The Starry Pool

3rd Pov

Olympus

"Brothers, you have all heard," Zeus announced. "We face once more a threat to Olympus."

"That is not true Zeus. Stop exaggerating," Poseidon interjected. "Olympus isn't even that important. How can all of existence prioritise the existence of minor feeble deities like us let alone scheme against us?"

"I…" Zeus stammered into speechlessness.

"But this is not to say that you aren't in danger," Poseidon added. "Olympus is in grave danger, the likes of which it has never experienced before. And this time I cannot get involved."

"What do you mean by this Uncle?" asked Artemis. "Why can't you be involved?"

"I have already crossed the extremity," Answered Poseidon. "And I am not really your uncle nor am I a Kronide. I am Chaos, current bearer of the burning throne and ruler of existence."

"Brother, surely you jest," Hera dismissed.

"How could I surly jest about such a matter Hera?" Poseidon retorted. "I would not be so cruel."

Poseidon released the aura of the extremity upon the seats of Olympus causing time to stop and yet they could move and they believed his words as truth, "Go to the camps of your progeny and wait for the portal gate that will take you to the first world," he spoke with absolute power. "When the gate descends enter without hesitance or else woe will grip your heart and your nerves to do battle will be lost. Seek out Percy and swear your allegiance to him if you are wise or not if that is your choice it matters little to me in the end. And now I bid you farewell, we may never meet again after this."

After he spoke he disappeared never again to don the guise of Poseidon.

"We must do as he has said," Hestia said from the hearth before turning into flames that shot towards Camp Half-blood.

The other gods looked at one another in agreement and turned to beams of light that bound towards the demigod camp just like Hestia though they were not very willing inside. They felt a bit betrayed by Poseidon. He just left them there and then to face what was to come by themselves.

Like streaks of light they shot towards Camp Half-Blood.

Line Break

Annabeth looked at the Pitch blackness and her heart throbbed at what it meant. Her children she thought deep in her mind, she felt regretful that they would have to be involved. Another part of her was confused as to why she was thinking about her children when she had none, she was still very much a maiden.

"Annabeth, Chiron wants everyone to meet at the Amphitheatre," Malcolm her half brother interrupted her thoughts as he ran towards the amphitheatre.

She sighed and ran after him.

When she arrived at the Amphitheatre she saw a grimfaced Chiron looking up into the black abyss that had become the sky. "Camper, I'm sure that you know why I called for this meeting," Chiron pointed towards the skies as he spoke. "I myself do not know what this means."

"I know what it means," Annabeth spoke up.

Everyone looked to her with curiosity.

"That's the abyssal eye," she said grimly. "It is a tool of the Nether Lords. It—"

She stopped when she saw the scene change. The skies changed instantly and she saw that she was looking dreadfully at fourteen malevolent statues on simple yet terrifyingly cold, but elegant thrones made of a white opaque stone that looked very much like marble, but it couldn't have been marble as the thrones looked ancient beyond what is fathomable. Marble couldn't possibly last so long. These thrones sat in a vast open chasm of space so terrifying that even Tartarus would have heart palpitations if he were to be there. The thrones sat in the Nether Heaven in the very heart of the sea of Decay. This alone spoke of their immense power and existential foundations.

Each statue's eyes looked to be closed, but suddenly their eyes snapped open. The power held within their collective gaze caused time and space to whither and galaxies and black holes to decay, collapse and scatter into nothingness. "Hydros! I will have my vengeance!" one of the awakened statues cried with an oddly whisper soft voice that would have been a sweet angelic harp were it not for the crisp balefulness. "Fifty million grand cycles I have waited for the ascension war to begin again. This time it will be you and I. Mark my words Eternal, I will avenge my father, my mother and claim my place as holder of the burning throne as ruler of existence! "

Annabeth like Percy snorted as her eyes flashed with memories of a far distant past as the scene changed again and this time there was another group of fourteen statues on their thrones. These statues were different from the other group. She felt happy looking at them. One of the statues in fact looked like him or was it the other way around. She knew that those were not statues at all, but rather their true forms in deep slumber.

Next to her true form was her beloved Husband Hydros who looked like Percy who had true regal bearing. His very presence was dignified and soft yet it was robust, vigorous and strong like the vast oceans—be they of the vast endless starry heavens or of the vast depth of the waters.

Far off in the distance, Annabeth saw four massive war horses pulling behind them an unfathomably large planet. This was planet so large that galaxies became like grains of sand. It was a planet that was larger by many times than the entire universe. Wherever the planet passed, space distorted and almost crumbled altogether. Even Annabeth's heart shook with respect and yet it filled her with great terror of what was to come.

When the scenes ended, the campers looked at her with astonishment, "That man on one of the statues looked like Percy," Chiron whispered.

"Yes, that was Percy," Annabeth nodded in confirmation.

"How?" Chiron asked.

"The Percy you know is just as small aspect of his entire being, just like I am," Annabeth answered him.

"Uh, what do you mean that you are just an aspect?" Piper asked.

"My name is Thesis," Annabeth said, "Though it is not my true name."

"Primordial of Creation," Chiron paled. "That-that-that means that Percy is Hydros, Primordial of Water, father of Chronos and Ananke."

"Yes, Chronos and Ananke are our children along with Nesoi, Physis and Ourea," Annabeth nodded.

"Then, you are Gaea's sister?" Chiron asked.

"No, Gaea and I are unrelated by blood," Annabeth shook her head. "She is my husband's little sister. And I mean little sister by a million grand cycles."

"What's a grand cycle?" Jason asked.

"Far too long of a time for a mortal to ever truly comprehend," Annabeth waved him off.

"You said before that Thesis was not you true name," Chiron said, "What then is your true name if I may ask?"

"Names have power Chiron," Annabeth said. "My true name is on a completely different level of existence to you. To hear it is to condemn yourself to cessation from existence."

"Why?" Chiron asked with a pale face.

"You are not eternal." Annabeth answered him.

"I'm immortal," Chiron retorted.

"No Chiron, you are neither immortal nor are you eternal. You like the Olympians have longer life spans than that of ordinary mortals and your are not subject to death as they are," Annabeth shook her head. "But even so you will still fade as your spirit cannot withstand the winds of time."

"I don't understand," Chiron said.

"Think about The great Pyramids," Annabeth said. "When they were newly built, they were smooth and none of the stone blocks could be seen. But as time went on, they experienced wind, water and the heat of the sun and time. These things chipped away at the structure and began to wear it down until they looked as they do today."

"But the gods…" Chiron trailed off.

"Prayers grant them greater power and influence, but they also in exchange bind themselves to mortals and their beliefs," Annabeth said. "Where in all of existence have you ever seen a pie freely falling from the sky for no reason? Besides the word god is a title for people who are worshipped because they possess power to affect the world around them to a greater degree than the mundane nothing more. Now divinity is another matter altogether, it's much closer to the metaphysical."

"Being a god is much more than that," a voice sounded causing the campers to turn their heads and when they did, saw that it was Athena along with the other Olympians who looked at them with dismay.

"Your definition of godhood is daft just like how mortals stupidly use omnipotence to simply mean powerful," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You enslave your very essence in exchange for greater influence. But along the way, the fates wizened to your schemes and forbade you from directly interfering with mortals. You Olympians like the other so called gods are vain, licentious and capricious, far from any quality of being divine or holy."

"Daughter of Athena," Zeus fumed with eyes full of grievance, "Have some respect, we are still the gods! Dare you not disrespect us again child."

"Infants shouldn't call their elders children," Percy's voice could be heard coming closer along with a beautiful teenage girl. "Thesis is correct with her judgement of you people. Among you only Athena, Hestia and Demeter are decent people. Honestly, even Hera is a better person than all of you and she is as capricious as they come to Zeus's children and lovers be they male or female."

"My husband," Annabeth's eyes lit up and she bowed slightly.

"My wife," Percy returned the bow though his was a bit deeper by choice in her honour. It was only right for him to bow deeply to his beloved who birthed his five children. "It is time to depart this mortal realm. The Eternal First world beckons us."

Both Annabeth and Reyna quickly disappeared and in their place was a brown hair woman with a serene countenance and a lovely face. The woman walked towards Percy who held out his hand and took it, "This feels much better," Annabeth smiled.

"I bet it does," Percy laughed.

Suddenly a massive Gate shimmered in front of them. It radiated such power that every camper along with the gods felt a chill in their hearts. The ground began to tremor as though it was afraid and the oceans stilled and winds stopped in their tracks.

"Let's go," Thesis said as she held Percy's hand. "All the answers you seek shall be answered once you crossover to the first world. We will meet you there."

After she spoke both she and Percy flickered out and disappeared.

"Campers move out!" Chiron ordered.

The camper complied and began to walk towards the gate and vanished. The Olympians didn't waste their time either and walked through the portal though they had noughts in their hearts. They felt that something bad was bound to happen when they left, but they were left with no choice. They were correct, the moment they passed through the gate the entire universe collapsed and flickered out of existence perhaps until the end of the Ascension war or perhaps it would never return.

Line Break

Beyond the Gate, the camper saw seven beings waiting for them. In the forefront of the group were Percy and Annabeth who wore simple travelling gear. "Welcome," Percy said with a small smile.

"I'm sure you all have many questions for us and we will try our best to answer them," Annabeth said. "But for now, please follow us to where the others are."

Moments after said spoke, the Olympians also passed through and after they had passed the gate closed and flickered out. Their way back to their world had been cut off. They would have had nothing to return to even if they did. Only cessation would have awaited them.

"Let's go," Percy said.

"Where are we going?" asked Athena.

"All questions should wait," Percy said. "It's not safe to remain here any longer. Now come along."

Percy waved them over to follow him.

The moment that they took their first step, the world as they saw it distorted and turned over on them. Their eyes glazed over for a few second before everything returned to normal and when it was over they stood in a cold shallow infinitely black starry pool that looked like the foundation of space and time. For some reason they felt utter terror standing in the pool and fidgeted with impatience to get out of it.

Outside of the pool, they saw Percy and Annabeth staring at them with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about that," Annabeth said. "And welcome to the origin gate."

"You should get out of the water first," Percy said unhurriedly, "before you freeze."

They heard his words and they didn't wait to be told twice before racing out of the pool. When they got out of the pool, they felt their bodies get stronger than ever before. In fact they felt stronger they have felt and more so for the gods who felt as though they had reach levels that they had never reached even at the absolute peak of their worship in ancient Greece and Rome.

Out of the water not too far from the group, Annabeth sat cross-legged with a dark bowl filled half way with the black starry waters from the pool. From a rather plain ewer near her, she poured into the bowl what looked like sand. She waited for a moment before she used the knife that was on her lap and cut a few blades of grass and sprinkled them into the bowl with the water and sand as she uttered a few words of power.

The contents of the bowl released a fragrant scent almost immediately after Annabeth sprinkled in the blades of grass. The contents of the bowl began to bubble after the scent was released. Percy walked towards her with a couple of gourds that were equal to how many they were.

"Come closer," Annabeth said to them as she poured the contents into the gourds. "Drink up, you will need it."

"Why?" Athena asked in confusion.

"You were unfortunate enough to land in that pool," Annabeth said softly.

"Is there something wrong with that pool?" Zeus asked feeling suddenly wary of the answer.

"No, there is nothing wrong with the pool," Annabeth shook her head while Percy helped her distribute the gourds among the group of Chiron, the gods and demigods. "The problem is you."

"Huh, how are we the problem?" Zeus asked feeling a bit resentful towards Annabeth. "We did nothing wrong."

"It's not what you did," Annabeth shook her head slowly. "But rather what you are that's the problem."

"Huh, what are we?" Hera asked immediately.

"You are mortal," Annabeth answered Hera causing the gods to stagger back.

"We are not mortals," Artemis denied Annabeth's claim.

"You will fade after a few tens of thousands of years or perhaps less," Annabeth said softly yet so monotonously as though she didn't see them as much of anything. "You are longer lived than humans but still very mortal."

"Whatever," Artemis narrowed her eyes as Percy placed in her hand the gourd for her to drink. "Why is being mortal a problem to that pool."

"Do you see those dots of light in the pool?" Annabeth pointed to the light speckles that looked much like stars.

"Yes, but what about them?" Artemis asked as she drank the contents of the gourd along with the others. "They are just tiny stars."

"They are not stars Phoebe Artemis," Annabeth shook her head.

"Then what are they?" This time the question was politely asked by Hestia but this time she looked like a lovely and elegant young woman.

"Those little speckles of light frozen in the pool," Annabeth pointed as she gracefully rose to her feet. "They are the souls of mortals frozen forever in the Pool of Time."

"Is that the Pool of time?" Hestia asked softly.

"Yes, that is the Pool of time," Annabeth nodded. "But it is not the source of Time. It's still very powerful and dangerous regardless. If mortals spend too much time there, they will freeze in place and be forever bound to it."

"The liquid you made us drink, what is it?" Athena asked.

"A tonic to remove any lingering effects of the Pool," Annabeth said as she walked towards Percy with a slight smile on her face.

"Let's continue," Percy said. "We haven't reached the first world just yet."

Percy and Annabeth turned and walked away without looking if the others were following them or not. The group of campers and Olympians could only look at each other with their faces painted in bitter grimaces as they ventured to follow after the rather aloof eternals.

Should I continue to call Thesis as Annabeth or should I use Reyna or Thesis instead?

Chapter 9 Done.

ADDIO!