"
Was he crazy?
"No, no way! There's no way I'm doing that right now!" I said indignantly.
"I'm not asking you to," Hades deadpanned, munching on some onion rings. My cheeks felt warm. "The point, kelp head, is that what you're capable of and what you're comfortable doing are two very different things. The same goes for gods- we have a certain amount of power at our disposal, but it's up to us to do what we want with it. Oftentimes, a god's power is less determined by how much they have and more determined by how much they use."
Hm. That kind of made sense. I swallowed a bite of my burger. "So, some gods are just weaker than others?"
"Well, naturally," Hades said. He pointed at himself. "I'm an Elder God, kiddo. Me, your pops, your uncle, Hestia- we were all Kronos' kids. We inherently have more power than any other Olympian, like Ares or Apollo, for instance. Hestia is a good example. She has enough power to take on Ares and not even break a sweat. Instead, she tends to the fire at your camp and on Olympus."
"That makes sense," I agreed with him. "Her domains are family and the hearth, right? So, she plays to her strengths."
"Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. My older sister could easily flip her switch and be an offensive star, too. This leads back to my point- she's capable of truly monstrous power, but she doesn't use it because it isn't what she believes in."
I still felt confused. "Uh, but what does that have to do with Aphrodite?"
Hades sighed loudly. "You truly are your father's son. Okay, let's go simpler. Your dad- does he look like he enjoys the water? You wanna go fishing with him?"
I thought back to when Poseidon had visited me in my cabin. A small smile formed on my face. "Yeah, he does. When he visited me, he was dressed exactly like what I'd expect a fisherman to look like. I guess it could be fun, why?"
"Now, imagine if he didn't like the water. At all. Imagine him being scared of the water, wanting nothing to do with it at all. Do you think he'd make a good sea god? Is that the sort of dude you'd want even manning your ship, let alone controlling every single body of water in the world?"
"No," I said, scoffing. I tried to imagine my tanned and smiley dad without the fisherman outfit, pale and afraid to step in the water. There's no way a guy like that could have all of the seas under his command. "No way."
"That's Aphrodite's situation. Ever since she got to Olympus, she's been hounded after for her looks, belittled, made out to be whore, treated like dirt…do I need to keep going? Percy, the woman is averse to the very idea of love," Hades stressed. "As a result, now she literally can't tap into her own domain. That well of power that she once had feels alien to her now. Not that I blame her, of course. In any case, you're right. In today's day and age, she'd be more powerful than ever. She just subconsciously chooses not to be. That's where you come in."
"Me?" I repeated.
"Gods don't go through childhoods. We don't grow up and experience life and gain new mental perspectives- not in the traditional way, anyway. So, for literally all of her life, Aphrodite hasn't experienced any form of love. Can you imagine that, even for a moment?"
I'll admit, I didn't like it one bit. Trying to imagine my life with my mom wasn't fun at all. I didn't have a great childhood at all, but my mother made it all worth it. Even though we were poor, she'd always made me feel loved and had fun.
She'd worked multiple jobs so that I could always have presents, always have clothes on my back. I'd never once actually felt worried about our financial standing. I knew that no matter what, as long as we had each other, it would be fine.
My mom had always and would always be one of the brightest parts of my life.
Imagining life without her left me feeling cold, hollow.
I felt like shit.
Hades nodded as if he wanted me to feel bad. "Imagine that, but with a constant ache. No one around you wants to ever give you that love…no one at all. Some say they do, but you know they just want to use you and throw you away. Now, take it a step further. All of history views you as the world's biggest whore. Not a single soul wants you for anything beyond a one-night stand. It's reached a point where you can't take it. Even the mental connections you make with humans seem fake."
"I…" I didn't even know what to say. Hades had just verbally checkmated me- I was completely overwhelmed.
"The weakening of her powers has been slowly happening for eons, nephew. It has already continued to the point where she was very close to being unable to fend off Ares' advances," He, on the other hand, was on a roll now. "As a new demigod with a week's training, you agreed to save her from the god of war- from a fate worse than death. You made a deal, sure, partly for your mother, but partly to save her or die trying, whether you truly meant to or not. Have no qualms, nephew, succeeding in this task would be more romantic and meaningful than any recent event in history- and she's on the receiving end of it, sort of. It's no wonder you've made her comfortable using even a modicum of her power. Deal or not, you've unintentionally made her start to develop feelings for you."
I was completely silent. Hades calmly slurped some of his shake through his straw, as if he hadn't just shown me the intricacies of godly power- some of them, anyway.
|| You have gained a [+1] to your [INT] for sitting through Hades' lecture! I mean, you deserve it. Really. That was boring. ||
"Why…me?" I somehow found the words. All of this…was just overwhelming. I felt like having a breakdown. The game, the gods- hell, I was sitting across from one of the strongest beings of all time. Who decided it was my destiny to do that? "The deal, the quest...just everything..."
"It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born," Hades gave it to me straight, which I appreciated if I'm being honest. "People are watching you with great interest, nephew. Beyond that, let's not pussyfoot around this. Few heroes could accomplish what you have so far. It's been a while since the gods have taken such a keen interest in a demigod."
I knew he was right. Hestia, my dad, Aphrodite, Ares, and Zeus- even if it was for the wrong reasons. "Thanks, uncle."
"Don't thank me yet," Hades warned. "Go to Santa Monica. Alecto told me she saw Ares there, waiting. I'm guessing he's hoping to intercept you on your way to the Underworld. Meet him there, get him to invoke the rite of battle by admitting theft of my helm, and we'll kick his ass. Deal?"
It sounded so easy on paper. I steeled myself. I could do this. I would do this. "Deal."
My uncle stood up. He reached inside of his jacket and tossed a wad of hundred-dollar bills on the table. "That should get you there- you need more, just give me a shout. Scream into a shadow or something. When he invokes the rite of battle, I'll know, okay? Just get over to Santa Monica in one piece. See ya."
I blinked, and he was gone, almost like he'd never been there in the first place. Piper woke up and looked at me expectantly. "Did I dream that? Or…"
"Nope. Our quest has been updated," I said, staring at the wad of money on the table. "We're going to Santa Monica and I'm going to fight the lightning thief."
AN: Another day, another chapter! Also, after reading some reviews (that I agreed with), I updated the Chimera fight to be more realistic. I'm still not too proud of it, but that's okay- moving forward. I also revamped Hades, as you can tell. I've always liked the character, and my story is already AU so I might as well do what I want, now.
Posaitan: As always, I agree with your analysis. Percy himself is definitely stronger than in canon, but Ares is also the god of war. I have no idea how Percy in canon defeated him, even for a second, but I digress. My Percy will likely have a tough time surviving, let alone defeating him.
Xtreme King: Physical stats refer to the HP, SP, and MP. All of those are over 3000.
Ravage21133: You know what- I agree. Honestly, it was sort of a brain fart on my part. Anywho, I hope you like the new updates to his water powers.
NuclearPenStrokes: Set? You wanna beat me with Set? Come on man, you don't wanna see me on Bellona, or Skadi, or Anubis, or Nike…I play SMITE a lot…
King0609: Thanks, man! Means a lot
Oliversdtrange76: I'm not too sure who I'll be pairing Sally with just yet…Hades is interesting but no, I probably won't do him. He's got enough going for him as it is.
Falconfighter1427: Not exactly, but I like the idea of an item like that. I'll keep it in mind.
Glrasshopper: That's…intriguing. I'll have to research that some more, but I'm not opposed to it.
I hope you guys enjoy it! As always, I look forward to seeing your reviews.
EDIT (9/18/21): Not much to edit here. I updated the game visuals and made all the numbers make more sense, and be consistent. This chapter more or less goes the same way, with the exception of Percy and Aphrodite's relationship being a bit different.
EDIT (2/3/22): I feel like I'm losing my mind. Changing visuals is so boring.
