For my friends. Inspired by ditesdauhter from twitter and percabethfeelsfandom from Instagram. Hope you like it.
"He's gone, Percy… He—"
Piper broke down in sobs and right into Annabeth's arms as a feeling of utter sorrow enclosed upon the Camp.
Frank stood behind Percy and had noticed his spine go rigid at the words. The sky quickly lost it's vibrant color and turned a dark grey, mirroring the demigod's rage.
And somehow, they all knew that things wouldn't be the same again.
Percy felt blind with rage. He had hardly registered Annabeth screaming behind him as he went to The Empire State Building.
The security guard didn't even protest with Percy for once and simply handed over the key. The six hundred floors of elevator music didn't bother him, neither did the shocked look of the minor gods and creatures throughout Olympus.
Annabeth's beautiful architecture too went unnoticed and Percy headed straight towards the empty throne room, beside Hestia.
"Call them."
The order was curt and shocked the hearth goddess. No mortal spoke to the gods as such, especially not to her. But the rage in Percy's green eyes told her that anything extra said to him would be met by defiant, deaf ears.
With a small nod, she sent a quick message to the Olympians and Hades, noticing the many minor gods who had followed the Son of Poseidon inside.
Percy had Riptide out in his hands and waited for the throne room to be filled. He noticed nothing other than the ballpoint pen in his hands as the Olympians started coming, shocked by Hestia's distressed message.
"Perseus?" Poseidon called as he changed into his more casual and humanoid form with a Hawaiian shirt.
"What is the meaning of this, sea spawn?" asked Athena, her head haughtily raised still waiting for an explanation for this insolence and for Zeus to come.
Percy, on his part, remained silent.
"Honestly Hestia, you have to stop with the random family meetings—" Zeus's face had been relaxed with a bare tinge of sadness in his eyes when he came into the vast chamber.
But when he saw Percy standing there, he stopped, about to repeat Athena's words, when Percy lifted his face to stare right into the God's eyes.
"You don't even care, do you?" Percy's voice, almost silent, echoed in the room as all the mutterings stopped.
"Why are you here, Perseus?" Zeus asked, his features pinched with contained anger. The son of Poseidon was too important an asset to harm so quick. "Poseidon handle your chi—"
"He died. He died, and all you care about is fucking family meetings?"
Silent tears marred his face but nobody focused on them.
"You acted like you cared. Everyone actually thought you cared, when it came to Thalia. But you didn't care about saving her. All you cared about was for her to live a half-life until we figured out a way to bring her back so the GREAT ZEUS'S DAUGHTER WOULD BE THE FUCKING CHILD OF THE PROPHECY!" His last few words were shouted, yelled towards Zeus, shocking everyone in the room with them.
Poseidon felt like his tongue was frozen. 'What was he doing?' he thought, looking at his enraged son.
So angry, so miserable.
"Watch your tongue, Jackson," came Ares' voice from his red throne. "Don't you know who you're talking to?!"
Percy slowly turned around to look right at Ares, into his fire like eyes. He was sitting like a king in his own regard, his back straight, his face marble cold and angry.
And instead of shouting, Percy Jackson laughed.
"Watch my tongue?" He asked, (no said, if we're being honest) between peals of laughter, as though the words Ares had growled truly amused him.
After a few minutes, when he stopped, his smile slipped to something so deadly, so scary, that none of the gods would ever be able to forget it, a look that terrified them beyond their worst nightmares.
"You actually think I care? That I give a flying fuck about you guys?"
The water molecules around him started to congregate, forming a half barrier looking shield behind him, before it shot towards Ares and disappeared into his body.
For a minute, nothing happened, and he was about to sneer at the Demigod, when the water started to fill his lungs. He started to gasp and Poseidon turned a shocked look towards his son.
He couldn't. He wouldn't.
Ares' gasps got more and more desperate as air escaped his body and his face turned a pale white.
Zeus rose from his chair, and so did the others. Orders of "Stop it!" Came from many Gods, and Poseidon just slumped back into his throne, dazed beyond measure.
Suddenly Percy's fist, which was getting tighter with each passing second, loosened completely, and the water rushed out of the God of War's body and back into the air.
Everyone turned their gaze towards the slightly crazed demigod, taking a step back unconsciously.
"I fought a war for you! I led my friends, my family, to death for you! I sacrificed everything for you— I WON A WAR FOR YOU! And you know what I got for it? I. Got. Eight. Months. Of. My. Life. Taken!" Each word was punctuated with a step further into the chamber, away from the Hearth in the center.
Just as Aphrodite was about to say something, he held a hand up against her, not so politely gesturing her to shut up.
"And you know what I did when I woke up? I WON ANOTHER WAR FOR YOU! The only difference was, now there were seven of us. And all of us did all we could for you. We gave you our lives, and you couldn't even keep us safe?!
"How is it that you went from offering me immortality to going M.I.A for months and using me as a pawn in your game again? Using Jason as a pawn in your game again?"
At the sound of his son's name, Zeus stomped his foot down, sending lighting all around him.
"Well, if you have such a problem with being our 'Pawn', as you put it, you should've taken the chance and become immortal!"
On the other side, Athena nodded, and squared her shoulders. "Agreed."
Percy's eyes narrowed. "I would rather die a million times than be immortal and live without my friends and my real family beside me." He turned towards the goddess completely. "I don't get you, you know? I have done nothing to you except love your daughter with all that is in me. I fell into Tartarus for her, and if necessary, I'd do it again and again and again, because she means everything to me."
He turned back to face them all again and started pacing, the tears falling more and more freely. "Luke. Beckendrof. Silena. Ethan. Bianca. Zoë. Castor. Lee. Jon. Andy. Elle. Olivia. Ben. Mia. Sophie. James…"
And he went on.
And on.
And on.
And named them all.
All who had died to save the asses of these Gods. Gods.
Everyone thought of all the deaths. All their children. Dying for them, as they did nothing.
Hestia slowly walked out of her Hearth and towards the still pacing demigod who's tongue had gone dry but he had to name them. All of them. They deserved it. They deserved being remembered.
The Goddess put a hand on his shoulder.
"Stop, Perseus," She said, her tone low.
He turned to her. "Stop? But I've only just started, my lady." The term felt mocking, and she removed her hand, shame covering her from head to toe because of her and her family's actions.
"All of you were too cowardly to leave your thrones to fight the fucking battles we won for you, you weaklings. You don't even deserve to be Gods and worshipped."
Ares, who had been gasping due to lack of air, finally regained his breath and summoned a sword before shrinking to human size and charging at Percy with a battle cry.
The Gods all watched in horror as Percy swiftly uncapped Riptide and blocked Ares' blow with practiced ease. He forced the god's weapon down and kicked him towards Artemis, who immediately held her half brother back.
And Percy's eyes focused on him. Green eyes filled with malice as he did what he had promised Annabeth never to do again.
He controlled the blood in Ares.
Hermes and Hephaestus, who were close too, cautiously made their way towards their fellow Olympian, who was making his way towards Percy with an awkward gait.
Poseidon's body filled with horror. "Perseus, NO!"
Zeus turned towards him, and then back towards his son, connecting the dots. "No… That's not possible. Even you can't—"
Ares continued to walk towards Percy until his chest was pressed right along the tip of Riptide.
"J-Ja-Jack-son. Stop." Ares felt light-headed. He couldn't control himself and he felt like he was going to pass out any moment, when Percy released his control and blood rushed into his head, making him stumble and fall by the demigod's feet.
Hermes and Hephaestus dived towards him and dragged him away as soon as he collapsed as Percy's expression got angrier.
Percy spat on the floor and looked at them one last time, making eye contact with the thirteen major gods there, sending chills down each of their spines.
"Curse me. I dare you. Smite me down to nothing. Call the fates and somehow convince me to end my life. But I can promise you that before you are capable of doing any of those, both the camps, along with certain Norse and Egyptian demigods and magicians will come at my one word. All I need to do is summon them."
And then, Percy stabbed riptide on the tiled floor, cracks appearing around his blade as he dug it deep, shocking the gods further (How that's possible, no one knows).
I am Perseus Jackson. Son of Sally Jackson, Retriever of Aphrodite's Scarf, Retriever of Ares Shield, Slayer of Medusa, Slayer of the Minotaur, Survivor of the Lotus Casino, Retriever of the Master bolt, Defeated of Ares, Slayer of giants, Survivor of Sirens, Survivor of Circe's island, Retriever of the golden fleece, Survivor of the labyrinth, Discoverer of Sandals for a second time, Destroyer of Mt. Saint Helens, Visitor of Ogygia, Owner of Mrs. O'Leary, Hurricane Riser, Water controller Water breather, Ex-Praetor of new Rome, Freer of Thanatos, Survivor of Tartarus, The one who brought misery to Misery, Slayer of Kelli, Two-time hero of Olympus, Slayer of Hellhounds, Slayer of Emphosi, Slayer of Chimeras, One of the seven, Member of the twelfth legion and slayer of most Greek monsters."
He took a deep breath, that being the only sound after he recited most of his titles before most major gods.
"And as of now," he continued, rising from where he was kneeling before riptide, "I am pissed.
And then, he turned and left and left a silence as everyone stared at his sword.
Poseidon lay slumped on his throne, and everyone mirrored his looks, for they knew that today…
They had lost their greatest weapon.
Do you know what I hate? That in the end, instead of lamenting over all the bullshit they did, they are miserable over the fact THAT THEY LOST A WEAPON. A 17-YEAR-OLD FUCKING WEAPON! BLOODY HELL I HATE THEM.
I hope I got all the titles correct.
Constructive criticism is, as usual, welcome with open arms.
Love,
Em.