A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
Poseidon tapped his trident on the floor in anger as Percy gave his report. "The audacity of this unknown enemy to assault a guest on our own seas."
"Father, I believe…the Blade of Souls is connected to this."
Poseidon's eyes grew stormy and dark. "What?"
Percy recounted what he knew. He had thought the weapon had been either lost over time or destroyed from the battle. Then the dagger had reappeared on Annabeth's person, but she had stolen it from the man who had found her as an abandoned baby.
"You should have told me this earlier, Perseus." The elder sea god's face was sober.
"I apologize, Father. The blade did not accept my power, so I wanted to do research further before reporting my findings." Percy told next of his thoughts that Annabeth had been lured out with the dagger and the foiled attempt on her life.
Poseidon took the dagger Percy offered. Just as Percy had done, the lord of the seas first offered a sliver of his own godly power, which did nothing.
"Father!" Percy startled as Poseidon was about to cut his own arm. "Would it not be better if I do that?"
"Peace, my son. I am assured the dagger will not do much to me." Poseidon cut across the palm of his left hand and a sliver of golden ichor leaked out. However, nothing else occurred. "It truly does appear to be nothing but a mere knife. But the design of this blade indicates it was made centuries ago, back in the early days when the elder Cyclopes just began their work."
"So, it is indeed not the Blade of Souls?"
"I cannot say for certain, either. If it were only a normal blade, then our enemies would not be so desperate in trying to steal it." Poseidon was troubled. "We shall keep this in our vault in caution, daughter of Athena."
Annabeth, who was beside him, had been quietly listening to the sea gods talk. "I...understand." Though she had fought for the use of the blade earlier, now she looked slightly relieved to have it off her hands after the attempt on her life.
"Father. Whoever we are dealing with, whatever we are dealing with seems to have experience and knowledge of the seas."
The lord of the seas furrowed his brow. "I will mobilize our armies to start a quiet inquest into who may be stirring up filth. In the meantime, Perseus, investigate the origins of the blade and how it came to be here. However, do not take action on your own. I fear that this enemy brings much danger indeed."
"I will carry out your orders, Father."
Poseidon nodded, still troubled by what had occurred. In a flash of sea bubbles, the sea god vanished. Four dolphin guards took the dagger away to be locked up.
"Come. We have much to do."
But the demigod was glowering.
"What is it?" Percy turned back to her.
"You let me have the dagger on purpose, didn't you? You used me as bait. I thought it was strange that you let me have the dagger so easily."
Percy did a mock bow. "Congratulations, Wise Girl. You figured it out."
"Spare me your condescension. I could have died as your bait." Annabeth's eyes were accusatory as she stomped towards him, fists clenched.
"Welcome to the world of the gods." Percy said, sarcastically. "Where half-bloods are meant to be used, according to the will of the gods."
"That isn't fair! We are the gods' own children. We're humans, not objects!"
"The world isn't fair. It has never been fair. The sooner you understand this, the longer you'll survive."
Annabeth's eyes flashed in anger. "And is that how you became a god? By 'understanding' where the place of a human is?"
"I have my duty to protect the people of this realm! The best choice was to use you to lure the enemy out."
"You could have at least let me know so I could be prepared! I thought you said you used to be a demigod. Then you should have understood what it felt like to be used by the gods." Annabeth scoffed. "I know, you must have groveled like vermin for them to make you a god."
"You know nothing of what I experienced!" Percy growled. "Of what I lost!"
The vases in the room suddenly shattered as some of his own emotions leaked out, startling them both. Percy regretted it instantly as her gray eyes widened with shock. Then her eyes lowered to the ground.
"I see, I have overstepped," she muttered. Annabeth's voice quivered. Eyes shinier than usual, Annabeth stormed off. "Hypocrite."
Her whispered word lingered in the air.
Percy held himself back from smashing the rest of the vases in his father's throne room.
Calm yourself, Percy told himself. She is but a demigod, still a young fledging. Annabeth did not know what had occurred to him. Of what had caused his family to be murdered and the anguish that still rested in his soul.
As soon as they arrived back at Percy's underwater palace, the demigod locked herself into her room.
Percy was still angry, but his fury was directed at himself and at the woman who still tormented his life.
Annabeth's words stung his heart and flared his anger. But she was right. He was a hypocrite.
How many times in the past when he was still a demigod had he silently complained against the gods for playing with their lives? How many times had he wished that the gods communicated in ways other than half-baked prophecies and poetry?
"Percy," his mother had chastised him once when he was a little rebellious boy. "We cannot control how we are born and what we are born with, but we can control our fate by how we act and adapt to our ever-changing circumstances. I only regret that I've brought upon you a hero's fate."
"Mother, why did you fall in love with Father then? If you knew that a hero's fate was bad?"
His mother's blue eyes softened. "I could not control my heart or how Cupid's arrow struck. Love does not work that way. And I didn't know that you would be a product of my love with your father." His mother held him tightly in her arms. "When I found out about you, I was so happy, and oh, I was scared, too. Scared that I might lose you one day. But not every hero's fate or journey has to be…bad or difficult. I had a feeling that you were very, very special, Percy. Destined to do great things."
His mother kissed him on the forehead as the young Percy snuggled into her arms.
"But know this, I truly wish you to be more happy than to be a great hero. But if you have the opportunity to make the world a better place, then take it. Grasp that opportunity, and never let go."
He had failed his mother's teachings. Had being a god for so many years dulled him of what it meant to be human, dulled him of those painful but needed memories as a demigod?
Percy had spent decades on land searching for his family's souls to ask for their forgiveness and to apologize for not being able to protect them. What was the point of being a great hero when he could not even protect those closest to him? The guilt had always weighed on his mind. His village and family was destroyed, while he was made a god instead.
And he had also failed in making the world better, doing exactly what he hated the gods for doing, using and playing with a demigod's life. Was he not also betraying what little faith Annabeth had in the gods, just like how he had been betrayed by her, that woman who had tortured him even after death? He, too, had been furious at the gods for testing him, for constantly tangling the threads of his life, and then deeming making him a god was an adequate award for the suffering and pain he had experienced. Why had he forgotten this?
Percy sighed and his fingers went up to touch his leather cord necklace, spinning a clay bead around and around. He had certainly made a mess of things.
Perhaps he had thought he could make amends for what had happened in the past by thinking he could take down whoever was behind this alone without having anyone to help to minimize the damage. That had been plain arrogance.
Poseidon was right. He could no longer afford to let the past cloud over his mind.
Three hours had passed since Annabeth had locked herself into her room. Percy judged that they had both adjusted their emotions before knocking on her door.
"Annabeth. May I talk with you?" He could hear shuffling in her room.
"Why do you need to knock? You can come in anytime you'd like, since I am merely an insignificant demigod, and you're a god. This room is technically yours, anyways." Her words seemed harsh and muffled through the closed door, but her tone was quiet and listless.
"I'm not going to do that."
"Then why are you here?"
Percy took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize, and I needed to talk to you."
The door opened just a crack. A sliver of Annabeth's face was exposed, her eyes slightly rimmed red.
"May I come in?" He asked, politely.
The door opened more, and Annabeth stepped back to let him in. Her posture showed that she was still wary of him.
Percy took a deep breath. "I am sorry, truly. I should have let you know of my plan ahead of time. And I should not have used you as bait without your permission or at least cluing you in." Percy admitted.
Annabeth stared at her feet. "I know you have your duties as a sea god. I understand that."
"But you were right. About me being a hypocrite. Forgive me."
Annabeth looked at a loss with the sea god apologizing. She stared down at her feet. "I am sorry, too. You probably did not trust me in full. If I was in your position, I probably would have done the same in order to protect my realm. But I am sorry. For calling you names. Even if I was right about the hypocrite part." She muttered the last sentence quietly.
Percy's lips tilted slightly in half-amusement. She reminded him of when he was younger and tended to be more mouthy. His words had once gotten him in trouble with Ares, god of war.
"Why don't we start over, Annabeth?"
"Start over, what do you mean?"
"Neither of us trust each other fully yet. So, let's endeavor to build our faith in each other. Agreed?" Percy stretched out his hand.
Annabeth blinked and stared at his hand. Then she placed her hand in his. Her hand was warm. "Agreed."
"Then, we shall shake on it. On the River Styx."
"On the River Styx?"
Percy gently grasped her hand and shook it. "I, Perseus Jackson, promise on the River Styx that I will not betray you, Annabeth, daughter of Athena."
Her mouth was gaped, not expecting that a god would make such a promise so readily. Even the gods were not free of the curve of the River Styx should such a heavy promise be broken. Finally, Annabeth's hand closed tightly around his.
"I, Annabeth, promise on the River Styx to never betray Perseus Jackson." She blinked. "I didn't realize you had a last name."
"It was my mother's name." Percy released her hand. "We will start then, with the investigation. You'll be coming with me."
Annabeth's eyes brightened. "I can?"
"Yes. I fear the seas have been infiltrated and will not be safe for you if I leave you behind here."
"Hmm, will it be safer by your side, though? You did use me as bait." Annabeth gave a small smile. "I only jest, of course."
His lips twitched. He did deserve that.
"I will make it up to you as we shall return to your village," Percy promised. "I have a few questions for this archon of yours and how he came to acquire this dagger."
"How is returning to the village that condoned sacrificing me count as making amends?"
Percy smiled. "Well, Wise Girl, would it not be entertaining to see how those who tried to kill you react as you not only come back alive, but reappear as a 'bride' of a sea god?"
A/N: I wanted to explore an interesting dichotomy here. In the PJO series, Percy does have some anger and resentment against the gods and the unfairness of his life which Kronos and his allies have repeatedly tried to exploit to no avail. Now that Percy is a god here, would he fall into the same traits and point of views that the gods had towards mortals and demigods?
Neither of Percy's and Annabeth's perspectives here are totally black and white. Annabeth is reasonably angry at being used as bait and that her trust is basically tested. She was also just dropped into a completely different environment and suddenly her life is constantly on the line. On the other hand, Percy reasonably can't trust other people after a betrayal results in the deaths of his family and village. Whether he took the right action in testing Annabeth's faith, hmm...that I cannot say. But growth must come from somewhere.
As always, thanks for reading, and see you next time!