Persephone's Might: Pt. 1
That was certainly more of a pleasant reaction than I thought I'd get. Go look through all of the Reviews to see for yourself, if you're so inclined.
However, surprisingly enough to me, it was the Green-Eyed Ghoul avenue that ended up getting the most traffic.
And someone's being cheeky, calling me out by name and not logging in so I can figure out who it is, though I suspect someone from North. You know who you are.
Anyway, this storyline has been rolling around in my head for some time, and I needed to get it out.
SPOILERS for this chapter: Remember how Chaos War started out before I took it down? Well, imagine a shortened version of the overall story, but with just Shin'en and Persephone taking everyone on. So, if you think you're experiencing déjà vu, that's the reason.
Oh, and there is actually a new chapter to Voidwalker that was published along with the announcement stuff, which you will notice has been taken down because that was just an announcement, not a permanent additive. However, the announcement itself is part of the Voidwalker chapter, and will remain.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or any other referenced material
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Short version of current events: shit was fucked.
Percy and Annabeth had gone to bed after another day of college, and they were woken up by explosions. On opposite sides of the dorms due to New Rome Uni's no co-ed policy, they bolted out of their rooms with their respective roommates, hastily throwing on clothes and armor as they ran through the building, the powerful couple met at the main door, rocking an interesting style of pajamas and armor.
They burst outside with everyone else, alarms blaring throughout the city, and they both stopped in their tracks at the sight of the Giants.
"N-No…" Annabeth breathed in total shock as Porphyrion swung his spear and sent three dozen people flying through the air like toys.
Percy's eyes were locked on Polybotes, his jaw hanging open. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck, his danger senses screaming, and he just moved. He flung himself to the side and tackled Annabeth just in time to avoid getting run through by rake-sized arrow. Percy looked and saw who he surmised to be Orion standing atop a temple, taking potshots left and right.
"This is a nightmare," Annabeth insisted from beneath Percy. "This is a nightmare, and we're sharing it."
A building exploded next to them, showering them with little pieces.
"If this is a nightmare," Percy said, "we need to get to work on ending it."
Annabeth nodded.
They got up from the ground and assessed.
How did the Giants revive? Didn't matter. How did they break through Terminus' shield? Also didn't matter. Their personal thoughts and feelings of utter despair as they came to grips with the fact that they were apparently, once again, thrust into the fight of their lives? Those didn't matter as well. Right now, the only thing that mattered was saving lives and preventing the destruction of their new home.
Any plan they were coming up with was immediately halted by a jarring battle cry.
"JACKSON!"
Percy and Annabeth looked, and they both almost dropped their weapons.
It was Atlas. The Titan that they had helped trapped under the sky was currently setting a brisk pace for them, swatting aside anyone brave enough to attack him with his javelin. How was Atlas free!? If he was here, who was holding up the sky!?
On the other side of them, the demigods heard a terrifying, bestial scream. They looked, and Annabeth shrieked and clung to Percy on reflex at the sight of Arachne barreling straight for them, her eight legs setting a furious pace as she scuttled about the rooftops.
Then they were sent to the ground as the earth suddenly shook mightily just before them. Based on the dust and the impact sound, the heroes could only conclude that something huge had just crashed down but a few yards away.
Percy coughed to clear his lungs, and his eyes widened at the sight of Porphyrion with his spear raised high in a downward plunging position, having apparently dropped right out of the sky. Reflexes kicked in, and Percy grabbed Annabeth and threw his body to the side, narrowly dodging the Giant king's spear. However, the direction Percy went placed him and Annabeth right in front of Atlas.
The Titan swung his javelin like a golf club, and Percy was fast enough to bring Riptide before him on the ground and block the weapon. However, the force behind the blow was incredible. The demigods were knocked away, Percy's arm going numb, his grip slackening.
He hit the ground and rolled, devoid of Annabeth. He wildly looked around for her, and her terrified scream drew his attention. The color drained from his face as he beheld the sight of his Wise Girl in the clutches of Arachne. The monstrous spider had Annabeth in her clawed hands, lifting off the ground her by her biceps, pinning her arms, bringing her kicking and screaming to her hideous, fanged maw.
"NO!" Percy shouted.
He wasn't sure where the water came from, but he felt the telltale tugging in his gut, and suddenly there was a jet of pressurized water zooming for Arachne. The jet was so powerful that it performed like a cannonball and blasted the monster's head apart.
Percy didn't get a chance to see what happened next, because then he had to dodge Porphyrion's spear as the Giant came at with a barrage of strikes as if he were a regular human using a shoe to smash a bug he saw scurrying across the floor. Porphyrion was attacking too fast and hard for Percy to get his feet under him, and the fact that he was still reeling from the shock wasn't helping.
Percy dodged to the side, and then had to play the fastest game of limbo he's ever attempted when Atlas appeared and swung his javelin. Percy felt the shaft tousle his hair, and then an unexpected tailwind from the power behind the swing caught Percy and sent him into the air. Sights and colors went wonky as he tumbled in freefall, but something he saw had him swinging Riptide in a desperate way.
Percy barely managed the bring his sword around in front of him to use the flat as a shield to block the tip of Porphyrion's spear as it sped right for him. The huge spear struck Riptide and Percy was sent hurtling to the ground. He landed and bounced several times, the wind getting knocked out him.
To his credit, for all the force that was transferred to him, and how hard he slammed into the unforgiving concrete of the New Rome streets, the only damage Percy sustained was that his diaphragm locked, and he couldn't breathe.
But that was a short-lived experience of only two seconds before the muscle relaxed and Percy drew a big gulp into his body.
In this brief window of time, Percy's hypercognition kicked in and he surveyed the area. Porphyrion and Atlas were coming for him. Other Giants that were destroyed last year were back and bringing destruction to the city. In the distance, Percy saw scattered groups of legionnaires locked in combat with an army of monsters, other members of the cohorts trying to fight within the confines of the streets.
And he saw Annabeth swing her sword and chop Arachne's human torso from her spider body.
Arachne's head had reappeared upon her neck.
Percy's heart sank because that could only mean thing.
Porphyrion's chuckle brought Percy's attention to him.
"Do you understand now, Jackson? You, this city, everyone who lives here, and the gods who don't even care about you are doomed. Death is once again ours, and we have more than the Earth Mother supporting us this time. Now, Father wants your head as well, and he has given us the power to claim it!"
The color drained from Percy's face. He didn't know if Porphyrion was lying, but just the idea of Tartarus being active in the same way Gaea was active was the most fear-inducing thing Percy could ever have nightmares of. He still had nightmares about Tartarus, as did Annabeth.
"Don't forget us," Atlas sneered. "Mother Gaea is not so partial towards her children."
"Shut up, Atlas," the Giant king said shortly. "You're not even born of Gaea."
The Titan glowered.
Percy saw opportunity. "Are you really going to let him talk to you like that? This guy's younger than you are, and-"
"Oh, do silence yourself, boy," Atlas rolled his eyes. "We know what you're doing, and it won't work."
"Indeed, it will not," the Giant seconded. "Together, then?"
"Together," Atlas agreed.
Percy swallowed. He couldn't take Atlas on by himself the last time they fought, and without a god, it didn't matter with Porphyrion. Since they were inside the city borders, that meant something had happened to Terminus, and whatever it was, it wasn't good. At this point, Percy's only hope of living through this battle was divine intervention, and he couldn't count on that.
Was he really going to die today?
Percy shot a glance at where Annabeth had been, and he saw her fighting for her life against Enceladus, the anti-Athena, and Arachne had once again respawned from her earlier bisection.
Percy took a running step in that direction, but stopped in his tracks when a huge arrow suddenly appeared in front of him, narrowly taking off his toes. Orion smirked and waved at him from a rooftop. Percy growled and flipped him off.
And then Percy was on the defensive as the Titan and the Giant attacked with disturbing teamwork. The battle was short as Percy was summarily overwhelmed by their combined assault, and Riptide went skittering away. Percy heard Annabeth cry out, and he looked over to see that Enceladus had her pinned under his foot, measuring his strength so as to not crush her.
The ocean roared in Percy's ears, but something smacked into him, and the ocean went silent in his daze. He could feel his arm hadn't just broken but had splintered up and down the whole length. Percy's vision swam in pain, focus completely unattainable. In his attempts to stand up, his coordination left him, and he only fell again.
It was too much. Too sudden. Too confusing. It was all coming too hard and too fast.
When the ringing in his ears cleared, he heard sneering laughter. He heard Atlas say, "So, it is true! Our spies reported you had gone soft in this time of peace, but I didn't think you had become that soft!"
"To think we were once felled by a warrior that has become this level of a disgrace," Porphyrion shook his head. "I had my doubts over Jason being defeated by that welp of a minor god, but if he, too, let himself go to this level of weakness, then it all makes sense. Oh, well. Time to die."
Porphyrion raised his spear.
Percy looked over at Annabeth, and he saw her looking at him as Arachne's dripping fangs moved closer to her neck. Annabeth's grey eyes were desperate and bleeding for him to come save her, but Percy couldn't.
His body wouldn't respond, and he couldn't focus enough to call the water.
Percy made sure his last sight while alive was that of his Wise Girl, even if it was of her pained and panicked visage.
The spear came down, and there was an explosion of light.
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Before the light cleared from his vision, Percy could feel his arm had been healed. He heard the din of dozens of conversations, and so he cracked his eyes open to look around. He barely saw an amalgamation of color before Annabeth was screaming in his ears.
"Percy!"
Percy groaned and was assisted in sitting up. "Not so loud, please. Ugh, what a nightmare."
"It wasn't a nightmare."
Percy's eyes opened fully and they settled on Nico. His cousin looked as tired and worn out as Percy felt.
"Giants and Titans attacked Camp Half-Blood," Nico informed. "Mimas, Hippolytus, Periboia, Krios. They broke through the Parthenos's shield with an army. We were almost overrun, but then there was a flash of light. Next thing we know, we're all here and our injuries were healed."
"…oh," Percy managed to say. Then his eyes widened. "What about Mom!?"
"I'm here, Percy!"
Percy hadn't found his bearings yet, but as he looked for his mother's voice, he saw he was in some really huge chamber, and seemingly everyone was here. All the Romans from the camp and the city, and all the Greeks from the other side of the continent.
Sally came through the crowd, and Percy hugged his mother. Thirteen-month-old Estelle was starring around herself in wide-eyed wonder at so many people. Paul was with them too, and he got in on the group hug.
Percy pulled back and then a panicked thought struck him. He turned around to Nico and Annabeth, "Where are Pi-"
He was going to ask where Piper and Leo were, since they weren't at either camp, but he saw they had wound through the crowd already, along with Hazel and Frank, and Reyna and Thalia. Nodding at his parents, Percy joined his demigod friends.
He noted the presence of a girl tightly holding onto Piper's hand, looking lost and afraid. Percy recognized her as Shel from the emails Piper had exchanged with them all. It occurred to him that this was the first time meeting Piper's girlfriend in person, but the novelty of the situation was lost in light of the fact that the world was seemingly coming undone.
They all exchanged hugs and greetings, before getting to business.
"What happened?" Percy asked.
"Caligula," Piper hissed. "He's back. He attacked me in Tahlequah, along with Medea."
"Commodus came for us at the Waystation," Leo growled. "He's back, too."
"That means Nero's alive again," Annabeth surmised.
"I wouldn't think so," Nico rebutted. "When Apollo killed Nero, the emperor's essence was absorbed by Python, and Apollo sent Python into Chaos. True death."
"So, the Titans, the Giants, and the emperors—except for Nero—have all returned?" Hazel gasped.
They all felt the life drain from them at the prospect.
"It's worse than that," Percy said. "Porphyrion told me they didn't just have the backing of Gaea this time. He said that Tartarus was helping them."
All of them almost fell over at the notion that the ultimate Greco/Roman evil was now awake and active.
"That explains why all of our old enemies are back," Annabeth said weakly. "Tartarus expedited their reforming."
"And the Doors of Death have once again been chained down," Nico said lowly.
Leo actually collapsed when he heard that, Calypso catching him.
"Hey, now!"
Leo laughed mirthlessly. "Déjà vu," he sang. "I've just been in this place before."
No one blamed him. After all they'd been through, they could all scarcely believe all their progress had literally been undone before their eyes. All their old enemies were back in action, and bloodthirsty for revenge.
Piper asked the million-dollar question. "What are we going to do?"
"Probably just scream and cry," someone suddenly said.
The demigods all looked at this new speaker, and they all instantly felt on edge. It was a white guy, slightly shorter than Leo, with short brown hair and square features. He was wearing a black polo, black cargo shorts, black running shoes, and black Nike tube socks that were slightly pushed down.
What made everyone edgy were the guy's chalk-white pupils and the crazed grin on his face.
"…who are you?" Annabeth asked after a pause.
"The guy you were just talking about. Chaos, creator of your world. And yes, Nero is back, along with Python."
They all went very still.
"You're…Chaos?" Annabeth tried to rationalize this. "The Primordial void from which all things arose?"
"The one and only, kiddo."
"…what?"
"Don't believe me?" Chaos challenged. "Check that out."
He jutted his chin in a direction, and where the main demigods looked, seemingly everyone else did too. What they all beheld made gasps and shouts and shock erupt from all over.
They were in the Olympian throne room, as it turned out, and the twelve gods were all suspended over their thrones, held upside down in a "T" pose.
"Wanna see 'em form a conga line? No? Good. We do have business to discuss."
Chaos let out a shrill whistle and everyone got vertigo as space warped around them. The demigods and assorted others found themselves in chairs, and before them were the Olympians, Hades, and Hestia, in their thrones, except for Hestia who was sitting by the hearth.
Zeus groaned. "Ugh, what is…what just…" and then he saw the person that was Chaos just standing there in the middle ground. In ignorance, he summoned the Master Bolt. "Who are you?" he rumbled.
Chaos turned around with a grin, and this time in his eyes were different. Instead of being human eyes with a white pupil, now they were black and twinkling with lights, like a picture of deep space.
"I'm Chaos. My children are currently causing a ruckus and it woke me from this lovely nap I was having. Since I know for a fact none of your weak asses stand a snowball's chance in a volcano against my baby girl Gaea and my baby boy Tartarus working together, juicing up all their little ankle-biters, I have decided, out of the graciousness of my good heart, to bring in some people that can help settle this matter."
After a silent pause, Athena asked, "…what?"
"Like mother like daughter," Chaos muttered under his breath, then he pointed his finger above him, making everyone look up at the ceiling. They only saw the traditional ceiling of the Olympian throne room, that being a dazzling display of the Milky Way galaxy with its colors and stars and beautiful, swirling cloud of space dust.
Then Chaos swiped said finger, and a glowing line appeared in the air between the ground and the ceiling. The line opened into a portal, and a masculine grunt was heard before something dropped out of the portal. No one could tell what it was aside from it being a bundle of black cloth with a few red clouds here and there. Then a strangled, feminine shout was heard, and something else dropped out of the portal. The new arrival landed on the first, both of them going ow in a short, clipped way.
Chaos closed the portal and said with a huge smile, "Nice of you to drop in."
Everyone that could see beheld a person that could only be described as Percy's sister. She had a similar face, the same sea-green eyes and her hair was just as black, and almost messy like his. A silky mane that went down to her shoulder blades with an odd cow lick jutting out this way and that. She was wearing a black cloak with long sleeves and a high collar, a red interior, and the outside was emblazoned with red clouds, like the first one to drop in.
"Dude, what?" the girl asked in a flat voice. "Who are you, and what's—oh."
She noticed the congregation, her eyes settling on Percy in the front row, making him tense up.
"Oh, my gods, this is one of those alternate realty thingies, isn't it?" she said.
"Pretty much. I'm Chaos, your god."
Then the other guy groaned. "Will you get off of me, you fat walrus?!"
She jumped up with a huff. "Rude. You don't have to be such a butthole about it."
He made a derogatory hum and stood up.
Everyone was further thrown for a loop because he was almost the spitting image of Percy, just his hair was different.
Twins. These two were twins.
"What do you want now?" asked the brother with a growl. He was clearly pissed off about this whole thing.
"Well, hello to you, too, Pe-."
"Don't…call me that."
"Hey, are you okay?" asked the sister.
"Not really. This idiot just jacked us across time and space to clean up whatever mess has been made like a couple of glorified janitors."
"That's not true," Chaos shook his head. "You two are much more important than simple janitors. You're more like…the Spartans from Halo. I can count on you to get the job done, whatever it is."
"Um, what is even going on?" the sister asked.
"Something that doesn't concern us," the brother said lowly.
"Also not true," Chaos said. "I have made it your concern. Neither of you gets to go home until your job here is done."
The sister's posture shifted. Where she previously looked interested in helping with whatever problem there was, now she was incensed. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused," Chaos said.
Her eye twitched. "So, we're just trapped here because of you?"
"Yeah. Until you get done with what I need you to do, then you can leave."
"And what is it you need us to do?"
"Remember Tartarus?" Chaos asked.
"Hard to forget," the sister answered flatly.
"Yep, he is a treasure. He's also decided to scratch his sister's back and expedited the regeneration of the Giants and Titans. And they've got the Doors of Death chained down again, meaning almost instant respawning after death like before."
The sister blinked slowly. "Um, they couldn't handle that?" she gestured at the gathered crowd.
"Nope," Chaos shrugged. "It's like Bane said: peace has cost them their strength; victory has defeated them. It's also like Darth Malgus said: they rested in their cradle of power, believing nothing could challenge them anymore, and where all of them grew weaker, the monsters grew stronger. Now the monsters have returned."
There were great feelings of insult that rippled through the crowd as Chaos blatantly degraded them all.
The sister cocked a brow at this assessment, and she turned her attention to the crowd to make her own judgement. The brother watched her silently, his eyes darker than hers by several shades. The sister's eyes eventually found themselves once again settling on Percy Jackson, and they started darting between him and the surrounding Seven plus the main supporters, like Thalia, Reyna, and Nico.
Those searching eyes widened a little at seeing Leo, then they became confused when they settled on Reyna wearing the garb of the Hunters, and they stopped completely when they settled on Shel, who was tightly holding Piper's hand. The sister started rapidly scanning the crowd, eyes darting left and right as she looked for who was supposed to be holding that hand.
Percy felt himself break into a sweat.
The sister looked right at him, and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, she was standing before him. Several gasps rang out at how fast she seemed to move.
Her green eyes had darkened.
"Where is Jason?" she asked coldly.
Percy swallowed heavily. Now he understood how Leo felt once upon a time when the Latino elf had confessed that he thought he was going to combust whenever he (Percy) looked at him while angry. Something that caught Percy's attention was the way the question was phrased, as if…as if, in her…world(? (Something about an alternate reality?)) Jason wasn't…you know…dead.
Even a year later, Jason's death still weighed on Percy. He couldn't find his voice.
Annabeth managed to answer, though she stuttered as she spoke, "H-He's de-dead. He, ah, he died…a little—a little over a year a-ago, now…"
The sister's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. The crestfallen look on her face was painful for everyone to see.
"A year ago now…" she echoed silently. "Wait. Hang on. Leo's alive, Reyna's a…Hunter of Artemis? And you are…?"
"I'm Shel. Piper's girlfriend."
"Piper's…what? Since when are you gay?"
"U-Um," Piper stuttered.
Like Percy, she felt her skin prickling as she felt the full force of the sister's mounting anger. Piper hesitated on telling the truth, how she had come to once again question her feelings for Jason after the Giant War had ended, and had decided to break up with him after concluding that her feelings had never been real in the first place, which essentially led to his death at the end of Caligula's spear. Then she moved back to Tahlequah and integrated into normal life as the average teenager at the high school, ran into Shel in a class, one thing led to another, and they'd celebrated their one-year anniversary back in May. The reason Piper hesitated was because, probably due to her empathic powers, she felt that if she told the truth, her head may very well be removed from her shoulders.
"I'm waiting on an answer."
Shel tried to be brave. "Hey, she doesn't have to answer you, you intolerant homopho-"
The sister's eyes snapped to hers, and Shel instantly shut up and shrank in her chair.
"Yeah, I'm technically engaged to a girl in my world, so your argument is invalid."
That got a lot of wide eyes, the sister admitting she was gay before the entire congregation.
"Technically engaged?" Annabeth blurted in a burst of ADHD. "Who are…I mean, it's not of my business, so-"
"You," the sister answered shortly. "Me and the you in my world started dating after we got back from the Sea of Monsters. You threw an apple at my head while we were sailing to Rome, and that somehow counts as a proposal, and me catching the apple so it didn't hit my nose counts as accepting the proposal. Still waiting on the ring, though."
Annabeth was flushed as a firetruck as it was revealed she was also gay in the twins' world.
Leo couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "That's hot," and Calypso pinched him for it.
"Not the time," she whispered.
"Anyway, back on topic," the sister said. "What is going on?"
"The future," Chaos answered with a grin.
The sister turned to him with a raised brow.
"This world is in the month of July two years after the Giant War ended. Your world is in the January six months after the Giant War ended," Chaos explained. "What has yet to happen in your world is a series of events originally titled The Trials of Apollo."
Hermes leaned next to his brother. "The what?" he asked quietly with a grin.
"It's a working title," Apollo muttered with a blush. "I figured it was best to write it down."
The brothers felt Zeus's eyes on them, and they shut up.
The sister turned her attention to her brother. "You knew about this. When you arrived, you said Apollo would be at our door in 25 days. That was 20 days ago."
"And?"
"And you said you had no intention of participating in it."
"That's correct. I still don't."
The sister looked at Chaos. "What happened during Apollo's trials?"
The way the stars and galaxies glowed in the creator's eyes made Percy shrink in on himself. He could feel he was about to get verbally ripped apart, and the sister was still standing only a few feet away from him.
"A new threat emerges from the shadows. A trio of undead Roman emperors that have managed to become minor gods. They call themselves the Triumvirate. Emperor Nero, Commodus, and Caligula. They've been moving through history in the shadows, amassing incredible amounts of wealth. They gave Luke the Princess Andromeda, and they gave Octavian the onagers. After the Giant War, they begin to move. Using a Ptolemaic god of silence by the name of Harpocrates, they cut off all means of communication between the camps.
"Long story short, Apollo shows up at the Jackson apartment and needs help, but the only help Percy gives is a ride to camp in the Prius. Then, Nero attacks the camp with this huge robot and almost immolates, like, a dozen kids, and where Percy comes in clutch there at the end and helps take the robot down, he does the craziest thing: he doesn't join the new war!"
Chaos cackled.
"You know what he decides to do?! Instead of so much as popping over to New Rome to give them a heads-up or taking Riptide and gearing up for the so-called Imperial War, he stays his happy little tooshie out of it, so he can get his diploma! So he can go to college with Annabeth! A new war starts, comms are down, lives are at stake—Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Dakota, etc., his other family in his own words after the Battle of New Rome with Polybotes—and Percy's priority is chasing some blonde tail! BWAHAHAHA!"
Percy wanted to crawl into a hole and die as the creator of the universe laughed at him and gave the abridged version of past events. What wasn't helping were all the eyes that he felt on him.
The sister turned her head enough so that she could glower at him from the corner of her eye.
Chaos suddenly stopped laughing.
"And it gets so much better. Around the same time of Nero's attack, Piper and Jason are in California, enjoying the good life as normal kids," Chaos snorted then continued, "when Piper has a very strange and unexplained identity crisis, compounded with an even stranger and unexplaineder emotional crisis. Despite growing up Cherokee and reciting the many myths and legends of her tribe, she suddenly questions of she's actually Cherokee, and even better is that even after all she and Jason went through together, after all the effort she put into overcoming those previous doubts of hers, she falls flat on her face and doubles back on all her progress. She decides that she never loved Jason after all, and pulls a textbook daughter of Aphrodite move, and breaks poor Jason's heart."
Frost erupted across the ground at the sister's feet, the temperature in the throne room plummeting. She turned fully around, and Piper wasn't entirely she sure she didn't just pee herself a little as those frigid eyes focused solely on her. The air screamed of death and danger, the sister apparently so enraged that she was sending out killing vibes.
The brother's voice cut sharply through everything. "Persephone! That's enough!"
So, that was her name. Persephone.
The frost stopped creeping and the temperature warmed, but only by so much. She turned around and glared at her brother.
"You knew about this too, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me!?"
"What are you so worked up about? You and Jason and Piper aren't even that close in our world."
"That doesn't mean I ever wanted to see my cousin die! Or for his girlfriend to dump him because she wasn't feeling it anymore! That—this is—"
"Typical behavior for her kind? Yes, it is."
"How come you're so calm about this?!"
The brother cocked a brow. "You're not forgetting how I wasn't part of that quest, are you? I don't have the same emotional attachment to these idiots that you do."
"Still. I mean, this-"
"Is typical behavior of Piper's kind," the brother said slowly, enunciating every word.
Piper was too terrified to be offended, as were the other children of Aphrodite/Venus.
"They are the children of the lust goddess," the brother continued in a neutral, academic tone, like he was a college professor delivering a lecture. "Just like it is in our nature as children of the sea to resist being controlled and restrained, it is in their nature to manipulate and play with the feelings and emotions of others. Piper thought she loved Jason, and so she worked hard to prove that she did love him, and that her feelings weren't mere fakes produced by Hera. In time, Jason came to return these feelings, and he loved her back just as hard, if not harder. However, when Piper decided she didn't love Jason anymore, instead of sitting down with him and trying to talk things out, she made her mother proud and broke his heart. Then, not even two months after Jason died, Piper replaced him with Shel, and in time, when the day comes that she wakes up and no longer loves her, Piper will cast Shel aside and move onto the next person she 'loves.'
"There's no point in getting worked up over it. You don't get upset when someone lives up to your expectations, do you? You don't get mad at a baby for soiling their diaper; disappointed and exasperated, sure, but not angry, because you expect that. Children of the lust goddess are expected to play with other people's feelings, so you'd be a fool to ever date any of them, much less trust them. Really, you should pity them, because they are damned to go their whole lives without ever knowing love. They will move from person to person, enjoying the euphoria of the relationship for however long it lasts, and then they'll dump that person and get with someone else. Rince and repeat. That's just their nature."
"Hey!"
Everyone turned around to lay eyes on one Tristan McLean. He had gotten up out of his seat and trying to maneuver his way down the aisle. He was red-faced and angry as he tried to stand up for his crying daughter, but his display of bravado was lackluster as he kept hopping and hiking his legs up to get over people, his efforts culminating in him falling on his face at the end of the row as his feet got tangled. Tristan quickly got back on his feet and went storming down the way towards the brother.
"I don't care who you are!" Tristan yelled with his finger pointed in front of him. "No one talks about my daughter like that!"
Persephone stood there, eyes on her brother, who was just staring at the angrily approaching Tristan.
"And what are you going to do about it?" the brother challenged with no small amount of menace in his voice.
It made Tristan stop in his tracks. Just what was he going to about his daughter being disrespected like this in front of everyone?
"Go sit back down before this gets messy, Tristan," the brother said.
The McLean patriarch's temper rose as this punk referred to him by his first time. "You will apologize to my daughter," he insisted firmly.
"No." Then he waved his hand in front of Tristan's face. "My daughter is a total failure."
"My daughter is a total failure," Tristan said, entranced.
"I am ashamed of her."
"I am ashamed of her."
"She is a disgrace to the Cherokee tribe, and to the McLean family."
"She is-"
"Alright, cut it out!" Persephone barked. "That's enough."
Her brother glanced at her, then looked back at Tristan. "Got sit down and do not speak until this is over."
"I will go sit down and not speak until this is over."
Tristan turned and trudged away, completely entranced.
It couldn't be said that everyone was scared by what they just witnessed. Some were on a power trip, fantasizing about what it would be like to dominate their significant other's father in front of them like that. For the most part, though, the congregation was uncomfortable.
Aphrodite was bristling. Both at the brother's monologue and at what he'd just done to Tristan, a man that the so-called "lust" goddess actually did love.
Wouldn't do anything, if I were you, a voice sounded in her head. It was Chaos. Then he showed her why staying absolutely still was in her best interest.
"…how did Jason die?" Persephone asked after a time of silence as everyone digested that whole exchange.
Percy felt like he was standing at the foot of a tidal wave now and he didn't have any powers.
Chaos chuckled. "He died about two months after Piper broke up with him, actually. See, Nero controlled the eastern United States, the emperor Commodus controlled the central zone, while Caligula, the most powerful, controlled the western portion, where Piper and Jason were at. Piper broke up with Jason in January, but Jason didn't die until March, when Apollo showed up in the course of his trials. Caligula was mounting an attack on New Rome with an invasion fleet."
"Invasion fleet?" Persephone asked. "You mean he was using boats? The San Francisco Bay?"
"Correct," Chaos smiled. "During the course of this arc, Apollo, his little sidekick at the time, Meg, Jason, and Piper mounted an assault on Caligula's fleet of pleasure yachts—yes, pleasure yachts, instead of something cool, like battleships, which really would've spelled trouble for New Rome—but they got caught and captured. There was a big battle between Jason and Caligula after Jason splintered the yacht, and Caligula won. And eventually Caligula launched his amphibious assault on New Rome and nearly wiped them all out. So, it's kind like that scene in the first Iron Man movie where Obadiah Stane is talking to the scientists about the Arc Reactor and he's like, Tony Stark built this in a cave! With a box of scraps! Well, in this situation it's like, Jason Grace died on a boat! That was filling with seawater! And who's the perfect guy to have on your side when it comes to a battle on the high seas?"
The sound of Percy swallowing heavily was almost heard throughout the throne room it got so quiet as Chaos presented his brutal perspective of the situation.
Persephone slowly turned around, and she regarded Percy with nothing but the utmost contempt.
"You let Jason die. For a diploma. Please, for the love of Mom, tell me you wanted to go to college. Please tell me you didn't let her pressure you into finishing high school, and it was all your decision to not get involved with the emperors. Please, please, please tell me you didn't let Annabeth control you, and you let her keep you on the sidelines instead of doing your job as a hero, and your duty as a friend and family member to your cousins."
Percy barely—just barely—managed to let out a croak of a whisper. "Y-Yes. I…I took myself out. I didn't want…I didn't want to get involved in another quest."
Persephone's pupils dilated as her anger spiked.
Annabeth managed to ask, "Why would you think I ever control him or pressure him?"
And Persephone rounded on her so hard and fast that the blonde squeaked and curled up in her chair.
"Because I know how much of a manipulative bitch you can be. He's a boy, so he can't get away with standing up to you without looking like he's misogynistic or abusive, but I can. I'm a girl. You can't play that game with me."
Then she turned her attention back to Percy, and he was honestly afraid for his life with how angry she was with him. Despite her obvious anger, however, her voice was level.
Perhaps that was the scariest part.
The eye of her storm.
"Quests are your job, dude. When the Joker is terrorizing Gotham City, it's Batman's job to go stop him. When Luthor has some giant robot on the loose, it's Superman's job to demolish it. I guess I really am the only one who thinks like this, because no one back home backed me up on it, but I think, because we have the power, we have the responsibility to save the world every time it's in danger again. Titans, Giants, emperors, too, apparently—that's our job. We're heroes. We're half-bloods. When we stand by and do nothing, people die. What you did, throwing away that responsibility for a stupid piece of paper, is inexcusable."
Percy's own anger spiked. Who was this girl to talk down to him? What did she know? How dare she belittle him for wanting a future for himself that didn't involve having to risk his life every other week due to the blunders of the gods! Every day for the past year, there had always been at least one moment where he paused in regret for not being there for Jason and the Romans, and he wasn't about to just sit here and get verbally hammered by this stranger.
Percy's impulsiveness easily won out and he popped to his feet, drawing to his full 6'1 in comparison to Persephone's 5'10.
"Shut up!" Percy thundered in the girl's face. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life playing errand boy for the gods! Ever since I was twelve, it was one quest after another, and-"
"Oh, quit your whining," Persephone cut him off. "Quest-this, quest-that, what does it matter? You're saving lives. Because of us, when we were twelve, we averted World War III. By getting the Golden Fleece, we saved Camp Half-Blood and made sure all those kids had a safe place to live form monsters, a place to train them to fight monsters so they could live outside of camp. We saved Artemis from Atlas and kickstarted the Olympian offensive against the Titans, and by going into the Labyrinth, we once again saved the camp and kept casualties to a minimum. And I don't need to mention that during the Battle of Manhattan, we stopped Kronos from reasserting control over the universe and imposing his twisted will on the world, do I? And how we did the same with Gaea and the Giants, making sure the world would keep spinning, and parents got to see their kids' faces light up like stars when school was over, and they were there to pick them up.
"But you don't think about that stuff, do you? You don't think about all the happy parents that got to see their kids grow up because of you. You don't think about all the kids that got to see their parents recover from cancer, or have at least one more day to spend with him thanks to you. You don't think about all the friends that met up at recess or at the lunch table. You don't think about the students that got to see their favorite teachers again, the teachers that got to see their favorite students. You don't think about that homeless dude that finally got a job and is starting to turn his life around. You don't think about the smokers, alcoholics, and addicts that got to have one more day to keep fighting, that finally got to reach that day where they could say I'm free."
Persephone raised her voice.
"You don't fucking think about all the good you've done, do you! Your head is so far up your ass, your heart can't beat properly. All you think about is how woe is me, the gods won't leave me alone, my life sucks, I just want to be normal, wah-wah-blah-blah-blah. Dude, like it or not, you were born a hero, and heroes don't stay out of conflicts that endanger their friends and families!"
"Well I never wanted to be a hero!" Percy roared back. "I never wanted to be a half-blood, I-"
"TOO BAD!" Persephone thundered right back in his face. "A hero is what you were born to be, and because you tried to run away from that, Jason died!"
Percy snapped and swung with all his furious might, and his fist smacked so hard into something so unyielding he felt the bones crack.
It was the brother's palm. He'd somehow come all the way over from where he'd been standing to catch Percy's wild fist in his palm. The tension in the throne room skyrocketed as gasps rang out, both at the speed and the attack. Eyes were darting back and forth, people were on their feet, weapons were drawn, Estelle was panicked and crying, and so were other small children.
It was, well, chaotic in the throne room.
The brother pushed, and Percy was sent right back into his chair.
"Next time I will take your head," he promised.
He let go of Percy's hand so he could cradle the injured limb. It was already swelling.
"It's getting too loud in here," Chaos said to himself. "Shut it!"
And just like that, all the kids went quiet, falling asleep, and all those that were standing calmly sat back down. However, the energy remained. Things were not okay in the throne room.
The brother was glowering at his sister.
"If you are quite finished, we have our own job to do. I trust I needn't remind you that this is merely one of many alternate realities. It just so happens that here, this Percy is a coward that runs from who he is, and Piper is an emotionally unstable bitch. We could've just as easily ended up in a reality where Piper and Jason are still a happy couple, and so on and so forth for an infinite number of other things. I also trust that I needn't remind you that this reality is a reflection of our own world. Back home, Apollo is still poised to knock on our door, Piper is still poised to break up with Jason, and the emperors are still poised to start the Imperial War. Time between dimensions flows differently, so the more time you waste here yelling at the toddlers for going poo-poo in their pull-ups instead of in the potty, the more time passes back home, and we could be too late to prevent this possible future from becoming our reality. Now, let's go."
Persephone nodded. She cast one more look of pure loathing at Percy before brushing past him as she headed for the huge doors, her brother walking next to her. Her stormy expression dissuaded any comments, save for one person.
Sally stood up. "Hey."
The twins paused and looked at her.
"I…don't know about this other world stuff, but—I don't know if I should be saying this or not, but…both of you be careful. Please?"
"Sure," Persephone said shortly.
The brother just nodded.
"Hey, brother!" Chaos called, making the twins pause again after taking three steps. "I need a word with you real quick."
A displeased rush of air left the brother's nose. He said to his sister, "Wait outside for me."
Not wanting to stay in here any longer than she had to do, Persephone nodded and left, pushing the huge doors open all by herself. They shut of their own accord once she was out. Now all eyes were on the brother.
"Come hither," Chaos rolled his eyes.
The brother eyed the supreme creator of the universe, clearly displeased. He made his way over. "What?"
That's when someone else appeared. The new arrival just faded into existence, like a mirage becoming real. A man, tall, lanky, pale, with a lazy, half-lidded expression, and stringy dark hair parted on either side. He wore black clothes that were made of an unknown material.
The brother eyed him warily.
"I felt something like a black hole appear here," the man said. "I knew it was you, Dragon Ghost of the Abyss."
"I hate that name too," the brother said. "Erebus."
"Hello, Shin'en."
So, that was the brother's name. Sheen-En.
And he apparently knew Erebus, the Primordial god of darkness.
The Primordial god of darkness had just appeared in the middle of the Olympian throne room.
"Yes, hello to you too, Son."
"Father."
"Honestly, kids these days. No respect for their parents. Am I right, or am I right?"
"What do you want, Chaos?" Shin'en asked again, his tone short and clipped.
The supreme deity smirked, the twinkling lights in his black eyes getting a bit brighter. "She doesn't know what's really going on, does she?"
"No, she doesn't, and she won't until it's over if you keep your mouth shut."
Chaos chuckled. "You do a great job setting yourself up, you know that right?"
"I'm intimately aware."
"I guess we can say that's the punishment for your sins," Chaos shrugged.
Shin'en let out a low growl. "Losing my patience."
Chaos smirked. "I know…"
"So, if you're done wasting my time, I'm going to go clean up their mess now."
"Be careful~," Chaos sing-songed. "I can feel that anger of yours, roiling just beneath the surface. It gives you focus, makes you stronger. But you have experience in controlling that power when you're riled up. That twelve-minutes-older-than-you sister of yours doesn't. Her mind is dwelling on her world, and preventing this from happening there. She's excited, impatient, and worried about the clock. She's going to be reckless."
"Get to the point."
"I want this planet intact by the end of this. She's rapidly approaching, shall we say, critical mass. With how powerful she is, and how worked up she us over all of this, she could very well pull the planet apart."
"I'll keep her in check."
"Yes, but to what extent?" Chaos grinned. "If it comes down to it, will you kill her to save this world and all the people that live on it?"
Shin'en's answer was immediate. "Fuck no. I don't even see the merit in taking on this operation. They don't care about their world. They stopped the bad guys a few times and decided that was enough for this life, and now none of them so much as donate five bucks to the Red Cross on a monthly basis. They don't care about the people or this planet. Why should I?"
"Because that wouldn't be very cash money of you," Chaos said sagely.
Erebus offered his own answer. "Because you would be going back on everything you teach them."
Shin'en stared at the god of darkness for a time, his expression unreadable.
Meanwhile, the demigods were feeling like they were being kicked while on the ground, and also wondering what Erebus meant by "them." Who was Shin'en teaching? This guy was a teacher?
Shin'en finally looked at Chaos. "I'm not going to kill my sister if her powers rage out of her control, especially not for any of them, but I'll keep this rock in viable enough condition."
Chaos nodded. "We have terms. Good luck, Shin'en Yūrei."
"Can I expect any kind of specific help?"
"I don't think they'll be needed for this level of crisis."
Shin'en hummed, nodded once to Erebus, and walked away, heading for the door.
Percy's foot rapidly tapped on the ground as his thoughts raced, and as Shin'en approached, his conscience wouldn't let him remain seated. He got up and stood in Shin'en's way.
It was surreal for all but two entities in the throne room, seeing Percy standing in front Alternate Percy.
"Is this the part where you tell me it's impossible for me and my sister to do this, and you offer us your help."
"Well, yeah. All of us. It's a whole army of monsters plus all the main threats from the past three wars."
"Really? All of you? I doubt Piper wants to offer her aid."
Piper did, in fact, flip him off as tears still leaked down her face.
Percy's mouth tightened as he weighed how much of a complete asshole Shin'en had against his better nature of helping others.
"You're not really offering me your help," Shin'en said. "What you're doing is seeking redemption. You feel like you failed with the Imperial War, and now you're trying to make up for it. Admirable, noble, and not enough. This year of peace has indeed made you weaker. You couldn't hold your own against them this time, could you? You were easily overpowered."
Percy didn't say anything. He just directed his scowl to his feet.
"Choices are actions and actions have consequences. You chose to pursue a human education and leave the demigod life behind you. The consequences of that were felt within months, and now the life is catching back up with you."
"But this time I want to fight. I don't want to be on the sidelines this time!"
"And you are an out-of-shape college boy trying to go up against seasoned NFL players. You are hopelessly outmatched."
"Then what?" Percy shouted, almost desperately. "What am I supposed to do."
"Sit back and watch. Probably drown in feelings of inadequacy and guilt."
"I'm already doing that."
"And it's about to get worse. That I never wanted to be a half-blood mentality of yours has always held you back. Not so with my sister. She loves this life. So much so that she's put forth great effort into dropping out of Alt High so she can move into Camp Half-Blood as a full-time instructor, teaching generations of demigods how to fend for themselves, and helping them get through their own personal traumas."
"O-Oh," Percy struggled to form a response to that. Compared to his decision to go to college for a degree he hadn't even figured out yet a year later, just taking all the basic courses, being an instructor at camp and helping new waves of demigods seemed a much nobler and worthwhile cause.
Shin'en exhaled heavily out his own nose, and he placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. He gently forced him back into his seat.
"You once said you wanted to be there to watch your own sister grow up. Well, you're both going to need a world for that to happen. You almost lost it today. Tomorrow may be different. Think about that."
Shin'en walked away and was predictably stopped by Sally.
"I-I don't know how this alternate reality stuff works, but I-"
"We'll be careful. Just stay here and keep that one from biting anyone's ankles."
"Gaaah!" Estelle said happily. She reached out with her pudgy baby hand, and Shin'en let her play with his finger for a couple of seconds, before he gently patted her on the head.
Everyone watched his cloaked back as the doors shut behind him.
"Indoor plumbing," Chaos suddenly said. "It's gonna be big."
He waved his hand and a huge viewing bubble came to life, showing the same thing from all angles. Right now, the magic camera was focused on the twins outside.
"They're amassing in DC," Persephone said. "The National Mall."
"Go. Engage them, but don't kill them. They'll just respawn."
"What are you going to do?"
"Neutralize the Doors. If they're shut, our job becomes easier."
"You'll have to go to Tartarus to do that."
"Correct."
Persephone shrugged, her eyes almost as dark as her brother's. "Be careful down there. I'd better not have to come pull you out."
"As if."
Before Persephone could take off, Shin'en grabbed her arm.
"What?" she asked, clearly irritated.
"You're slipping again. You're starting to behave like you did when we were thirteen. Do you remember what I told you, and why I need you to do it?"
Persephone looked down, and then back up. "I remember. Don't worry about me. I'm in control. It's just…all of that…what could happen if I…if I don't…"
"I know. But that'll definitely happen if you lose yourself again."
Persephone took a deep breath, closed her eyes, exhaled, and nodded. When she opened her eyes, they were brighter. "Alright, I'm good."
"We'll see."
"Pinky promise you'll get out of there in one piece, yeah?"
She held up her pink finger, and Shin'en hooked his own pinky with her.
He nodded. "Pinky promise."
"Alright. I bet I kill more monsters than you do."
"Not a chance."
Shin'en vanished.
Persephone snorted, then she vanished too.
Chaos excitedly rubbed his hands together. "This is gonna be awesome~!"
Erebus sighed at his crazy father's antics.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Alright, I did not mean for this to grow into a 9k+ monster of a chapter, but I just started writing and writing, and this is what I made.
Brief taste of the Chaos War once again, though obviously watered down for the sake of this mini story.
The next chapter is all action, since it primarily focuses on how powerful Persephone being a daughter of Poseidon that wants to be a daughter of Poseidon. Sure, Percy's powerful enough on his own, but that mentality of his forms a handicap that prevents from ever fully exploring his powers. We never see him training in any of the books; he just wills stuff to happen and it does.
Imagine what Percy would be like if he actually did want to be a half-blood like Persephone, and relished the opportunity to explore his powers, strengthening and expanding on them.
You won't have to imagine too long. Hopefully.
Fav, Follow, and there'd be better be more than three Reviews this time!