Chapter 4- My Thighs are HUGE

I'm going to keep this one short. Thank you Callum Runchman and HunterofArtemis0318 for the review on chapter 3. And also Harry Neptune MacMillian for the review on chapter 3, I don't speak that language but thanks nonetheless. HunterofArtemis0318 entered Luna in for the competition, I like it. The competition will still be open for this chapter, so leave a good review with a female name at the bottom. Maybe this wasn't so short. Enjoy (:

"Your first lesson Percy, your true form. You must get it under control before you are allowed to see Annabeth, or any other mortal for that matter." Hestia instructed me. It is currently the day after I ascended to godhood, with the domains of tides, heroes, swordsmanship, and the weird one being unpredictability. What was that voice? Whose voice was it? And why? There is so much about the situation that I don't understand. I'll have to bring this up to Athena when I speak to her.

"Ok and how do I do that?" I asked. We were inside a large area inside of her extremely large palace. I guess being an Olympian has its perks. I'm also very confused about the fates thing. And also very angry. Clotho will pay. I'm just not sure how yet. How can you beat someone that literally controls you and everyone and everything?

"I'm looking at you now Perseus, you're glowing a very bright gold, and power seeps off of you. Your appearance can only be described as hot. And I don't mean heat. How would you think to tone it down?" She questions me,

"I have no clue Lady Hestia. I am new to this." I grumble out, frustrated.

She grabs me by my shoulder, and eases me to sit down on the floor. I look up at her. "Listen with your ears Percy. I have a metaphor for you. Think of your true form, as a body of water. When all of the water is together, that is your true form. There are two things you can do, contain the water, or separate the water."

"Ok?" I'm confused. Why can't gods just get to the point.

"I said to listen with your ears Percy." She jumped at me, like sparks leaping out from a fire. "To contain the water, you just put it in a jar. I want you to try that Percy. Put your power in a jar. Imagine the energy flowing through you being bottled up." Then she stared at me with an eager look, egging me to get on with it.

I breathe in deeply and close my eyes from my seat on the floor. I picture a jar in my mind, it is empty. Some girls at Goode could relate, just a bunch of dumb airheads. That thought kicks the jar from the forefront of my mind.

"OW!" I shout suddenly. My mentor had put her hand on my leg, and started heating up her hand until it started burning me.

"Next time it's on your pretty face, don't get sidetracked!" She hissed. I apologize and get back to it. I picture the jar in my head again, and now I see water edging to get away from the jar, as if it doesn't want to get in. I didn't have that problem a few days ago with Annabeth if you know what I mean.

"F*ck!" This time, true to her word, she slapped my face. I started rubbing it, whimpering on the ground. This woman hits like a tank for being 8 years old, in physical form at least.

"Boy I did not need to know that! For god's sake focus on the task at hand!" Hestia shouted at me, rubbing her hand. If her hand hurt she should feel my face. I once again apologize to my new mentor in general godly skills, and crack my knuckles a few times, ready to finally do it. I breathe in deeply, and imagine the jar, with water edging to get away from the jar. I picture the jar lid unscrewing itself. Then I push the water inside of the jar with my mind, and screw the lid back on. The moment I do so, I feel a heavy feeling inside of me. I can also tell I did it successfully, and am no longer in my true form.

"Good job Percy. Most new gods get it quicker than you, but being the god of unpredictability I can see why it would be hard for you to be focused." She congratulated me.

Then I stand up and ask "Why do I feel heavier, Lady Hestia?"

"Because you are holding back your power. It's like holding back tears. That's why every once in a while when they are alone gods will go in they're true form." Makes sense I guess.

"What about separating the water?" I ask her.

"Ah yes. To separate the water Percy, you separate the water." She said to me with a smirk on her face. I swear, she gets way too much fun out of picking on my stupidity. I only graduated from Goode because of Annabeth for god's sake.

Speaking of Annabeth, I miss her. It hasn't been long since I've seen her, but I guess if you're madly in love you can't get enough of each other. Many of you readers wouldn't know that though, considering you're probably a 13 year old reading this in your bed at 3:00 in the morning, not next to a partner. Sh*t did I just break the fourth wall? I'm not supposed to do that.

"Thanks for that Lady Hestia, I couldn't have figured that out on my own." I respond to her.

"Then why did you ask the question?" She says with that mischievous smirk children do.

I just grumble and close my eyes. I see the jar. I unscrew the lid of the jar, and take the water out. Then I picture the water separating in half. As the last drops of water from each half stop touching, one half disappears. I open my eyes, and raise my eyebrow at Lady Hestia. She is there, lollipop in hand, watching me with a smile on her face.

"So did you separate the water?" She giggles. I'm about to respond when another voice to the left of me answers.

"Yes, but where'd it go?" The voice is familiar. I look to the voice and see, me?

"AH!" I jump back in shock. The other me looks over before also screaming, and promptly falling on his butt. Hestia is losing her mind in a fit of laughter at this point. After a moment we realize what has happened, and regain our composure.

"So this-" the other me and me both start. Then we look at each other. I guess it makes sense how we would both react the same and at the same time. Then I motion for him to speak, but he does the same. Then he points at me, but I also point at him. Then we groan out in frustration. "He's like my reflection!" We both shout at Hestia.

She stops laughing and speaks. "Well, you're not actually supposed to be in the same room with each other for that reason. That's not why you split your aspect. I have just lived for so long, sometimes I need a little humor. You can merge back."

I shrug, and picture the water that disappeared coming back into the jar, and I guess the other me does as well, and we meet in the middle. The memories from both me's merge together. It's the strangest thing having memories of the same thing, from two different perspectives.

"That is how nearly all basic godly skills work Percy. You want to flash? Picture yourself in that location in your mind. You want to change your appearance? Imagine your appearance changing. Test those two out real quick." Hestia orders.

I nod to her, and close my eyes again. I imagine myself flashing ten feet in front of me, so I am behind my mentor. And when I open my eyes, I see the back of an eight year old's head! "Wow. That is actually really easy." I say.

Hestia turns around and smiles. "Yes it is. It also has inspired laziness in God's. Some of them haven't opened a door in hundreds of years. Don't be like that Percy. You start by taking small shortcuts like that, and then you become too lazy to keep track of your kids and claim them, as you know."

"I understand Lady Hestia. I will not allow this ability to influence me."

"Now change your appearance." She motions with her hand.

Before I became a God, I was 6'1" 215 pounds, with an athletic body. One time me and Annabeth saw a bodybuilder on the street, and she said they were too overly muscular, and to stay how I am. I do have a six pack though that the 12 year old me would have killed for. But at camp, it's rare to not have a six pack as a guy because the training is so rigorous. Once I became a God, my natural height increased to 6'3", and my weight to 225. I now have eight pack abs, and the veins on my arms and legs pop a bit more.

I imagined myself growing to 7 feet tall, and my body to change to that of an overly muscular body builder. I pictured my hair changing to brown, and my eyes going from sea green to brown. When I opened my eyes, sure enough that is what I looked like.

"You kind of look like Atlas now you know!" Hestia's small voice shouted up at me.

I roll up my pant legs. "I could feed a family of eight in China with these thighs. A whole full course meal here."

"Oh yes I'm sure." Hestia said sarcastically.

I changed back to my natural appearance, with a little bigger thighs than before though. (Look up the American football players, Saquon Barkley or A.J Dillon for reference. Those dudes have effin tree trunks. Ha, Thiquon Barkley.) Then I switched out the camp t-shirt and joggers I was wearing, for a tighter camp t-shirt and short shorts to show off.

"Gods, you're already embracing the Apollo mentality." She grumbled.

"Nuh uh." Great comeback Percy. 5 stars. Couldn't I have come up with something else?

"You're wearing sunglasses indoors." She says, pointing at my face.

I grab them and throw them behind my head. "What sunglasses?" I shoot a beaming smile at her. She rolls her eyes. "Do I have any training left to do?" I ask her, switching the subject.

"Of course! What do you think the training is for only a few hours? The basic skills are done, but you are going to need plenty of help operating the godly social system and culture." She said with her hands on her hips.

"Alright, can I take you to dinner then? You can show me around Olympus too. As a demigod, I'd only been on the main road to the throne room, and during the battle of Manhattan, well I wasn't really focused on sight seeing then."

"Yes, you may Percy. Or, more like I will be taking you out." She says smirking.

"Could you age up though? I mean, you act more like my mom than an eight year old girl anyway."

"Whatever makes you more comfortable 'Lord Perseus.'" She teases. Then I see her form change from that of an 8 year old girl, to a woman in her late 30's. Small wrinkles on her face that don't take away from her appearance, fiery as ever red hair, wearing a white sundress with daisies on it, carrying a small purse. "Follow me!" She chirps. Then starts sauntering off through the maze of her palace. I head on after her.

"Is it a fancy restaurant?" I ask. " Because I'm not sure if I'm underdressed in my shorts and t-shirt."

"No, don't worry. It's not like what I'm wearing is fancy. You're from New York, so we're going to get New York style Pizza, except it is perfected by Olympus. You'll love it." My mouth starts to water. Me and Annabeth went on several dates for pizza in New York City. I wish she could come with us. She is probably at camp, sulking around her cabin. I did die. She still has to mourn. Except I will come back, with a godly spin on myself.

I already feel these urges coming on me. Urges deeply rooted within gods. I wanted to go around Olympus bragging and showing off. I wanted to go down to camp, flash around, take off my shirt and show my Olympus sized d*ck to some Aphrodite girls. This is one of the worst parts, the urge to cheat on the love of my life. Some mortals deal with it, but this feeling is new to me. The future of our relationship is in question. How can we be together, except she grows old and I don't?

I felt self conscious all of a sudden. I realized I had already given in to some of the urges. My clothes. I was showing off. I was never like that. Sometimes it's as a joke, but never serious. I imagine my clothes changing, my shorts becoming a little longer, and my shirt not so tight. Rather than fixing my hair with my hand, which I didn't even realize I was doing, I just let it be.

Hestia's comment from earlier hurt now. I will never be Apollo. I'm not going to go mindlessly sleeping with mortals, flirt with Artemis' hunters, and show off my perfect hair, and perfectly sculpted face, and muscular arms and legs. Oh my gosh. Is that what Thalia meant when she said Apollo was hot? When she was flying the sun chariot all those years ago.

Hestia walks me through winding streets around the massive city. We pass through alleyways with no fear of getting mugged. All of the spirits and minor god's we pass are friendly. This place is amazing, and beautiful, and amazing. Annabeth could probably walk around here for days, just admiring the architecture. Well, parts of the city actually are from her, as the architect of Olympus. The damage done to the main road on Kronos' march to the throne room was redone by her. Arguably it is the most beautiful part of the city.

We walk into the pizza place, and I get a whiff of the smell. The scent of the Italian made, New York improved, and Olympus perfected dish is amazing. If I had died, I would have fought my way out of the underworld if I knew this place was up here. I haven't touched the food but I know I will love it, and devour it with the passion of a man who loves his pizza and hasn't eaten in a while.

A beautiful young nymph occupying the greeter station welcomes us with a wonderful smile, not even forced either it appears. Or she might just be good at her job. As Hestia is an Olympian, which has its perks, we immediately get seated at the back of the restaurant.

I'd heard stories at camp about the inner workings of Olympus such as the places to go. Yet demigods don't get to experience them. Well, demigods don't get to experience a lot of things. Such as living past 20. Hopefully with recent developments we can change that. Life for us should improve. Wait. I can't group myself with them anymore. I'll have to get used to that.

"The city is very cool Lady Hestia." I say to her, making small talk.

"It never gets old Percy. Zeus may not treat half-bloods the best, but this city he built from the ground up is a credit to him." She responds.

"I don't hear many nice things about the king of the gods."

"You've grown up from a slanted view point Percy, being a son of Poseidon and half-blood. You mostly only see the bad parts of the gods. As since the beginning we've used you heroes to do the dirty work. But up here, I don't look at the sides my family has taken. I see everyone as family. Period. Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, they all have strengths and flaws. I think you'd do good to remember that Percy." She says, finishing her speech.

"You never cease to amaze me Lady Hestia. You are the best out of everyone up here. You don't think about yourself. And you always see the best in others." I say admirably. She does a small curtsy in her seat.

The waiter comes and takes our orders. We order a pizza half-pepperoni for me, and half pepperoni with green peppers and jalapenos. Her response to when I raised my eyebrows to that is she's the goddess of the hearth and likes a little heat.

Over the course of the meal, which I might add was the best thing I ever put into my mouth, me and my mentor went over the culture of the city. She said I should learn it so I don't go bumbling around like a fool in my new home. Beware of virgin goddesses she said, don't chase after nymph's that are already being chased she said, don't pick fights with major gods she said, and especially don't say anything bad about Lord Zeus in his city. Along with other minor cultural things that should be easy enough for me to pick up on quickly.

Whenever I paid too much attention to my pizza and not enough on her, she sent sparks flying at me, and even once summoned a slice of salami and threw it at my face. I just told her thanks and ate it, then she scolded me and told me to pay attention.

After dinner, we walked out of the restaurant. One face smiling and one not. "You made me look like a fool Lady Hestia." I said, annoyed.

"You are a fool." She countered.

"To figure out if I was paying attention the whole time, you told me to handle paying for our meal. So I handed the drachma to the waiter, but you motioned for me as if there was more. I panicked, so when you whispered to me to put my shoes on my hand and say 'namaste' I did. The waiter cried of laughter, and everyone was looking at me. It was embarrassing."

"Only a fool would fall for that Percy!" She laughed. I had no counter to that. "Ok ok I apologize."
"I forgive you." I smiled.

"Your introduction to the godly world is done Percy. I will always be your mentor, and I will always be here. Everything left to learn will be focused around your domains, which you have other teachers for. I will check up on you periodically. But there wasn't much to teach you. So it is only a day of learning."

"I am very grateful, Lady Hestia. I don't know who better to welcome me into this new part of my life than you." Then we embraced like a mother and son.

Jason POV

Oh my gods it has been a tough couple of days. First my best bro gets gutted like a fish, my bad on the irony. Second I get in a losing battle with the Titan of light and end up being blasted out of the sky by his Iron Man like bursts of light. I still can't talk for another day or two. And third, Percy gets made into a god. I'm happy for him, I really am. It is a great achievement whether he likes it or not, but I can't help but be envious of him. I would like to be a god.

But that's not for me to decide. Control the controllables you know. I have too much work to do as the pontifex maximus to be envious. I'm already fortunate enough as it is. I have Piper with me, who has stayed with me in the infirmary the past two days as I heal up. She is a wonderful woman. Percy is fine with Annabeth having him wrapped around her finger, but I like my relationship with Piper. It's a more Roman relationship, I am the man.

Annabeth has also come to speak with us. Giving us updates on Percy that she gets from Chiron. He has training to go through. Annabeth estimates it might be maybe half a year until she is able to see him again. The rules are strict for new gods, she says.

That is going to be really hard for her. Stuck in limbo between glad he is alive at least, and the worry of what he will be like when he comes back. Power got to my head a little when I was a praetor, I can't imagine what it must be like becoming a god. But Percy is different, even Diana admits that. He doesn't have the same thirst for power like most of us half-bloods.

We can only pray everything will be fine. Hope that Percy gets his storybook godly ending where he takes Annabeth up to Olympus with him and has babies. Never really works like that though does it.

"Here let me replace your bandages, babe." Piper says. She gets some new bandages from the supply cabinet in the infirmary. She peels the old ones off with her delicate fingers, making me shiver.

She grimaces as she sees the bruise. "It's purple. Nasty. But I guess that means it is getting better though." I smile and nod at her, rubbing my throat, which feels a lot better.

She finishes up and we lock eyes. I grab her hand and pull her close to me. I can smell her strawberry lip gloss. I grab her bottom lip. "I… Love… You." Her breath catches. Then I pull her lip onto mine, and we kiss a very good kiss.

D*mn Jason, way to go. In the books, Rick describes it as a big city, yet you hardly hear anything about it. I thought it would be interesting to go inside the big city. I hope you liked the chapter. Favorite, Follow, and Review. More to come soon. -GoldenSlayer218