Beta'd by PraetorFable
Co-Written by VanadiumOxide

Chapter X

The Twenty Eighth of May

Twenty Two Days A.B.M

The last time Percy had visited Washington, it hadn't been for leisure. It was unfortunate that this time's circumstances weren't any better off.

When he and his vanguard appeared ahead of the front gate of the White House, there was a moment where it was business as usual: Government vehicles cruising through the streets; tourists and the populace alike about, chatting, eating ice cream, and protesting. Percy duly noted a protestor or two advocating for America's capitulation to the Greek gods. That was amusing.

But then, that moment passed, and everyone noticed the giant herd of bronze standing at the president's front door.

Percy waited.

He could have simply walked in of course; there had been no precautions for people appearing within the White House grounds, and the White House security was hardly prepared for a small army to appear on their front lawn out of nowhere. But that being said, Percy had to commend the rapid response.

Almost as soon as they had been spotted there were dozens of guns pointed at them. He could feel the red dots appearing on his men. Considering some of them were automatic or remote controlled, Percy almost would have been concerned about being able to stop them all at the same time if he didn't have Nico to split the work with.

One by one more and more guns were pointed at Percy and his party. Dozens of snipers being deployed to the buildings surrounding the White House, dozens of secret service agents being deployed to the front of the White House and on it's roof. Police being deployed to cover the street behind them, and doubtlessly the military was on it's way. There were already a couple planes zooming past them from above. All within a couple minutes.

Damn, the mortals had good security. He would need to hire whoever the Hades had set this place up.

But Percy continued to wait patiently. And because he did, so too did his royal guard. It was as if they were still standing just outside their barracks. Backs rigidly straight, spears pointed straight up, shields held at their side, and chins up.

They waited, motionless as police and military forces arrived on scene. Someone must have realized that they weren't there to charge straight at the front door, because one of the secret service agents on the lawn who had his pistol pointed at them whispered something into his mic before sheathing his gun, and began approaching them anxiously.

A few seconds later, they were a talking distance apart. The agent was the first one to speak.

"How can we help you, Mr. Jackson?"

Percy actually laughed at that. He thought he would have to stand here through some sort of negotiation situation and convince them to let him see the president. But it seemed the person in front of him was far less formal than that.

"I would like to speak with the president. Got an opening?" Percy quipped.

The agent froze for a moment. "I apologize Mr. Jackson, that won't be possible."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I am a foreign dignitary. Our nations are at war, and I am here to negotiate peace. Are you telling me that the United States would stop peace talks before they even begin?"

"Your nation is not recognized by the United Nations, Mr. Jackson. You are the leader of a terrorist organization. The United States does not negotiate with—"

The agent did not finish that sentence and a look of resignation came over his face — undoubtedly he was being told to stand down. Percy gave a short considered listening in on their conversation, but for the same reason he and his vanguard didn't shadow travel into the White House, he wanted to play somewhat nice.

"R-right this way, Mr. Jackson. But as a precaution on our front, we request you will be allowed a security detail of three people maximum. And no weapons."

'Request' being the key word. At least they knew when to play nice as well.

Percy shrugged, and gestured for Nico to put away his sword. It disappeared into shadow, something that the agent seemed very intrigued by. Percy silently pointed at two guards behind him. They unclipped their swords and handed them to their comrades along with their spears, but kept their shields.

"I guess you do negotiate with terrorists." Percy gave the agent a teasing smirk as he walked past.

At the entrance to the White House there was a large reception waiting for him. What seemed like a hundred of agents were waiting in place. They didn't have their guns out but were on very, very high alert.

"Place your arms out." one of the guards instructed him.

Both his guards and Nico were about to step forward to deal with the disrespect, but Percy held up his hand. Percy only needed to appear prideful in public, he didn't actually care if he was strip searched.

After the four of them had been searched, and the agents were satisfied, Percy was led further into the White House. More than a dozen agents surrounded them at all times, but Percy felt less than threatened.

Eventually they reached a room with two cushioned couches opposite of each other. There was a table in between them, and towards the end of the room, a desk. In front of one of the couches, stood the president.

"Mr. President, Perseus Jackson." Introduced an agent, before the dozen agents took up positions around the room and became invisible.

The president extended a hand to shake. "Mr. Jackson. Please, sit. We have much to discuss."

Percy took his hand before sitting on the couch closest to him, joined soon after by the president. Nico took up a position directly behind him, and both of his royal guards stood behind him to his left and right.

"Now, Mr. Jackson," the president began awkwardly. It was evident by the bags under his eyes and inconsistent breathing, that the man had failed to get much sleep these past few weeks. "I've been told you're here to discuss peace? I hope you understand I cannot allow you to continue to occupy the parts of New York that you do."

Percy nodded. "Peace is just a little misleading, actually. I'm here to talk about your surrender."

Some of the secret service agents rustled at that, a smile coming across some of their faces. Most of them looked at each other like 'get a load of this guy.' No doubt, their professionalism was the only thing keeping them from laughing out loud.

The president was less amused. It was likely he knew something his security didn't, perhaps footage of him using his powers. The president knew Percy wasn't completely crazy. At least, that's what Percy assumed.

The president opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted.

"Mr. President, the vice president has arrived." announced an agent, opening the door to the office they were in.

In walked a late middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and a confident stride.

The two exchanged brief greetings before sitting down on the president's right. They now faced off against Percy.

The president cleared his throat. "As I was saying. What could possibly convince us to surrender? You've taken one city, yes, and you seem to have advanced technology which can cause extreme weather situations. But it's nothing unheard of. What advantage do you really have?" The president paused for a moment, pursing his lips, before standing up and walking over to the desk at the end of the room. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a manilla folder, before walking over and sitting back down.

"We know about you, Mr. Jackson. Born and raised in upper east side Manhattan, a police record longer than a CVS receipt and a troubled past. You were officially charged with accessory to terrorism when you were twelve. The charges were never brought to court at evidence that you were kidnapped. This is where you first got mixed up with your terrorist organization, we assume."

He put the manilla folder on the table between them, and opened it. Inside was a large list of past offenses, every school he had attended, and every run in with the police he had.

"In fact, we even know you were based in New York before then. Meteorologists have been scratching their head for the past half decade or so, wondering why there have been large increases in meteorological activity in that time period. Of course the unclassified story is global warming, but these incidents started to pick up the same month you were accused of terrorism."

The president let those words sink in. "We know the epicenter of all of these storms come from New York. We know that the large storm that broke all convention and crossed the nation two years ago was you as well. Then, immediately after that, you went missing. Never showed up at school, your mother filed a missing persons report, and you were gone. Until you showed up at Manhattan with a bunch of radicalized teenagers you had convinced you were a god.

"Don't get me wrong, I find it damn impressive. You bombed a national monument and took an active role in a terrorist organization at the age of twelve, then became it's deific leader by the time you were seventeen. I'd almost call you a successor to Hitler when it comes to evil genius dictators. We even have all the information we need on your co-leader, Annabeth. I could go into more detail, but as I'm sure you know, the details match up."

He leaned forward. "So please do, tell me, why should the United States, the most powerful nation on the planet, surrender to you?"

Percy let the room sit in silence for a moment, before leaning back, and laughing lightly.

The man before him had almost convinced himself of a truth he knew wasn't reality. Almost. He had almost convinced himself; now confronting Percy with this half-ass theory with minimal conviction.

"For the same reason you did not laugh along with your agents when I demanded your surrender, Mr. President. I can feel your desperation; your trepid anxiety my presence in this room inspires within you. I have a feeling you've seen me in action. By the Secret Service's reactions, you've deemed the evidence too dangerous and demoralizing for even your own people to properly acknowledge.

Percy turned to glance at the closest agent, a burly man, bald, but clearly a professional. "You've been trained to read people, have you not? Tell me, is the President being truthful with himself when he explains these theories about me? Or how about me and my men? If I were to say I could kill you all with a single breath, what would your training and instincts tell you?"

The agents within the room tensed, a handful raised their firearms in response. But as fully intended, there was now a seed of doubt amongst them. They could feel the truth in Percy's words.

He raised an eyebrow in the direction of the ones with guns raised, waiting patiently for their next move. With crumbling will, they all lowered their guns.

Percy returned his gaze upon the President. "Apologies Mr. President, I will not be throwing my arms up and admitting behind some closed doors that I'm just some terrorist. You know that what I speak is the truth. Footage you've seen no doubt confirms that. But I will reiterate, that if you are to continue to defy the gods, you will suffer eternal damnation."

Percy stood up. Not giving even the chance for any to react, he used a power he had sworn to himself before, that he would never use. But that was a long time ago. A different person had sworn not to use those powers. Using the blood within their bodies, he froze everyone in place. If they strained to move it would eventually just rupture enough capillaries that they would die of internal bleeding before Percy so much as left the room.

Percy casually hopped over the table between himself and the president and looked down at him.

"You've seen the footage. You know what I can do."

Percy kneeled down so that he was level with the president, staring him in the eyes.

"In this exact moment, you all are exposed. I can kill all of you, if I want to. I didn't even need to freeze you in place like this, I could've snapped and you'd all go up in a poof of red smoke. But that wouldn't get across my point would it? That I can, but I won't. Because I don't want that. I grew up a New Yorker, and I love my city. I love my people. But the longer you resist, the more people die. That's why I'm here to end this. If you don't come around to my side, you'll die.

"And then your vice president will become the president, and then the speaker of the house, and then the president pro tempore of the senate. I can continue down the list, until I reach the last congressman. And we both know that at least some of them are either sympathetic with me, or will sell this country down the river for nothing. So tell your men to stand down, today, now, and I won't have to make the floors of this building run red with blood."

Percy had asked one of Annabeth's paperwork monkeys to read up on the full succession of the presidency for this exact situation. Personally, Percy expected to have to kill a good twenty people to get what he wanted today, if he was lucky that was.

Percy's will let go of the President's restraints.

The room was filled with the President's gasping breaths. Luckily, at least from what Percy could tell, it was only a psychological shortness of breath. "Even if I did, I don't have the authority to do that. The US surrendering would have to be a two thirds majority of the senate. I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to."

Percy waved it off. "This will hardly be the most legal process either way. You're the figurehead of this country right now whether you like it or not. You telling your men to stand down won't be perfect, but it will be better than the alternative."

The president hesitated once more, before steeling himself.

"No."

Percy exhaled. He would like to convince him to see it his way, but Percy really didn't care enough.

"I see."

Riptide was out and the president's head was on the ground the next moment.

"Now, will you cooperate?"

The vice president spoke up. "I won't surrender either." He shook his head, defiance in his eyes.

Percy nodded, respecting his choice. His head joined the president's.

Percy stood up, blood covering the front of his armor.

He gave a long, considering look at the secret service agents around the room. "On one hand, these guys are supposed to be loyal to the United States, but on the other hand, I do have some use of their services. What do you think?" Percy asked, looking over at Nico.

Nico just shrugged. "Why not let them choose?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. That was a fair point. He gave a mirroring shrug. "Well, you heard him. Kneel and serve me, or stand and die, damned for eternity." Percy released the agents from his hold. He noticed that two of them had apparently struggled enough to cause them to die of internal bleeding.

Three agents got on their knees. Nico took care of the rest before they could reach for their guns.

Percy nodded. "With me, then. You three take up the rear. It won't be peaceful getting out of here or over to capitol hill and I still have use of your skills, so stay behind us. You two," Percy gestured to his royal guard. "Pick up some guns and lead me out of here, but don't fire unless you need to. We don't want our men outside to be engaged without us there," he ordered.

They didn't hesitate, taking the secret service agent's pistols and moving out of the door immediately.

"Hey, why did nobody call that you were leaving. Wait, where's the pr-" Percy cut him off mid sentence, and he fell to the ground.

Percy began calmly walking out the way they came in, heading towards the entrance to the White House.

Many times they came across agents who tried to stop them, some even were able to pull their guns. Percy cut every one of them down before they were real threats.

As easy as it would be to use their blood to kill them before he even saw them, it still felt wrong to Percy on a certain level, like it did in Tartarus. If it would save a life, or a lot of time, Percy would kill with blood. But he decided to give those he crossed today the dignity of a decent death, because he could. At least for now.

That was becoming less and less of a possibility by the time they reached the entrance. The military was stationed at every corner, and Percy found himself more and more pressed to silence everyone before someone could get a shot off, even with Nico's help.

At the entrance itself, stood almost two dozen soldiers and several secret service agents. Deciding it was hopeless, Percy waved his hand, and they all popped.

A moment later Percy walked out of the White House with a river of blood following him, cascading down the steps of the white house. He was entirely covered with it on his frontside, his face only remaining clear of blood because he willed it to stay clean.

When Percy walked out, there was a moment of silence. Soldiers and agents standing guard stood in shock for a moment, and police stared in disbelief.

Then, Percy waved his hand, and none of them were conscious.

He didn't necessarily want to kill them, especially in such a public setting. A good amount of them were just normal people doing what they were told, and Percy could get away with leaving them alive. For now.

Unfortunately, those in the air did not fare as well. Helicopters fell out of the sky as those inside them fell unconscious, falling onto their controls. He gave enough thought to control the moisture in the air to divert them away from populated buildings.

Fighters flying overhead kept going until they would run out of fuel or their pilots woke, their autopilots keeping them from crashing into the ground.

Percy made sure to leave the news helicopters and reporters awake, though. A demonstration of his powers to the general public would only make things easier in the long run.

Percy walked back to his royal guard, the men still perfectly in formation. The two royal guards escorting him were thrown their weapons back, quickly strapping their swords back onto themselves.

Percy turned to Nico. "You and Bianca lived here for a minute, right? You know how long the walk to the capitol building is?"

Nico shrugged in return. "Couldn't tell ya. Didn't exactly spend long here, and my memories are fuzzy as it is."

One of the former secret service agents spoke up from behind Percy. "It's about a half hour walk, your majesty."

Percy turned to the guard who had spoken and smiled. "Thanks."

He turned back to Nico. "Shadow travel us there, a half hour will give them time to evacuate, as much as I'd rather march down there personally."

Nico nodded, and snapped his fingers. Nobody but Percy and Nico were expecting it, so there was some stumbling when they appeared in front of the capitol building, but the royal guards were quickly righted.

Percy turned to Andrew at the front left of the formation. "Captain, split your men into squads and clear the building. Force is permitted, but I want as many surviving senators and congressmen as possible. Gather every member of congress you can find in the chamber of the house of representatives, and make sure nobody leaves." he ordered.

Andrew gave a quick bow. "At once, your majesty!" he shouted, before turning to the royal guard and starting to bark orders.

As his royal guard started running off in different directions, Percy turned to the secret service agents. "Do any of you know your way around the capitol?" he asked.

One of them nodded. "Yes, your majesty. All of us have memorized the layout."

Percy was briefly distracted as screams and gunshots started to come from the capitol.

"Good, take me to where the speaker of the house will be."

Another agent nodded. "Yes, your majesty. They should be in the chamber of congress at the moment," he said, before taking off towards the steps leading to the capitol building. Percy followed him.

Entering the building was a rough sight, even for him. It looked like he was holding up a bank, with how his guards were tearing through the place. Percy couldn't blame them, it was the best way to accomplish the task he had given them. But it still wasn't a pretty sight to see the bodies of dead policemen and guards covering the floor, or civilians getting dragged around and beaten when they resisted.

Percy followed the former agent through the halls, where more and more brutal acts were being carried out. Nothing that was cruel for the sake of being cruel, Percy noted, but cruel nonetheless. Percy fought the urge to flinch as he saw a grown woman being dragged kicking and screaming through a hallway by her hair.

Eventually they reached the chamber of congress. There was lots of shouting. There was a royal guard stationed at every entrance and exit. Bodies of security lie bleeding on the floor, and members of congress demanded to know what was happening. Some even tried to break out, but they were forced back inside.

Every few seconds someone was dragged into the room and thrown onto the ground, sometimes bleeding from their head or suffering developing bruises on their face.

Percy waved off the secret service agents before motioning over the closest two royal guards stationed around the room. They joined him, flanking him on either side as he began to approach the dais at the front of the room.

"Madame speaker!" Percy's voice reverberated around the room, silencing the shouting and commotion happening around him.

As one all eyes turned towards him, including that of the speaker.

Percy smiled. "I come bearing news. You are now the President of the United States. Of course, we still have to swear you in, but I'm sure you'll agree that's a minor detail. I come with a proposition, to negotiate terms of surrender. What do you say?"

Percy could almost see the speaker shaking. But Percy had to hand it to her, she did pretty good for someone in the position she was in.

She hesitated for a moment. Percy filled the silence for her. "The president and vice president are dead. That leaves you in their position. Surrender to me, or I keep killing until I find someone who will."

She internally steeled herself. "The president does not have the authority to surrender to a foreign power, that remains the sole responsibility of the senate."

Percy shrugged. "Authority and power become so mixed up in convoluted systems, don't they? You're the commander in chief, you could always order your men to stand down, senate approval or not. Besides," Percy casually put his hands in his pockets and nodded towards where a representative had just been forcefully thrown into the room. "We're working on that whole senate thing."

She swallowed, before steeling herself. "The United States will not give in to terror—" she didn't get to finish her sentence before Nico was standing behind her on the dais, her head disconnected from her body.

There were screams, frightened whimpers, angry yelling, and some violent resistance. All of which were immediately put down.

"Now, the next one in line is president pro tempore of the senate. Is he here?" Percy asked, looking around.

After a moment one of his royal guard, who apparently had more knowledge of politics than most, came forward before dragging an old man before Percy.

Percy looked the man in the eyes, and he stared resolutely back at them. The old man was far from fearless, but he had the courage to look him in the eyes at least. Percy respected it, but that would unfortunately mean it was likely going to be much harder to break him.

"Well, what about you?" Percy asked.

The old man waited a moment before speaking. "I— I see the wisdom in submitting to your rule before more have to die," he grudgingly let out.

"Glad you see it my way!" Percy smiled slightly. It looked like he wouldn't have to kill as many people as he feared.

"Well," Percy extended his hand toward the dais, which had now been cleared of the former speaker of the house's corpse. "Your position awaits you. I eagerly await the results of the vote."

Andrew walked up to Percy. "Your majesty, we have collected every representative in the building. 98 senators and 412 members of the house are in the room."

Percy nodded. It was enough.

He turned towards the new president, who was just reaching the dais. "Well, everyone's here. I'm sure you have some sort of protocol for this sort of thing, but let's get to the good part, shall we?"

He nodded uneasily, before clearing his throat. "The motion on the floor is the capitulation of the United States to Perseus Jackson, and it's unconditional surrender." He began to call out names of senators. The first senator voted nay. Percy waved his hand, and two royal guards stepped forward to carry him out of the room, struggling to his last, doomed to an unknown fate.

The next abstained. He was carried out of the room. The next said yes, and was left alone.

Soon, the majority began to vote yes. Other representatives protested, calling them traitors. They were quickly removed from the room.

Eventually all present senators had voted.

The speaker paused lips "53 yes, 42 no. The motion does not pass."

Percy just shrugged. "Well, you only need a majority of senators present to pass a motion, right? Let's try that again."

The speaker again nodded uneasily, before repeating the motion and again calling senators to gather their votes.

A few senators decided they had found their courage to die with dignity, voting no. They were quickly carried out of the room.

Eventually, the speaker was done calling votes.

"The final vote is 47 to 6. Motion carries," he said, and even though he had cooperated he seemed resigned. "And as the president of the United States, I approve the motion. The United States has surrendered to Perseus Jackson. All soldiers are ordered to stand down."

Percy sighed in relief. Almost there.

Cameras were still rolling around the room, and he knew thousands were watching right now if not millions, and soon enough hundreds of millions of people would see this world changing event.

Percy turned to face the members of congress, and by proxy, the cameras at the back of the room.

"I know you're probably afraid, but that's okay. For most of you, little will change. Just know that while it is not something I want, any rebellion will be dealt with harshly. We can't afford to have dissent at this early juncture. I hope this transfer of rulership will be peaceful, and cause as little strife as possible." Percy spoke to the cameras. He hated flowery speeches of politics and half truths, so this was the most he was willing to do for a speech.

That being said, he was really, really glad Annabeth would take over public appearances after this.

Percy had felt surges of power as he made his way through the White House and the house legislature, but now he felt a high which was like nothing he had ever felt. Sure, he hadn't converted the entire United States, probably not even close, but he was getting there. There was very little to explain what they had seen except for Percy being of divine blood. There would be many, many headaches to come, but Percy could hopefully let his military deal with most of those.

By now in the age of the internet hundreds of millions across the globe had heard of the events that had transpired just minutes ago, and even in foreign nations millions began to buy what Percy was selling.

And so now Percy and the gods were being worshipped by dozens of times more people than had ever existed in ancient Greece, and the power was addicting, even for someone who didn't want or need it like Percy.

He felt his sensitivity to the crown on his head increase, and could almost physically feel his power over his father's domains expanding.

Percy was about ready to get out of there and move on to their last chore, but he had one more thing to say to the congress.

"As of this moment you are all now relieved of your positions. You are free to go, though you may run for election in the new upper house," he said, before waving his hand. His royal guards stepped away from the doors to the chamber, making it clear they were free to leave.

One by one the representatives began to clear out, some straight up sprinting out of the room, some deciding they were no more in danger and grouped together to discuss recent events.

Percy turned to one of the guards on his flank. "Spread the word, the guard assembles outside. We're heading to the pentagon." he ordered.

"At once your majesty." the guard responded, before walking off to spread the order.


When they arrived at the Pentagon via shadow travel, it was to a hectic scene.

Armed men ran around in dozens of different directions, and just inside they could see officers sprinting through the hallways to get to their desired destination.

As they appeared all attention was instantly drawn to them, and for the second time that day, Percy had dozens of guns pointed at him.

This time Percy was less patient, he had been dealing with this all day. He waved his hand, and every one of them fell to the floor, unconscious.

Percy turned to his three former secret service agents. "Do any of you know your way around the Pentagon?"

The one on the left nodded. "I—uh, used to be on the security detail here, your majesty. Where do you want to go?."

Percy nodded. "Take me to the main command center, with all the top brass and all that."

Percy then looked to the captain of his guard.

"Surround the pentagon, clear all entrances and exits, and make sure nobody gets in or out." Percy ordered him, before striding inside.

A lot of his royal guard would die today. After all, they were assaulting one of the most protected places on the planet with 300 people. But those that would follow his orders today would prove they are worthy of his trust. Those that were to survive will be the best of the best. And those who die for this cause will find a blessed afterlife in Hades. It was their trial by fire.

The Pentagon was a storm of gunshots, shouting, blood — everything you would expect from this manner of coup 'd'etat. Noise, bare nuisances, meaningless conflict he wished did not need to occur like in Manhattan and Long Island but could not afford the time or attention to sort it out personally. He was done with it, the repeating action. It was not difficult, in fact the lack of challenge was grating on his nerves. But the futile nature that even if he were to handle all these battles personally, not much would change — he didn't want to think about it.

He had had a break from all of this for a little bit. Talking to Sadie and his father and eating with Nico and Annabeth. It was the most free time he had gotten in months. But now that he was back to fighting battles he couldn't possibly lose, killing people who had no choice and couldn't possibly win, he was getting tired of it all again.

But he steeled himself and continued to follow the agent in front of him. A minute after they had entered the large building, Percy heard a thump behind him. Turning, he saw one of the secret service agents following him laying on the ground, Nico coming out of a swing. The agent's pistol lay on the ground, a foot from his hand.

Percy internally shrugged, oh well. It would have been too lucky if all of the agents he had recruited from the president had noble intentions.

With a gulp, his other two agents continued moving through the hallways.

Everywhere they went, there were those waiting to ambush them, or guards setting up checkpoints to protect certain parts of the pentagon.

They were all unconscious before they so much as saw Percy's little posse walking through the corridors.

Percy just hoped he was making the right decision in letting these people live. Percy decided it was the right decision in the end. It was only a few people, they couldn't do any real damage to his empire in the long run. He hoped he wasn't tempting the fates too much with that thought.

After minutes of walking they eventually arrived at a set of metal doors, completely blocking off any further progress. Percy could feel a dozen soldiers on the other side, barricades set up and rifles at the door.

Percy didn't hesitate. Pipes laden in the walls around him burst, and at once hundreds of gallons of water were drawn to him from all around the building, swirling around his right hand. Once he was satisfied with how much water he had, Percy shoved his hand forward, and the water was sent shooting towards the metal door with the force of a tank shell.

The door burst open, and Percy made sure there were no rifles to meet him on the other side.

Percy walked in ahead of his escorts, eyes surveying the mess that was the frantic command center of the (former) United States military.

Every head in the room, dozens of pairs of eyes, stared at him in disbelief as he walked through the reinforced metal door like it was made out of thatch.

It was a four star general that broke the silence. He was an old man, close to retirement. He reached over to grab a phone, before pushing a button next to it, and Percy heard his voice on the intercom outside, just behind him. "All forces, this is the chairman of the joint chiefs, lieutenant general Spears. Stand down, say again, stand down. Our commander in chief has ordered we hold fire."

Percy blinked. That's… not what he had expected.

The general then casually turned towards some junior staff in the room. "Make sure the order reaches all ends of the military. We are to stand down. Elevate back to defcon three." he ordered. The junior staff, all with sizable brass on their own shoulders, hastened to obey his orders.

Percy wasn't too shocked. There would always be turncoats, and those willing to accept the reality of a situation before others. What did shock Percy, however, was that nobody else in the room seemed to object to his orders. Percy was fully expecting the incoming slurs of traitor and turncoat, perhaps even a few attempted murders. But everyone in the room was as calm as they could be, staring at a demigod who had just walked through their door which could withstand the force of a tank ramming into it.

Percy took a second to gather his bearings—and wasn't that new—and saw the four star general facing him, in a relaxed parade rest position.

Percy just raised an eyebrow. At Percy's expectant look, the general was prompted to speak up.

"Your majesty," he acknowledged, his tone steadfast. "The command staff at the Pentagon has been advising the president to capitulate for weeks. The information we have access to here was more than enough to convince us of the validity of your divine heritage. The president, unfortunately, did not share our thoughts." he revealed.

A few officers in the room bristled. None dared move. Unlike the Secret Service these soldiers were well disciplined.

Percy let an ever so slight smile come across his face. "Well, that's good news. I would have hated to have to repeat the incident at the White House."

He was trying to be casual about the situation, but in reality Percy was not only relieved, but greatly surprised. Mortals always came up with a way to explain things other than magic. It's why the mist was more of a concept than an actual magic. Humans always found a way to rationalize things they didn't believe in.

Inwardly, Percy just shrugged. He would take what he was given. He didn't have to trust these people at face value, but for now all he needed was their authority to tell their men to stand down. A civilian commander in chief saying something on the news was one thing. The military high command sending something through the proper channels was another. Any still fighting soldiers would truly be considered outlaws.

The general straightened up a little. "The CIA and FBI share our sentiments, your majesty. They have access to the information we do as well. We are all at your service."

At his words, the few officers in the room who had not yet shaken themselves out of their shock stood straight, backs rigid and eyes forward.

Percy nodded, before turning his attention to Nico. "Let Andrew know I need a squad in here." Percy told his friend. "Oh, and I have to ask you to be in charge of intelligence."

Nico nodded wordlessly before fading into shadow.

He truly felt bad for what he was shoving on to his best friend's plate, but there would be nobody better for the job, by far.

Satisfied as he could hope to be in this situation, he surveyed the room he had just taken control of. Dozens of monitors, a cliche looking map of the planet in the middle of the room, lots of buttons, and dozens of people all staring at him, at attention. The main reason Percy was in this room specifically, other than getting the top brass to hand over their authority, was that this was the nerve center. All high end communications passed through this room, and it even had partial authority over NORAD's systems. This room had more capacity to deploy military forces than any other on the planet.

His secret service agents stood slightly behind him, fidgeting awkwardly like the rest of the room, though they were still attentive.

A couple of minutes later the heavy clanking of a dozen sets of metal armor was heard from the hallway. The clanking suddenly stopped just behind Percy, but he didn't bother turning around to greet what he knew would be waiting for him.

"Secure the room, and escort these gentlemen out of the building," he ordered his men before looking over the former US high command. "You all did well in your compliance, but you have yet proven yourselves to me, or to the gods. As of now, the upper echelon is no longer required to serve this government. Those of you with technical jobs are still required, and may keep your positions." he continued, before abruptly turning on his heel and walking out of the room, the two columns of his royal guard splitting down the middle to make way for him as he walked out of the room.

Nico still wasn't here. Percy assumed he was still working on the CIA and FBI for the moment. He knew he could call Nico back at any moment and he wouldn't hesitate to answer his call, but Percy decided to let him have time to sort it out. If Percy was being so demanding as to tell Nico to take care of the most advanced intelligence network on the planet, then he could at least give him enough time to deal with it properly.

Percy strolled casually through the hallways of the Pentagon. He knew that his secret service agents weren't sure whether to follow him or not, and so stayed behind. Percy was fine with that, he wouldn't need them for a few days, when he was setting up his security measures. Another duty he'd likely put on Nico's shoulders, if he was honest with himself.

Whereas before every several feet Percy had been met by ambushes and hasty barricades, now he was met by very, very nervous officers.

Most didn't know how to react to him. Was he now their leader, or was there really just some sort of ceasefire? Most settled for a respectful attention position, but some were more zealous, bowing or kneeling as he walked past.

Not that Percy liked the bowing or kneeling, but he really needed to come up with some official policy for that. Because if there was one thing more annoying than everyone grovelling everywhere he went, it was everyone scrambling to grovel in a disorganized and mismatched way which just came off as awkward.

Percy knew kneeling didn't come naturally for those born in the modern day. They had been taught that all men were created equal, and that everyone from the president to a homeless man on the streets of Manhattan, regardless of what level of respect they deserved, were technically equals.

And then Percy showed up and proclaimed himself God-Emperor of the planet.

Yeah, there would need to be a shift in thinking.

As amusing as it was to gauge the reactions of those around him as Percy strode through the hallways of the pentagon, he was getting rather anxious to get back to New York. Percy decided that he didn't want to find the Elder Cyclopes just yet - they could wait. He wanted to relax and spend as much time as he could with Annabeth before getting drawn into something else he would have to take care of.

So, finally deciding that the CIA could wait, Percy paused in the middle of his walk and called to his shadow.

"Nico."

And out popped Nico di Angelo. More than one person around him flipped their shit, but Percy didn't pay them any mind.

"I think it's time we head back to Manhattan." Percy suggested.

Nodding, Nico took Percy's shoulder, and they reappeared just before the Empire State Building.

A building which had smoke billowing from it.

All around Percy and Nico soldiers ran around in a flurry, the still working firefighters hosing down the floors halfway up the building which had smoke billowing from them and rushing past them into the building, scaling stairs as fast as they could.

Military and police alike held back the public from getting a closer look at the catastrophe, and the building and its surroundings themselves were under complete military occupation. Squads of soldiers ran back and forth to different destinations, keeping order.

Percy reached out blindly and grabbed onto the uniform of a passing sergeant, before pulling the poor soldier in front of him.

"What. Happened." Percy growled. He was not pleased that his capitol building had been attacked.

The sergeant gulped, but answered him all the same. "An explosion went off approximately ten minutes ago, your majesty. It hit the 47th floor, but was directed upwards, so it only affected up to the 50th or so." he gave his report, everything that he had been briefed on.

The sergeant continued, advising Percy not to stay around the structure, as they weren't sure that it was stable, and he was in danger by being near the building.

But Percy wasn't listening.

The 47th floor.

The 47th floor.

The 47th floor was Annabeth's floor.

Without giving himself time to think, water burst through the piping in the streets and from the neighboring buildings, and pulled itself from the water vapor in the air, launching him into the sky, towards the 47th floor.

When Percy got there seconds later there was smoke. Lots and lots of pure black smoke, which he couldn't see through.

With the water he rode, Percy smothered the remaining flames, eradicating every last chance for another spark. Filtering through the broken shards of windows, the wind at his back began clearing away the smoke. Percy, with earnest vigilance and fear floated himself down, and onto the remaining husks of the 47th floor.

A more horrific sight awaited him as the veil of smoke settled. Melted plaster met body parts strewn all over the floor. There was no order to the death, only chaotic crisp char that Percy could only assume was fried blood. The few faces he could make out among the bodies were stuck in positions that would haunt Percy's nightmares for years.

He moved forward, cursing. She had to be alive.

She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't.

They'd survived gods damned Tartarus together. From hell and back, they'd made it.

His feet, legs, body, all moving on auto-pilot, as he stepped over the ashy remains of his workers.

It simply didn't register. He didn't. It couldn't. It would not. Gods, they should've been untouchable. The titans had failed. The giants, even two primordials. But then why hadn't she sent him an Iris message? She must have been dealing with the explosion personally. It had hit her floor, after all. Yeah, that was it.

But when Percy showed up to where her office was, he froze.

Sitting behind her desk, was Annabeth.

Her skin was black and flaky, and her eyes stared into space. Her hair had been burned off, and Percy knew that she wasn't there anymore.

But it was her.

And for the first time in many, many years, Percy cried.

He didn't fall to his knees, then and there. He didn't even feel anything at first, for a while. He knew her dying was a possibility, had subconsciously expected the worst as soon as he had seen the state of the Empire State Building.

When he saw her corpse he tried to remain strong, to hold back any tears he might have, to beat back any feelings of sadness. And for a while he succeeded. For a few, terrifying moments he worried that he had lost his sanity — his humanity.

But then the sobs came. The first ones came unexpectedly, and wrenched itself from somewhere deep inside him. He knew that somewhere in Tartarus, Akhlys was cackling at his misery.

Percy walked up beside her desk, and sat down against the wall. But he didn't touch her. And he wanted to, more than anything he wanted to touch her one last time. But Percy knew that if he reached out to touch Annabeth, and she was cold…

He wouldn't be able to hold it together.

Percy cried for minutes, then, like he hadn't since he was a child..

Then, the sadness turned to anger. This hadn't been some freak accident. She hadn't died naturally. Someone had done this. And that someone would pay.

Pipes for hundreds of miles erupted, hundreds of flash tsunamis appeared, and across the planet hurricanes and monsoons roared to life, taking thousands of lives a second cumulatively.

Thunder roared with each beat of his heart, and Percy could barely hold himself back from submerging the planet.

And he could. Oh, how he could. It would be so tempting, to just sink everything. Hit the restart button, and just crush everything that existed. But he tried to control himself. He tried to limit how many others had to lose their lovers today.

"Percy. You need to stop!" Nico shouted over the raging winds from the door frame to her office. Winds the speed of record breaking tornadoes were buffeting past them, and the Empire State Building began to ever so slightly sway back and forth.

Nico was watching helplessly as Percy tore apart his own city, and the rest of the planet along with it. It was more than a repeat of Jason's death to him. So much more.

Nico was caught off guard as Percy suddenly stood up, grabbing Nico by his neck, lifting him up, and pinning him against a wall.

Percy held him up against the wall, his eyes an endless pool of turbulent water, as dark as the depths of the ocean, and for the first time in his life, Nico was genuinely scared of Percy.

"You did this," Percy spat. "This was your job, to keep me safe, to keep her, this building, safe. It was your job to stop things like this from happening." He accused Nico.

Even as Percy was saying the words, he knew deep down that they weren't true. Nico couldn't focus on more than a couple places at once. Percy knew this. He knew that he had been piling more and more responsibilities on top of Nico, making him hard pressed to keep up without an incident like this happening. But Percy kept those thoughts where they were, deep down. He didn't want rationality right now, he needed something to blame, and right now Nico fit that billet.

Nico choked, gasping for air, and grabbed at Percy's hand around his neck, trying to pry it away on pure instinct.

Of course, both of them could have escalated this. Nico could have tried to draw his sword, or attack him with the shadows surrounding them both, or shadow travel out of his grip. And Percy could have popped him like a balloon. But Nico wasn't struggling, not really. Even now he wouldn't lift a hand against Percy. And Percy knew this, as such he was perfectly happy to slowly squeeze the life out of his little cousin.

Percy held Nico in his grasps for several seconds, resisting the temptation to crush his throat in his hand. And the temptation was strong. He blamed Nico for this, for the lapse in security, for allowing her to be hurt. And how easy it would have been to kill Nico. Just the flex of his hand, and Nico diAngelo would be history. But that part of Percy that knew deep down that Nico couldn't really have done anything to prevent her death stopped him. He had just lost the love of his life, he didn't want to lose his best friend too. Then, he might truly go insane, permanently.

Percy came to the conclusion that keeping Nico in his grip was doing more harm than good, and released him.

The storms buffeting New York calmed down. They were still record breaking, they were still causing thousands of deaths, and they were still something that Percy would live to regret; but they were calming all the same.

"Find out who did this." was Percy's simple command, and he struggled to keep his voice from breaking.

Instead, he turned his back to Nico, and walked to where Annabeth sat motionless.

He sat down next to her desk again, and didn't move.

Not for the first time, Percy wondered if any of this was worth it. How many people would he have to lose before there was no more death.

Perhaps the worst part, is that Percy had no idea how he could have prevented this. When Jason died in a battle, Percy resolved to end the war, to make sure none of his friends had to fight anymore. And he had done that.

But then Annabeth had died from what? A terrorist attack? What could Percy have done to prevent that? What should he have done? Be more ruthless, be more kind? Percy was left directionless.

Percy had no idea how long he was sitting there, numb to everything around him, but he knew by the time he was conscious of the surrounding world again, it still hadn't sunk in that his wise girl was really gone. Not completely.

At some point Percy felt the seas being gently wrestled out of his control. Percy let go, likely to his father wanting to make sure there would be some mortals left over after today.

Eventually though, Percy was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed Nico was standing silently at the entrance to Annabeth's office. Nico wasn't going to interrupt Percy's grieving, it seemed. He had no desire to get that close to death again.

When Percy looked up at Nico, he took that as his cue. He pulled out a stone tablet before walking forward a couple steps and laying it in front of Percy.

Percy picked up the stone tablet and examined it. His blood went cold at what he saw.

Fire.

Death.

Smoke.

Various words were written on it in Ancient Greek, sprawled across the tablet in a seemingly random fashion.

"I found this tablet directly beneath the epicenter of the explosion." Nico told him.

Percy took slow, deep breaths to keep himself from lashing out again. It was in Greek. One of their own had done this. Who, though? A demigod? Percy couldn't completely discount it, but why? Was it a god? Again, he couldn't discount it, but a god wouldn't need to use a tablet, and the gods had the least reason out of anyone to kill Annabeth. This would be a major setback to getting them as many of their previous worshippers as possible.

Egyptian magicians would also be possible, but they would have had to do it independently. Percy knew Carter wouldn't soon cross him. Not only that, but the terrorist had access to Greek magic, as well as the knowledge on how to use it.

The most likely conclusion that Percy could come to was that there was a traitor working in their magic branch.

Percy stopped himself from crushing the tablet in his hand in anger. It was someone working for Sasha, it had to be.

Percy coldly looked up to Nico. "Lock down the island, and gather up everyone working under Sasha in the magic branch. I want them in one room under triple armed guard." He ordered.

"The order has already been given, your majesty." Nico responded with an incline of his head.

Percy nodded and slowly stood up. Steeling once more at the sight of Annabeth's body. Percy wanted to burn her shroud at Camp Half-Blood right now, but he would never forgive himself if he let her killer get away because he wasn't there.

Percy took a lingering glance at Annabeth's still face, before he reached out an arm towards Nico. "Take me to them."

Nico took his arm, and a moment later they were enveloped in shadow. Reappearing before a single room in a long hallway, Percy barely paid any mind to the guards standing in front of the door. There was a full squad of fully armed and armored soldiers guarding the single entrance to the room.

When they saw him appear from shadow they hastened to a mix of bowing, saluting, kneeling, and standing at attention. Percy was reminded—annoyingly—that he needed to come up with some sort of protocol so that it wasn't such a mess every time Percy walked into a room. That problem, though, was at the bottom of his priority list right now.

Percy walked right through the door, and was greeted to a room as large as a school gym, likely used as some sort of convention center.

Guards lined every wall except for one, where there were an assortment of civilians, which Percy wouldn't have been able to pick out as being different than anyone else on the street. A full array of guards stood in front of the line of mystic researchers, guns up and at the ready, waiting for any movement. Percy was at least satisfied with the security, nobody would be escaping this room without some serious firepower.

Backs straightened when Percy walked in, but there were no greetings of 'your majesty', or any such thing. The room was dead silent, save the sound of his footsteps on the carpeted floor.

Percy walked to the middle of the room and faced the wall housing the arcane researchers, studying the individuals in front of him. He didn't say anything. He didn't have anything to say, not really.

Part way through his observations Percy noticed that Sasha was also one of the people on the wall. As much as Percy could shove the blame onto her just like he did to Nico, she was sworn to him, just like Nico. And so he knew that despite his anger, she had no active part in the attack. Percy gestured for her to leave the wall, and come to him.

Percy finally broke the silence. "The cause of the explosion was this tablet. It's an Ancient Greek tome, and the most likely perpetrator, by far, is someone in your branch. Is everyone here?"

Sasha nodded. "Yes, your majesty. Everyone in my branch is lined up before you. We were all working on my floor when the explosion happened." she revealed.

"It is possible that the tome was left there as a red herring, your majesty. It seems almost too easy an answer." Nico pointed out from behind him.

"May I?" Sasha asked, nodding at the tome in Percy's hand.

He handed it to her, and she started examining it, softly whispering the Ancient Greek words under her breath.

She shook her head. "This is definitely from my floor. I saw it before, but didn't consider it useful because a bomb could do basically the same thing, and a bomb is easier to activate."

Percy's right hand tightened into a fist. This ignorance would not be repeated. "Was anyone outside of this room allowed access to your floor?"

She shook her head. "Your royal guard did sweeps periodically for security purposes, but because they've been so busy recently they've only done one sweep in the past several days, and I saw them leave. I'm certain they didn't take anything." she confirmed.

Percy's nails began to draw blood from his hand as he stared at the line of people before him. So, they knew for sure that his love's killer was in this room, in front of him.

Percy aggressively turned towards Nico.

"Do you have any way of figuring out who did it?"

Nico shook his head. "Not for certain. We could ask lord Apollo, but it's likely that it would be considered breaking the ancient laws. The only other person I could think of would be Mnemosyne, but nobody's seen her for a good few thousand years," Nico answered. "If they were dead, the judges of the afterlife could search through their memories, or I could compel them to tell the truth, but they're annoyingly," Nico gestured at the long line of starkly silent people. "Alive."

Percy turned back to Sasha. "And you? Any truth potions or spells you can cook up?"

She looked down. "I could look into it further, but not that I know of your majesty."

Percy let out a slow sigh, and paused. "I was really hoping to be able to have the satisfaction of taking the life of her killer personally, but I'll have to take solace in knowing her killer is dead."

There was another pregnant silence.

"Kill them all."

Next Chapter: August 18