Ch. 3
"Annabeth Chase," the lord of the sky said, his voice strained. "You are on trial for the murder of Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. What do you have to say in your defense?" The demigod didn't speak at first, only staring at the ground in front of her, the same eerie smile on her face. It had been there all night. The only time it broke was when he cackling was drilling itself into everyone's ears. It would certainly haunt them.
"I did it, mistress!" she finally shouted, looking up and laughing. "Aren't you proud of me?!" She let loose another insane laugh as the gods grimaced at her. Poseidon looked at Athena, thinking to himself about the mistress she was referring to. Athena met his gaze and shook her head, a pained expression on her face. Poseidon, realizing his mistake, only nodded and looked back to Annabeth sadly. He knew Percy's feelings for her. Most of the council did.
"Do you admit to it?" Zeus said. The girl continued laughing and nodded. She was happy about this, he realized. She wanted this.
"I do admit," she said once she finally caught her breath. "I killed the Hero of Olympus. I did exactly as I was told and I will be rewarded." Zeus could only shake his head in disappointment. While Percy hadn't been the best person to him at first, he certainly was a hero that Olympus was in desperate need of.
"Why?" Athena asked. In that single, simple word, the whole council heard her heart break. Her daughter looked at her with an angry glare at having been interrupted in her celebration.
"Because, mother," she spat with a grimace. "My mistress is rising. She didn't need him in her way. Now, with nothing to stop her, she'll take over her domain once again. She will be queen!" She shouted her last sentence with such ferocity and fierceness that the whole council flinched. Zeus shook his head, knowing that their was only one punishment for her.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," he said, his voice hard and cold. "I banish you to Tartarus for eternity." He lifted the Master Bolt and aimed it at the demigoddess who didn't even noticed. Athena sobbed in her throne as Poseidon slumped dejectedly in his own. As he let out the blast, only one thing was heard. The cackling that would haunt their dreams.
"Perseus," a voice called to him. It sounded distant and far away. It sounded familiar, one that he couldn't place his finger on.
"Perseus," it called again. This time, it was closer. It sounded a lot clearer. He could almost see a face with the voice.
"Perseus," it called for the third time. He could see the face the voice belonged to. It was a beautiful goddess with bright green hair and eyes. The goddess of the River Styx. He opened his eyes to find himself on the bank of the river. His eyes widened in fear as he realized where he was. Four other rivers spilled into a small pond in front of him.
"You are awake," a voice said. He looked up to see the goddess herself. "Good. I was beginning to fear that my champion would have died before he got the chance to prove himself." Percy grimaced at the mention of dying.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
"Because," she started. "You belong to me. I have jobs in the mortal world that need to be done." A small glow shone in her eyes for a brief moment before dying down.
"What was that?" he asked. She chuckled.
"You're uncle just made a promise," she said, an amused smile playing on her lips. Percy just nodded, his mouth forming an 'O'.
"Why did you pick me?" he asked. "There were many others who had the Curse of Achilles, yet you chose me. Why?" She looked at him sadly and moved forward, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
"Perseus," she started out, her voice calming and soft. "You are one of the purest heroes that has ever bathed in my waters. You are the most deserving of my blessing as well as those of my compatriots." Percy looked up at her in shock at this, only to be met with a smile.
"What are you talking about, Lady Styx?" he asked. She chuckled at the title of 'Lady'. She hadn't heard that in a while. As Percy looked at Styx in shock, he failed to notice the other four deities approaching them.
"She's talking about us," a rough voice from behind them said. Percy turned, startled out of his skin and reached for his pen. It was only then that he noticed that the familiar weight it held in his pocket was missing. He looked up at the newcomers, taking them in one at a time. The first one, the one who spoke, was dressed in a bright orange robe. The way it swayed made it seem as if the robe was aflame. The voice had belonged to a young man with fiery red hair and eyes the same color as his robes.
The second one was another woman, this one somewhat older. She was looking around, taking in the scenery as if she was seeing it for the first time. When her eyes fell on Percy, she smiled and jumped excitedly, exclaiming, "The hero has woken!" Her robes were grey, as well as the rest of her. Soon, her attention was drawn right back to the scenery, the same look of wonder falling onto her face.
To her left was a man in dark green robes. His eyes, black as the night, seemed to hold more emotion than anything else. Every now and then, he would flinch. Finally, leaning on his shoulder was a girl with a sad, tear stained face. Her robes were dark blue. Her eyes were red and irritated with watery blue irises. Her hair was stringy and unkempt, showing the same dark blue tint as her robes.
"Phlegethon," Styx said, a more genuine smile etched onto her face. She stepped forward and hugged the man in orange. Then she turned to me, staying by the orange guy's side. Putting two and two... and one, together, I realized who these robed people were.
"You're the rivers of Tartarus," I said. The one in green nodded. The one in blue on his shoulder nodded, too, a sad, small smile on her face.
"Can you guess who we are, individually, Perseus?" he said. His voice was cutting and mean, but at the same time it had a melodious flow and a calming sound.
"I know who those two are," the demigod started, pointing at Styx and Phlegethon. "And I assume you are Lady Cocytus." He looked toward the crying woman. She smiled at him again and nodded, tears spilling over her eyes.
"Very well," she said, her voice cracking with sorrow. The sight of it almost made Percy want to cry. "I don't know how you ever could have gotten that." Though her face held sorrow, she spoke as if she didn't even notice the tears.
"Lucky guess," he said. The assembled gods and goddess chuckled at this. "Now onto the harder two." He looked towards the lady in grey. Her head snapped towards him and her eyes widened in excitement as she once again exclaimed, "The hero has awoken!" The man in green just sighed, knowing his game had fallen apart.
"Lady Lethe and Lord Acheron," he said, bowing to the two respectively. Acheron clapped for him,an impressed smile finding itself on the god's face.
"Good job, Perseus," he said. Percy felt both praised and hurt at the sound of his voice. It sounded like he was sarcastic, but at the same time, made him pleased with himself. "Now we need to be onto business. Your first mission will begin soon. Do you know why you are here?" Percy shook his head.
"You're going to be the Hand of Styx," Cocytus said, her voice shaking as she wiped her eyes. Percy nodded as if he understood. Before they could continue, though, he tentatively raised his hand like a young grade schooler.
"Yes?" Phlegethon asked, his voice harsh and rude. He reminded Percy of the war god back at Olympus.
"What is the Hand of Styx?" he asked. Four of the river deities sighed, the other one having lost the attention of the conversation. Lady Styx took this one upon herself to explain.
"You will become the champion of the Rivers of Tartarus," she said. "You will run missions for us, as well as helping the Olympians in the next war. Until then, you will be immortal until then, though not fully. I'm afraid that will only happen by Chaos or the Fates." Percy raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.
"Sorry for all the questions," he apologised. "But what does that mean?" Styx smiled sadly at him, and he could feel the waves of pity flooding off her.
"Perseus," she said, her voice sounding sad, though not as bad as Cocytus'. "You can't be granted full immortality or godhood. You don't even have the powers of a son of Poseidon anymore."
Just gonna leave it off there. So Percy isn't going to be super OP in this. He will be a great fighter. And the votes are in.
Artemis- 4
Thalia- 3
Zoe- 1
Khione- 5
So the pairing will be Perone (Perone? Khiercy? I don't know.) I also need help with powers from the Styx and Cocytus. Acheron gives him the ability to heal. Phlegethon gives him fire. Lethe gives him mind wipe. I was thinking Styx might give him power over water again. I don't know. If you have ideas, give 'em to me. Thanks for reading. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Bye! Have a good day!