AN: Alright everybody a little heads up. There is a big emotional scene in this chapter for Zeus and Hades so I want some feedback on how I did with it as the last time I tried something deep and emotional, the reasons for Apollo's childishness, I got no comments on it.
Son of the Moon
Chapter 9
-Percy-
When Hades said he was Nico and Bianca's father Percy was stunned, he had never expected that the two were children of Hades! The oldest of the six eldest gods and one of the most powerful beings in existence with his domain and power growing with every death. He was shaken from his stupor when Amanda started mimicking the Imperial March from star wars making everyone look at her annoyed, bar Nico and Bianca who simply looked confused. "Sorry," Amanda said sheepishly "couldn't resist.".
"Daughter of Hermes?" Hades deadpanned and pinched the bridge of his nose when they nodded, "Why am I not surprised?".
"Because you've dealt with Hermes for eons." he suggested nervously.
At his words Hades returned his glare to him full force, "Now tell me demigod," the Lord of the Dead said in a slow dangerous voice "why shouldn't I kill you were you stand?".
"Don't you dare!" Bianca yelled jumping in front of him as if to shield him while drawing a knife that he assumed was given to her by one of the girls while Nico copied her actions with a resolute nod.
"You would defy your own father?!" Hades growled at them but Percy could see the pain in the god's eyes at what happened.
"I do have a reason why you shouldn't kill me Lord Hades." he said firmly before the twins could reply, gently moving Nico and Bianca behind him so they weren't in any danger, an action which he could tell the Lord of the Dead noticed.
"And what would that be son of Poseidon?" Hades asked.
He glared at the lord of the dead hard enough to make the ancient being flinch slightly, "Know this Hades I have no quarrel with you but if you ever insult me trying to relate me to that bastard I will make you fade.".
Hades looked surprised by the animosity in my statement and confused at my words, before he could ask however Bianca did it for him, "Percy," she asked faintly causing him to turn to her and try to contain his blush "is Poseidon the one who abandoned you?".
Hades looked shocked at the question and even more so when he nodded sadly. Shaking himself he turned to the god in front of him, "Alright Hades," he said trying to sound calm "you wanted to know why you shouldn't kill me and here it is. I have a message for you from my grandfather Zeus.".
"And what would my dear brother want?" Hades asked sarcastically.
"He wishes to make amends with you," he said causing Hades jaw to drop in shock "he sent me with this to give to you.".
He pulled out a scroll from his backpack that Zeus had given to him when he spoke to him before he left for the quest. Raising a shaky hand Hades summoned the scroll over to himself and opened it causing a holographic image of Zeus to appear in front of them sitting on a simply chair and wringing his hands nervously. "Brother," the holographic Zeus began sadly "I know I am the last being you want to speak to but I beg of you to listen to me. I know I have not done much, if anything, to deserve to be called your brother over the eons and have only been cruel to you but I wish to try and make amends. I know that I was out of line with my actions sixty years ago against your lover and your two children and I know that I doubt I have any chance of earning your forgiveness. I was a fool who let his paranoia get control of him and listened to the dark voice in my ear. Ever since the death of Thalia I have been thinking about my mistakes and all of them point to my arrogance and cruelty towards my family. Now I have a grandson who respects me and makes me prouder than I can remember being in years, I have a wife who I am finally able to reconnect with and build a steady relationship, my sons and daughters are closer than they've been in eons, and now I want my brother back. Please Hades, please at least try to forgive me I beg of you. I have already rescinded your 'banishment' in the underworld, you can leave whenever you want as long as it doesn't get out of control. I know both you and Persephone have wished there was a way to end your marriage and simply remain friends, I talked Hera into allowing a divorce if you two wish it and I had Athena look up a spell that would remove the effects of the Pomegranate seeds, I even give you permission to bring Maria DiAngelo back and immortalize her as your new wife if you wish it. The last thing I intend to do in recompense is something I wish for you to be at Olympus to see. I swear on the Styx that I mean everything I have said." even from a recording thunder boomed "Please brother, be mad at me if you wish it but not with the innocent who have done nothing, only I am to blame.", with those words the hologram sputtered out and Hades, who was silently crying, fell back into his throne.
Looking at them with the silent tears leaking from his eyes Hades asked "You aren't the thief are you? You didn't take my helm?".
"No I didn't Lord Hades." he said gently, still shocked over what he had just seen.
"But why did you bring the bolt with you then?" Hades asked confused, pointing to the backpack from Hercules.
"What do you…" he began before a creeping suspicion entered his mind. Swinging off the pack he opened it and saw the Master Bolt there, glowing with all its power. "That traitorous bastard!" he yelled furious with Clarisse and Amanda looking just as angry.
"What do you mean?" Hades asked confused as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"That backpack was given to us by Hercules," he growled "Hercules is a traitor.".
Hades countenance darkened as he snapped his fingers causing the three furies, his mother had shown him pictures of them, appeared in the throne room. "Alecto! Megaera! Tisiphone!" Hades yelled furiously "These demigods have discovered a traitor of Olympus and the one who likely stole my Helm. We're going with them to help capture the traitor."
"Yes my lord," Alecto said bowing "but may I ask who the traitor is and who the demigods are?".
"The traitor is Hercules." Hades growled shocking the furies "And the demigods are Nico and Bianca DiAngelo, my children." the three Furies bowed to the two stunned DiAngelo twins "As well as Percy Jackson my Great-nephew and his companions, my great-nieces.".
With those words Hades caused them all to be consumed by shadow and reappear on the beach where they saw a smirking Hercules on his Motorcycle, playing with the Helm of Darkness. "You," he growled "how dare you betray Olympus.".
"Well why not?" Hercules sneered as he continued fiddling with the helmet "They never really give me any real power, they take away my ability to have demigods, and I get no respect. My new Master Lord Kronos has promised me all of these things if I joined him.".
The group all paled at Hercules' words but he drew his falcata and stepped forward. "Fight me you coward!" he roared furiously at the fact that Hercules had joined his Great Grandfather.
Snorting Hercules tossed the Helm of Darkness in the sand behind him and sneered down at them, "Fine brat," the minor god said arrogantly "I'll even give you the helm if you beat me.".
"You're on coward." he said getting into a fighting stance but before he could do anything Hercules tugged his hand back and summoned his sword and the ring containing his bow to the god who snapped them with a sneer.
"Oops," the minor god mocked "looks like you don't have a weapon anymore.".
Mentally swearing at the situation he suddenly felt a weight in his pocket drop and, reaching inside, he found a ball point pen. The moment his hand closed around the item he heard his mother's voice in his head, 'Percy!' his mother called urgently 'this pen is a mighty weapon. This pen is the disguised form of Riptide, the sword that possesses Zoe's immortal power. We were watching your quest and she told me to send it to you. Just click it my son and kick his ass.'. The entire message took less than a second to enter his mind causing him to grin and pull the pen out.
"A pen?" Hercules asked condescendingly, "that's your great weapon?". Sneering back at the arrogant god he clicked the pen causing it to turn into a leaf shaped bronze blade with the Greek word Anaklusmos, riptide, engraved on it. "My old sword," Hercules breathed shocked before grinning "I shall take great pleasure in using this blade to kill you.".
When Hercules tried the same trick he had before the sword didn't react causing Hercules to look shocked only for Hades to growl, "You're not winning this fight that easily coward. I'm able to block all your powers bar the physical ones and shall take great pleasure in watching you get defeated by my Great-nephew.", this caused all the others, even the furies surprisingly, to cheer and Hercules to scowl.
"Shall we dance?" he asked the minor god mockingly "Or should I wait for you to go get a dress?".
Hercules roared in anger at the words and charged him swinging the club he had recovered from Hera. Ducking the swing he swiped underside of Hercules arm before jumping back causing the minor god to stumble. It was then that he noticed Hercules' weaknesses. Besides being incredibly stupid, which he already knew, Hercules was all strength and no speed. As long as he remained fast then he could win.
Seeing the moon coming up in the night sky he took a breath in and centered himself before using one of his most draining abilities. Embracing his power as he danced around the club of the minor god he could faintly see the silver aura around his skin grow stronger and stronger with each passing moment. "What is this brat?" Hercules demanded, seeing the aura.
"This is my most devastating power," he said in a voice that resonated and echoed an untold number of times making him sound timeless and ancient "now behold it's majesty.".
With those words he shot forward in a blur as he hacked and slashed at the minor god, who seemed to be standing still, furiously leaving enough injuries to kill any mortal, and many an immortal, being. Shakily he released his power causing Hercules to drop to the ground in agony only to scream louder as sand got in his wounds. Turning to the furies he whispered a request which made them grin before they conjured what he asked for. Turning back to Hercules he cut off the god's shirt leaving the god's chest bare to the world as he gripped the first item he requested. "You are a coward Hercules," he said shakily, still drained from what he had done "and now the world shall see. I mark you a coward," he pressed the red hot iron brand with the word coward on it into the god's chest searing the word into the skin, "I mark you a traitor," he repeated with a different brand. And so the process continued as he added marks for thief and scum before having Hades heat up his sword till it was red hot and flipping Hercules over, causing the god to yell when the sand was pressed into his burns before slamming the red hot sword onto the minor god's back "And this is for Zoe you bastard, an eternal reminder of what you did.".
Turning from the whimpering god he grabbed the Helm of darkness and handed it back to Hades before collapsing onto the sand exhausted. "Percy!" Bianca exclaimed frantically as she pulled his head onto her lap to check on him, "What happened?".
"And why did you seem to have a personal vendetta against him?" Nico asked shaken.
"He betrayed my sister," he gasped out to the question "caused her to lose her natural immortality.".
"What did you do in that fight?" Amanda asked as she gave him some nectar to drink restoring his energy to an extent, "That thing with the aura?".
"I used the most dangerous power I have," he said coughing slightly still tired from what he had done, "I used the power of the moon to move at the speed of light." the others, even Hades and the furies, gasped at this, "My mom is the goddess of the moon so I used the light of the moon to do this. The problem is that it uses so much energy.".
"Well it worked," Nico said steadying him when he stood up as Bianca got on his other side "and you won. Now what?".
"Now we go to Olympus," Hades said making his helm vanish and shackles appear on Hercules "the bike is yours now Percy," Hades added "I think you've earned it, the club too.".
With those words Hades flashed them all to Olympus where he fell on the ground upon arrival. "Percy!" he heard Zeus yell from somewhere in front of him, "What's wrong! And why is Hercules in chains and injured?".
"Percy is simply tired brother," Hades said calmingly "and as for Hercules, I feel Percy would be the best one to explain.".
"Very well," Zeus accepted "I shall summon the council.".
Within moments the rest of the gods had arrived and the ones who favored him along with his mother looked at his drained form with fear, as well as understanding in his mother's case. "Percy!" she exclaimed "I thought I warned you to only use that as a last resort if it was truly important!".
"I would say it was important," Hades voiced "he used it to defeat the traitor that stole the bolt and my helm, or at least aided the theft.".
"Wait you mean…?" Zeus asked realizing why Hercules was injured.
"He admitted to it grandfather," he said shakily "as well as admitting that he now serves Kronos.".
At these words everyone in the throne room began yelling in a panic until Hades shouted at them all to be quite, "Thank you brother," Zeus said which got a nod from hades, "Now I think Percy should tell us his tale, from the beginning of the quest.".
So he launched into the tale, leaving out some parts such as the details of his personal conversation with Hera, his and the girl's tormenting of Annabeth, the scroll from Zeus, and his private conversation with his mother, getting awed looks from several of the gods and goddesses as well as proud looks from his mother and patrons. When he got to the part about Hades revealing himself to be the DiAngelo's father he looked to Hades for permission who nodded in acceptance and he revealed the information. Most of the gods were accepting of it as they had seen the DiAngelos helping him and many of the council were fond of him by now. When he got to the fight with Hercules he got cheers from several of the gods as well as Ares yelling "Now that's how you fight!".
"I brought the motorcycle back as a gift for you Lord Hephaestus," he said bowing slightly to the god of the forge "I have tried to find gifts for all my tributes over the quest and felt you would appreciate this one.".
Hephaestus nodded gratefully before teleporting the bike somewhere while his mother and his other patrons along with his grandfather murmured their appreciation for the gifts.
After he had finished he gave Zeus back the master bolt. After a moment of holding his returned weapon Zeus stood up and called in the four winged enforcers Kratos, Nike, Bia, and Zelos and ordered them to take Hercules to a holding cell until his trial. Once the traitor was gone Zeus focused on them. "Now to reward our young Heroes!" Zeus said happily, "First to Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares, step forward.". Clarisse walked forward and kneeled in front of Zeus, "What is it that you wish for child?" Zeus asked.
"I wish for my electric spear to be blessed with power of true lighting by you Lord Zeus." Clarisse requested humbly.
Nodding Zeus summoned her spear and chanted for a moment causing it to glow before handing it to Clarisse, "It is done. Next to Amanda Cooper, daughter of Hermes." Amanda walked up and took Clarisse's place as she walked back, "What is it you wish for?".
"I saw how fast Percy moved in his fight against Hercules and how effective it was," Amanda said "I wish for an ability similar even if it isn't as strong.".
"You shall be blessed with the Thunder Run," Zeus intoned before chanting and causing Amanda to glow "now all you have to do is focus and you may move as fast as the lightning for a limited time.".
"Thank you Lord Zeus." Amanda said bowing.
"Finally," Zeus called out proudly "my grandson Percy Jackson!", he walked up and kneeled in front of his grandfather. "What is it you wish for my grandson?".
"I would like to fire your master bolt once without consequences grandfather." he requested nervously "the only other things I want are things I wish to earn by my own hand and effort rather than receive as gifts.".
Smiling amused Zeus handed him the bolt and said "Due to it still not being rejuvenate it is low enough in power for you to use without being fried. Now have fun grandson.".
Giving a wolf like grin he spun around and fired the bolt at Poseidon who crashed through his throne into the pillar behind it which collapsed on top of the god of the sea. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." he admitted shyly as he handed his grandfather back the bolt.
"You and me both Percy." Zeus chuckled before having his ear yanked by a smirking Hera.
"Is there anything else father?" Artemis asked "I wish to take Percy back to camp so he can rest while I tell my Hunters that their brother is alright.".
At her words Zeus seemed to age a thousand years as he looked around sadly. "Yes there is one more thing." Zeus said as Poseidon fixed his ruined throne while glaring at him. Standing up Zeus said solemnly "I already told Hades that I wished to make reparations for all the wrongs I have committed over the eons and I am about to inform you of my last one.".
The gods and goddesses looked around nervously at Zeus' solemn words, "What are you about to do father?" his mom asked nervously.
Sighing Zeus removed the golden crown from his head and the signet ring on his finger that signified him as the king of the gods, "I am putting forward my resignation as king of the gods. I have proven I am unworthy for the position of power I wielded and feel that one more worthy should take it up in my stead.".