Beta'd by Praetorfable
Co-Written by Vanadium Oxide
"The pope? How many divisions has he got."
- Joseph Stalin
Chapter XIX: A Genocide
The Thirteenth of June
Thirty Eight Days A.B.M
Thalia stood with her arms crossed on top of a low building, observing the streets below her.
Not that there was much to observe. It was more of the same, prisoners being escorted through the streets, taken back to Imperial camps to be kept prisoners until Percy decided what to do with them. Knowing him, he might just release most of them, but they couldn't let them go until they had the say-so.
Thalia scanned the skyline instead, looking as far as she could from her relatively low vantage point. The CN tower glistened in the distance, a barely visible American flag hanging on one of the windows.
Toronto had fallen within the hour. The limiting factor for how far they could push was logistics, as they found any forces that intercepted them were dismantled in seconds.
The plan had changed, as far as Thalia could tell from the frontline. They pushed straight through Hamilton and into Toronto, storming it by force and taking the entire population center with barely a casualty.
Thalia sighed. If this is what it felt like to battle mortals, she had no trouble believing Percy had grown bored of it long ago. It wasn't even a fight, just a flex of will and poof.
She couldn't even compare it to stomping on ants. Ants might get away, scurry through the cracks or avoid your gaze. Ants could be annoying and hard to find. It was more like… like she was playing with toy soldiers, and could choose to swipe an arm and knock out every one of them at once.
A breathless soldier burst through the door behind her, coming out onto the roof. A light drizzle was coming down over Toronto. Nothing compared to the storm she'd had going a few minutes ago, just a small shower to keep her more destructive urges at bay.
Thalia turned back and raised an eyebrow. "How can I help you?"
Instead of answering he handed her a slightly crumpled up envelope, with a familiar seal.
"His majesty has ordered you back to Forward Command, my lady."
Thalia ripped open the envelope. It contained a very short letter, essentially asking her to high tail it back to the command tent.
As she nodded at the contents, she glanced at the out-of-breath soldier, who was doing his best to stand upright. Biting her cheek, she asked out of curiosity, "Where did you run from?"
The runner gulped in another breath, before straightening to a salute. "Our new Forward Post in Toronto, my lady. That is, er — about six miles away."
Seven, actually, she silently corrected in her head, before giving him a more thorough looking. He wore full combat gear, rifle, rations, ammunition. She gave a conservative estimate of eighty pounds. He'd run seven miles — through the pouring rain — just to deliver her mail.
How inefficient. Couldn't Percy just Iris-Message her if he needed to contact her?
Thalia extended her arm and not a second later a golden hawk rested on it, diving from where it had been circling in the sky.
Plucking one of the golden feathers, she reached out and stuck it in his helmet. "I'm not usually one for praise, but you've served your emperor well today. Wear the feather with pride."
With a 'caw' the hawk took off, and Thalia was soon after it. She had a call to take.
"Your majesty." Percy was sure Thalia was fighting not to let out a mocking drawl. Considering she had even called him by his title, he was sure she wasn't alone at wherever she was calling him from.
"Thalia. Back at the FOB I assume?"
He imagined her shrugging on the other line. "Something like that, more a grouping of tents than anything. It reminds me of what we'd have in a foreign country."
Percy winced. "Yeah, my takeover, believe it or not, caused a couple logistics issues. How are things there?"
"We've secured Toronto. As far as I'm aware the show is over here, we just need to move in and clean up. A lot of the last European soldiers are coming around to our way of thinking, it seems. The whole thing with governments being overthrown left and right back on the home continent is causing a bit of confusion here."
Percy nodded. "Good, I've heard it's a similar story on the southern front. Honestly, I didn't expect everything to be done so quickly. I'll send Nico to pick you up."
"As you say, your majesty." The call disconnected. Percy didn't need to so much as nod at Nico before he was gone, returning a few moments later with Thalia.
"Thanks. Can you grab Piper, and put us all in the war room?" Nico didn't blink at the request, quickly teleporting away, coming back with a confused Piper, and then they were all in the shadow realm, on their way to the spire. Moments later they appeared in the war room. High Command were buzzing all over the place, including Darlton. Reyna, for one reason or another, was absent.
"Hail, your majesty!" Darlton kneeled to him, and the rest of the room teetered to a halt to do the same.
Percy more or less ignored them, walking up to the war room map. Thalia, Nico, and Piper trailed behind him. The map was colored in several different colors, with multiple symbols to represent where their forces were. Countries were colored a few different colors, and he could guess from the map what each one meant. The couple countries that were blue had aligned themselves with his empire. Greece, Italy, Macedonia, a couple more balkan countries and a few others scattered around the globe.
France, Canada, Mexico, and many others were colored red, which doubtless meant they were at war. Percy winced, he hadn't realized before how much of the planet had suddenly decided to declare war on him. Well, he couldn't quite blame them. Wouldn't they begin having supply issues, even among their civilian population? Maybe they were, and Percy just didn't know because he hadn't bothered asking.
"Sorry, Nico. Could you grab Miss Sharpe and Lacey for me as well?"
Nico gave a quick bow before disappearing. This time, it took some time for him to return, to the point Piper had almost gathered up the nerve to ask why she was here, and Darlton almost gathered up the nerve to ask if his men could return to work. But Nico did return with Lacey and Maria, the latter of which looked a bit frazzled. When she saw him, she quickly made to kneel. "Your maje-"
"Good, now that everyone's here. Darlton." Darlton straightened, and Nico tugged Maria off her knees. "This is the beginning of our offensive. Maria, I want you to create a shortlist of countries we should prioritize control over for economic reasons. Darlton, I want the same for strategic reasons. Speaking of which, where's Reyna?"
"She's resting on your personal floor. We've been rotating shifts for some time now to keep operations going 24/7 here, your majesty."
Percy nodded reluctantly. He would've preferred Reyna to be present, but considering the responsibilities they'd collected over the last few months, rest was important. To be honest, he was kind of running on fumes at the moment himself. Speaking of which, Nico and Thalia had had even less rest than him…
"When the General and Prime Minister are done, Piper, Thalia, and Nico. I want you to have your pick, Piper first. When you're done, repeat the process. Darlton, you can as good as assume that wherever they will be, the country will be ours by the end of the day. I want you to organize troops to begin occupying these countries. Use foreign forces from Italy or Greece if you need to, or even militias from other nations which have pledged themselves to us. Lacey, note everything down for me please. But before that." Percy eyed Nico's waist, which was distinctly bereft of his sword. "Thalia, Nico, get some sleep. A few hours, at least."
For once, Nico opened his mouth to protest along with Thalia before Percy leveled a glare at both of them. "I don't remember asking for your opinions."
Thalia visibly grit her teeth, while he only felt Nico grit his. But in the end, neither of them protested. He felt a bit bad, he knew he never wanted to have to pull rank on them like this, but if it was for their own wellbeing and not just some power trip, he figured it was alright. Thalia pointedly avoided his gaze, walked to the balcony outside, and leaped off of it. Nico bowed and dissolved into shadow.
Percy let his gaze wander across the room for a few minutes. The only one who would meet his eyes was Piper, who just stared back at him. Everyone else looked to the ground, either out of fear or reverence. It disgusted him, but quite a bit less than it probably should have. This was the reputation he had built for himself — or rather, the reputation the gods had hoisted upon him.
No, that was a lie. He could have done things more peacefully. Announced the gods presence and met with the president, he could have been more peaceful. He could have refused to kill anyone, tried to settle things peacefully, and maybe he even could have passed off this new policy of Zeus' as some sort of positive change to stop unwitting people from being condemned to the fields of punishment.
But no, he was a flawed person. Sometimes, he wanted to do things the easy way, the only way he knew how. With violence.
Percy walked out of the room with measured paces, the only sound in the room his footsteps and the slight clanking of his armor.
It was times like these he wished he could simply dissolve into a sea mist and reappear where he wished, but he was no god. And so he was stuck jumping over the railing himself, slowing and then catching himself after the several thousand foot fall down to Earth.
Percy let his feet come to rest just outside of the Cyclopes forges, not pausing for a moment before he continued into the building.
When Percy entered the building it was quite the sight. The three elder Cyclopes whirled throughout the room, hammering away at various ingots, carefully cooling a metal in what Percy could only assume was the lethe, or even melting one down in the Phlegethon. Percy had expected the bevy of activity, but what he didn't quite expect was the care with which they did it. Instead of striking with great force, they struck with great precision, instead of rushing things they… took their time. Perhaps that was why Percy's creations had never turned out all that well, he never did have the patience for it.
Another thing he noticed is that they were seemingly too busy to notice him, absorbed as they were in their work. Nico's sword rested on an anvil, half of it deformed and melted to the point Percy hardly recognized it. The sword of Erebus, (or rather the fraction that was left) rested over a pit of flames. It almost looked like normal fire around the edges of the brazier, but where the flames touched Erebus' blade they were a midnight black, and Percy could swear he heard whispering coming from the flames.
He just observed for a few moments, careful not to disturb them. He had come here to make sure everything went well, not distract them and detract from their work.
"Ah, young emperor!"
One of the Cyclopes called to him, still busy focusing on melting down the Stygian iron in his tongs, but calling out to him nonetheless. That one was Brontes, he was pretty sure. Or was it Steropes?
"Hello. I'm just here to make sure you have everything you need."
"Everything we need yes, yes. We have all we need. More than we had, even, than when we were creating your father's weapon, and his brothers. We simply require one last thing."
Percy quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, what's that?"
"The boy, Nico. We need him here, preferably at full power, when the sword is being forged."
Percy looked around, unsure what this was if it wasn't forging a sword. "When do you need him?"
Instead of answering he glanced over to one of his brothers. "Arges, how long until the dark one's blade is ready for melding?"
Arges grunted, "Sixteen hours perhaps. The boy must be here throughout the whole process, young one. We will need him here for many days."
Percy blinked. "How many days is 'many' days?"
Arges and either Steropes or Brontes — he still wasn't sure — shared a glance.
"Perhaps three days and three nights shall be sufficient. If we are quick of hand it will be two, if we are slow of hand it will be four or five."
Percy winced, five days was a lot of time to tie up his right hand man and chief enforcer. But it was worth it. For something this useful… he had to.
Instead of voicing his thoughts Percy just nodded. "He'll be here, then. If there is anything else you need just ask."
Arges grunted, while the one which had been quiet so far waved him off. "We will be fine, young emperor, thank you."
Percy nodded, turning on his heel and leaving the building.
That also meant that Nico couldn't help with taking countries even after he woke up, so that he could conserve power. He wouldn't be very happy about that.
He considered what to do after Nico had his 'symbol of power' created. Should Thalia get one, or should he forge his own first?
While he had a primordial artifact to potentially forge into Riptide — though a large part of him was revolted at the thought of ever doing anything to Anaklusmos — Thalia had no such thing. It was a shame the search for primordial artifacts was going so slowly, but there wasn't much he could do to help that. If she had a symbol of power created, it would certainly be powerful — likely more powerful than any of them would ever need — but it wouldn't be primordial level powerful.
Percy ran a hand through his hair. He'd have a few days to think about it at least. Probably more, considering they'd need time to prepare for the next forging.
Having done what he came there to do Percy walked away from the forge, beginning to walk down the closed off street.
Considering this particular stretch of road hosted the senate building, his tower, and the spire, it was locked down pretty tight. Military stood guarding every foot of the perimeter at all hours of the day, and temporary barricades had been put up to stop any vehicles from entering the area. Anyone that needed to enter was heavily screened before the fact.
Now done checking in on the cyclopes, Percy was left with a problem he didn't often have; he had nothing to do.
He could… what? Sit in on a senate meeting? All that would do was prevent any debate from happening, which meant more resentment would be caused in the long term. Despite him not having to care about things like opinion, it genuinely wasn't his goal to ruffle everyone's feathers. The mortals were better off if they could more or less govern themselves, and that meant he couldn't be staring over their shoulder 24/7, at least not visibly.
He could… go put down a riot? That might help a little, but it would probably be seen as demeaning or something. Besides, despite how many people he had killed early on he still wasn't a fan of doing that sort of stuff. It made him feel… dirty.
Then he could go practice with his powers. That was an option, but really it was kind of stale. He'd been practicing with his powers a lot recently, and, well… he wanted to do something else. Even he could get bored sometimes — scratch that, a lot.
Sasha and Sadie were both busy learning tricks from each other — though he imagined that the latter was teaching the former more than the other way around. Nothing on Sasha, she was genuinely talented. But Sadie had been honing her craft for far longer.
That was another problem he had to sort out, his whole incredibly messed up romantic life. He needed to go for a walk to clear his head or something.
He glanced around, at the closed off street around him, the armed barricade in the way of anyone else.
Well, why not?
Percy began walking down the street. He vaguely noted that a few of his royal guards had scrambled to escort him, and several of the military at the blockade scrambled to make way for him. The scene was quickly echoed on the street. Civilians leapt out of the way, or if they didn't quite in time the royal guards did it for them. Most people took out their phones and began to excitedly chatter, though soon more and more of them began to kneel.
Percy didn't really pay attention to that. He paid attention to the sky, and the few pigeons that hopped along the ground. Most curiously stared at him, but one or two flew up to say hi.
Percy said hi back.
There was always the sense at the back of his head telling him where everyone around him was, what everyone was doing, but mostly he was oblivious, staring at the sky.
It was… pleasant. It felt bittersweet to walk through New York again. The sights were all the same, the buildings, the smell… but the people had changed. At least, to him. Never again could he make his way through a bustling crowd, or fight to get into a subway car before it was full.
It was… different, is all. He missed the parts of regular life he never thought he would.
Percy shrugged, continuing to walk along the sidewalk. Maybe… maybe one day he would grow used to it.
The Twenty-third of June
Forty Eight Days A.B.M
0600 GMT+1
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, sitrep? Over."
"1 Romeo this is 1-3, all quiet over here, over."
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, solid copy. Over."
0700 GMT+1
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo. Sitrep, over."
"1 Romeo this is 1-3. I've sent out a fireteam to scout some thermal signatures but otherwise we're all good over here, over."
"Afirm, keep me updated."
0723 GMT+1
"1 Romeo this is 1-3. Be advised, our men have come in contact with hostile FOs. No signs of other hostile elements, over."
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, solid copy. We'll toss it up."
"..."
"1-3, this is 1 Romeo, be advised. Company has ordered we hold position, over."
"1 Romeo this is 1-3, solid copy. Over."
0756 GMT+1
"1 Romeo this is 1-3, be advised, we have eyes on a platoon sized element of hostile mechanized on the northern road. How would platoon like us to proceed? Over."
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, ROE has been lifted. You're clear to engage, over."
0812 GMT +1
"1 Romeo this is 1-3. We require medevac for three times individuals, over."
"1-4 this is 1 Romeo, proceed with triage, over."
"Solid copy. We have three times injured individuals, one times-"
"Break. Break. Break. All Aardvark elements this is Aardvark 7. Hostile royal forces inbound, consolidate and take cover."
"1 Romeo this is 1-3. Does that mean what I think it means? Over."
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, that's an afirm. Say your prayers. Over."
0934 GMT +1
"1-3 this is 1 Romeo, ACER, over."
"1 Romeo this is 1-3, we're red, red, red. Say again, we are not combat effective. Most of our squad is a casualty. Requesting permission to fall back, over?"
"Belay that 1-3. All Aardvark 1 elements, regroup at RP Delta. We've been ordered to leave the city by regiment."
"1 Romeo this is 1-1. Say again, is Prague lost? Over."
"..."
"1-1 this is 1 Romeo. That's an afirm. Prague has been lost. We've been directed to link up with Polish armed forces, over."
1000 GMT-4
"Your majesty, currently we've managed to progress far into Europe, especially considering our timeline. The only major roadblock we face is the Russian forces inbound to reinforce from the east. We've already requested Thalia move to disrupt them."
Percy sighed. "What's the estimated time until we're done in Europe?"
Reyna hesitated. "It's… complicated. It's likely that morale over anything else will decide how quick this will be. We have received numerous reports of soldiers surrendering and there's also civil strife back home. We expect capitulation to take some time but if we count on a psychological triumph to secure an early victory, then likely about two weeks to secure every nation's infrastructure, and another two to clean up remaining resistance."
Percy nodded. "Is there any way to step up recruitment back here? Or to get more from Europe?"
Reyna pursed her lips. "Anyone we convinced to join up now would still be in training by the time we're done with Europe. That being said, our first wave of imperial recruits is nearly done with their training. Some of our losses should be recouped in the coming days."
Percy nodded. "What's our biggest problem right now? What can we work on? Would it help if I joined in the fighting?"
Reyna shook her head. "Not particularly. Our main bottleneck at the moment is that this is probably the least organized army known to man. We have the remnants of the US army, the militias which have contacted us wishing to help, we have several European militaries rolled into one, and even then there's significant resistance in those countries still. We're stretched thin, really. Hanging on by a thread. Even Piper can't help much, considering she can only convince the people she speaks to directly."
Percy sighed. It seemed like there really was nothing he could do. "Alright, keep me updated. If there's anything I can do to make this better…"
"You could relax our deadlines. The issue isn't defeating enemy armies at this point, a combination of the US military, Thalia, and Nico have seen to that. We simply can't secure this amount of territory so quickly, it's never been done in military history. Maybe if there wasn't rampant resistance we'd have an easier time, but…"
"But there is. I… wouldn't it be easier to just stomp all our enemies in Europe first and then double back to suppress resistance?"
Reyna shook her head. "Quicker? Maybe. Easier? Definitely not. It's a logistical nightmare, and way more of our men will die than if we just hold the line against Russia with Thalia and Nico. If we stopped now and were given a week or two to consolidate, then maybe—"
"You don't have a week or two. What if the locals were more cooperative? Would that help any?"
"A great deal, yes. But—"
"If you were left with a completely subservient populace, would you hypothetically be able to hold Europe in the next couple weeks?"
"...probably, but there'd still be the issues of—"
"I don't care what other issues there are. If you can hold it, that's all I care about." thunder rolled in the distance. Percy paused, and took a breath. "Look, the faster this is over the less people have to die in the long run. The faster we can stop expanding the military every day, the faster our people can stop starving and the faster we can go back to rebuilding. Nothing else will matter once this is all over."
Reyna sighed, but nodded. "How exactly do you plan on making the population subservient?"
Instead of answering, Percy turned slightly away from the table.
"Nico."
He appeared within the second, kneeling. His new sword was in its sheath at his side, looking for all the world like nothing had changed. Percy had pulled off the same trick as he had with his crown.
Nico's sword, it seemed, was actually more powerful than his crown at the moment, though Percy had also gotten much stronger.
Honestly, he wasn't sure who was 'stronger' between the two. If he had to guess it would likely be Nico, but at the level they were at, did it truly make any difference? He kind of figured it didn't. But that didn't make it any less weird being less powerful than one of his 'servants'.
"In which country is the sentiment against us the worst? The one we're least likely to turn to our cause."
"Likely China." he said after a moment.
Percy winced. That was probably true, but it didn't exactly work well with what he was planning. Not because he couldn't follow through, but that he'd much rather not.
"Preferably something with much less population." he said.
Nico shrugged. "North Korea? It's probably the most sparsely populated in east Asia, and it's completely locked down."
Percy blinked. "That's actually… perfect. Lacey."
Said girl stepped out from the side of the room, tablet at the ready.
"Yes, your majesty?"
"Have Piper go to South Korea. I need them to publicly throw their support behind me within the day. Nico can transport her if needed. Meanwhile, Nico, get our intelligence agencies running propaganda saying we're going to be sinking the Korean peninsula because of their rejection of the gods. Reyna… get as many ships as you can near North Korea, ready to run a quiet search and rescue."
Reyna's eyes widened. "Wait, you're actually going to sink an entire peninsula of people?"
He shrugged. "Only half of it. It's… unfortunate for those people, but they've been brainwashed since birth anyway. There's virtually no chance of them surrendering peacefully."
"On the contrary! If Piper speaks to their leader, they'll all fall in line with whatever he says. It'll be the most peaceful transition we can possibly have."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you want to organize them speaking?"
"Nico could shadow travel her in there, or… or something! As long as she's face to face with him, right?"
Percy waived it off. "Then who would you prefer to kill instead of an evil dictator and his brainwashed tribe of citizens? And besides as Nico said, compared to the rest of Asia it's barely populated."
Reyna clenched a fist and grit her teeth, but in the end she just dipped her head.
"As you say, your majesty."
Percy frowned. Half the reason he had her in the position he did is because she wouldn't just back off like every mortal he could put in the position. Though, he supposed there was a point where arguing was just counterproductive. He'd talk to her about it later when they were in a more private setting than the middle of the command center.
"Anyway, Lacey, Nico. You both know what you need to do. This shouldn't take you too long but it does take priority over the war, Nico."
Nico just nodded, dipping his head further and disappearing into shadows.
Lacy quickly bowed, writing something down and stepping back, busy on her tablet.
Percy himself quickly turned and left the room through the balcony. He didn't need people to like him to rule — for the first time in history a ruler could rule through their own force of arms without relying on anyone else. And yet, it didn't feel good.
He knew it was silly to think about things like that when he was dealing with things on the scale he currently was. When he was sinking a small country to prove a point, killing hundreds of thousands, it didn't seem fair for him to complain about his social life.
And yet, he was still left unhappy, more or less.
Percy shook his head, leaping off of the balcony to head back to his tower. When this was all over, when the war was done and he was indisputed emperor of the mortals, then he could disappear to a cabin in the woods somewhere with his friends, and just… enjoy life. Maybe he'd even return to camp half-blood to beg for Chiron's forgiveness.
But there was something wrong about that, too. Did he truly deserve forgiveness, after all he'd done, all he still had to do? No, he knew he didn't. Out of the 7 billion people on earth, perhaps he deserved peace the least. But that didn't stop him from wanting it.
Percy swallowed, landing feet first on the pavement. He… he'd figure it out. Eventually.
The Twenty Fourth of June
Twenty Nine Days ABM
Percy threw the shield as hard as he could into the distance. Well, not quite as hard as he could manage, that would definitely be to everyone's detriment, but he threw it pretty far.
The enormous black shape of his dog bounded into the distance in pursuit, tongue flapping in the wind. Miniature earthquakes seemed to be set off whenever she landed on her forepaws. Percy smiled, genuinely enjoying his day so far. It had been a little bit of a vacation for him. He would need to speak with the Cyclopes about forging another symbol of power, and then he would have to deal with… that situation. But so far, the day had not been all that bad.
Percy felt his smile waver as Nico appeared behind him. The sight of Nico himself might have been welcome, except Percy knew exactly why he was here.
Mrs. O'Leary bounded back towards them, laying the slobbery bronze shield at Percy's feet and then wandering over to Nico and shoving him with her nose. Nico seemed to appreciate not needing to take a shower, if anything else, because he patted her on the snout.
"Showtime?" Percy winced.
Nico just nodded, reaching out a hand.
Percy waved it off. "I don't need to be anywhere for this. If anything I'd rather avoid any prying eyes while committing half a genocide."
He turned back towards the field they sat in front of, where he had been throwing the shield for Mrs. O'Leary and sat down, resting his weight on his palms.
He glanced back at Nico and jerked his head. Shrugging, Nico plopped down next to him. Mrs. O'Leary made herself comfortable laying down behind them, her nose just barely poking into the space between the two.
Percy pulled up a few blades of grass, twisting them in his fingers and just enjoying the sun.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Percy spoke up.
"When did I become this way? I used to be some kid. Running around fighting monsters and gods sure, but still a kid, just trying to survive. When did… when did it become this complicated?" he glanced over at Nico, who remained silent. "I mean, I've threatened the removal of an entire race if they don't bow to me, and then ordered someone who now hates me into brainwashing half of them to worship me. Then I deliberately let the other half forsake me, just so that I can sink them and show off my power, to get the world to fear me. When did I become the villain?"
Nico hesitated. "I don't want to say there's no going back, because you can pretty much do whatever you want. But I did as you instructed, the entire world is waiting to see if you follow through on your threat. If you don't now, everything just becomes a whole lot harder."
Percy waved it off. "No no, I already did it, North Korea has been underwater for a few minutes now. I'm aware I am the villain, I'm even okay with it to a certain extent. I know that, even if nobody else can see it, what I'm doing — the actions I'm taking — truly are for the good of the average person. I'm just wondering when that happened. Was it the battle of Manhattan? Was it after that, when I proclaimed myself emperor? Or was it even sooner than that, when everyone at camp treated me like a living legend, and I led them all to death?" He glanced over at Nico, who was staring at his own blade of grass.
"You're not the villain, Percy. Maybe… maybe that's what half the world sees you as right now. Maybe half the world thinks you're the devil incarnate. But the other half? They think you're a god, that you've come to bring them salvation and dispense justice, to lead them towards glory. I know you hate when people think the latter, so why would you pay any attention to the former?"
Percy considered that for a moment.
"I think it's because… even a year ago, I would have seen myself as the villain. Even knowing everything I do, knowing the circumstances and the reasoning behind my actions, my past self would have condemned me absolutely for what I've done. He would have found another way, a more peaceful way… A way I've lost the will to try and find, impossible as it seems. If I was alive today — as I was a year ago, I mean — then I'd stop at nothing to stop myself, if that makes any sense. It's not a matter of public perception, it's a matter of what I would have thought, before… everything."
Nico didn't have an answer to that, apparently, because he stayed silent for quite a long time. It was only fifteen minutes of silence later when Percy made to stand up that he spoke.
"I think you're wrong."
Percy blinked, looking down at Nico. "Sorry?"
"I think you're wrong, about what your past self would think about you. I stand by you, Thalia stands by you, even Sadie stands by you, despite having every reason to hate you. I think… I think you'd understand."
Percy only hesitated a moment before turning away, patting Mrs. O'Leary's side as he did so. His enormous puppy whined, perhaps sensing the mood of her owner.
Nico just stayed where he was. Percy… was not in a good place. He'd do what he could, but right now Percy needed some time to reflect.
The Twenty Sixth of June
Thirty One Days ABM
"So… what? You want to make me a symbol of power?"
"More or less. I'm sure you noticed Nico's sword?"
Thalia shrugged. "Not really, it's just his sword."
Percy laughed and rubbed a hand through his hair. "Oh yeah, I forgot we kind of haven't brought you up to speed on that stuff." he turned towards her, leaning backwards on the railing of his balcony. With a wave of his hand, the area was shrouded from the eyes of the gods. "The crown on my head was given to me by Zeus. An old primordial artifact — the crown of Hydros. This thing is flooded with enough power to make the master bolt look like a d-rate nuke, if that. Zeus didn't seem to realize it, but for a water user like me it's incredibly obvious. We've also found part of Erebus' old sword for Nico in Macedonia, which helps him a good bit with the whole shadow thing. We had it forged into his sword, as his own symbol of power. It infuses your energy with the weapon, until — you know what, it's complicated, but you get the idea."
Thalia nodded. "I guess? If Nico's is his sword, what's yours? You clearly didn't fuse Riptide with your crown, so…"
Percy shook his head. "I don't have one."
"Then why do you want to give me one? You should have one first, right?"
He waved it off. "I'm fine. To be completely honest with you, we'll probably never need them. It's overkill to the highest degree. It just… helps to have some insurance, you know? Besides, I have you two to protect me, right?"
Thalia sighed. "Alright, where should I…?"
"Base of the tower, there's a few story tall building which the Cyclopes use as a forge. They'll be able to tell you what to do from there."
Thalia nodded, and turned back to the elevator.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Not gonna take the quick way?"
Thalia didn't pause in her stride, rolling her eyes. "Just because I've gained more control over my abilities doesn't mean I like falling."
Percy chuckled, turning back around to look over the city. At least some things didn't change.
So I'm finally gonna do this properly for once, but I have a discord for writers and readers you might all be interested in. I'm there, Greed720 is there, Akumakami is there, it's a great time. If you want to join, put in your browser 'discord .gg /kYCPuAw' without any spaces, and remember it's case sensitive. My pat-reon is pat-reon CuriousBeats.
Also, biggest news, Proditione et Fide is taking half a month break. Fairytales will be doing the same thing. This is mostly so that I can catch up and stop rushing these things out, as it's incredibly stressful for myself, kyle, dom, and bad for the quality of the work. I would tell you im cancelling it altogether for april fools, but I don't update that often and I'd rather not have everyone hate me for a full month and a half.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Next chapter May 15
