Thank you all for the continued support and encouragement on this story. It really means a lot to me that you all enjoy this story as much as you do. It really makes me want to keep writing even though I may not have the best of ideas and the willpower to write. It makes me smile even to see guest reviews that are simple and to the point like "awesome" or "keep writing!" It's a huge moral boost and makes me want to try and get the next chapter out faster. So without further interruptions, let me continue on to the next chapter.
All rights and royalties belong to Mr. Rick Riordan. Without him, none of us would be here and I would have to use some other piece of literature to write my stories off of.
Chapter 6: Blessings and burnings
Percy P.O.V
I know what you are thinking: Percy? Why would you accept a death sentence to the hunt? Why do you want to be tortured so badly? Why? Well to be honest, I felt like in the end, it would do more good than bad for me. Sure, the hunters would hate me and they would expect me to do everything they told me to do at the drop of a hat but it would be great to be able to train with an Olympian goddess; especially one who is constantly needing to train to keep her skills honed and be able to take down any new threat. I was broken out of my musing when I heard an exasperated sigh come from my father. Obviously he didn't want me to become part of the men hating group and potentially become a victim rather than a protector.
"If that is your wish Percy, so be it. I may not be in full support of this idea but if you believe it to be the best scenario, then I'm not stopping you. However, remember that if you ever need it, come home to the sea if you need to talk. You can always find me there," my dad said, looking somber.
"Don't worry dad. I will visit," I promise him but apparently this meeting is not finished. As I turn to Artemis and ask her for more details, I hear my name be called.
"Percy," calls Hestia," I would like to make you my champion and give you my blessing."
That sent the whole throne room into shock seeing as Hestia wasn't one to talk much during the meetings coupled with the fact that she had just offered me something that she had never offered anyone in the past before. To become her champion...
"Lady Hestia, while I am honoured that you want me to be your champion, I want to know why?" I ask questioningly. She laughs lightly and replied.
"It's because you are my favorite demigod Percy, and please just call me Hestia," she says, much to the shock again of all the present Olympians. "Oh come on everyone, it shouldn't be a shock that he is. He is one of the few demigods that shows me the utmost respect and actually takes the time to talk to me. He is more than deserving in my opinion to at least have my blessing but I want to make him my champion. May I take Percy here for a minute and speak with him privately?"
"Very well, but please make it quick. We have more business to discuss and it has already been a long day," says Zeus. With a nod, Hestia teleports herself and me out of the room.
"Ok Percy. I talked with your father already and he said that it would probably be a good idea but it is entirely up to you. In addition to becoming my champion, I would like to adopt you as my son," Hestia says nervously while looking down at the ground.
"Again, I'm honoured Hestia but why?" I ask, clearly confused by her motives.
"You know that much like Athena and Artemis, I am a virgin goddess and I have never had a child but I am a goddess of family. My family is so dysfunctional at times, I just want someone that can be normal and has a lot of love. That is why I would be honoured to have you as a son," she says, not looking up from the ground.
I move over to her and engulf her in a hug. "I would love to be part of your family, mom," I say while she hugs me even tighter with tears of joy rolling down her face.
"With my blessing, you can now control fire as effectively as you can control water. Granted it will take you a lot of time to practice and hone your skills but it should be easier to manage seeing as fire is even more responsive to your emotions than water. As well as that, you can now summon any type of home cooked meal. Lighter meals like sandwiches and soups will be easier but it takes a lot of energy to summon big cooked meals like steaks and turkeys. The more you practice the easier it becomes.
"One final power also installed into you now is the ability to wield hope. You will find that it is the greatest of all weapons seeing as you can not only infuse people with such unfaltering hope, you can also drain the person of hope but keep in mind that you should only use that in situations that there is not much else you can do. Use these powers well, my son," she finishes with a huge smile plastered on her face and her eyes sparkling from her joy of having someone in her life that she can raise as a son.
"I had no idea how powerful you were until now, mom. Thank you so much for your blessing and I promise to be the best son I can be... As long as you don't get your hopes up about grades and mental evaluations," I say with my trademark grin and she just smiles and looks up at me, grateful that I had said yes.
"We'll talk more about this later. Your uncle is getting a little irritated that I pulled you away in the first place," she says with her eyes still sparkling from the remainder of unshed tears. I realize then how big of deal this is to her. I am her only son, although adopted, in all of her existence. She flashes us back to the throne room once she composes herself and then returns to her throne while I remain standing in the center of the throne room.
"Well I guess Hestia just blessed you; seeing as you are now more powerful," Zeus says bluntly, eyeing me with a twinge of fear in his voice. I guess it's because I'm getting even more powerful and he doesn't want a repeat of Luke. "Is there anyone else that wants to bless Percy?" He asked, sounding nervous that many more would say yes.
"Yes actually, I would like to bless young Percy here," says the voice coming from the obsidian and bone throne. Everyone's head spins and stare shocked at the lord of the Underworld's words. I feel a little edgy too; not knowing why a god that had tried to kill me on a few separate occasions would want to bless me. My father was the first to recover from his shock and ask the question we all have on our minds.
"Brother, why do you want to bless Percy? I thought you had a grudge against him," he said with much shock and surprise evident in his voice.
"Well Percy here is one of the few people I have respect for. I got the short end of the stick having to monitor while you got what you wanted. I have the hardest job; having to manage all of the space below the earth while you gods just sat up here enjoying all the luxuries that you could. I was stranded and alone while all of you all but forgot about me. Then Percy came looking for the lightning bolt and his mother. While I knew it wasn't right to hold a mother hostage, I knew it was the only way for him to return what I thought he had stolen. Thanks to Percy here though, my helm was returned and I was content again. Yes, I tried to kill him again because I believed that my son was stronger and should have been the child of the prophecy but I was thinking brashly and illogically. I want to say sorry to Percy for all the grief I have caused him over the years and also say thank you for showing me respect when I have shown you little. Please accept my blessing," he says, sounding angry at the start but then easing into a more calm and comfortable tone. What could I do but accept? I dumbly nod my head and feel for the second time that day a wave of power wash over me. This one, unlike the warmth that Hestia's blessing gave me, felt sinister and cold; much like the one blessing me.
"Lord Hades, thank you for the blessing. You didn't have to do that however. If I were to have a request from you," I start but was cut off.
"I'm sorry Percy, but the Ancient Laws forbid me from bringing people back from the dead. I would have raised your mother and Paul again but alas, that is something I cannot control. I can control death but I cannot let people be alive again. I will tell you though that they are enjoying their time in Elysium but due to Ancient Laws, you are forbidden from seeing them unless you perish and join them," he says somberly.
"Oh," I say in a low and small voice and feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Oh, how cruel the damn Ancient Laws could be.
"However, I want to tell you that my blessing will give you all the same powers as my children," Zeus turns ghost white at the thought of me having this much power but Hades continues, "You will be able to visit the Underworld as you wish but not the Elysian fields and talk to the ghosts that have passed; again, not those in the Elysian fields. You can shadow travel and can now wield weapons forged from stygian iron and ice. However, my Roman aspect added the power that you have control over wealth. Unlike Hazel, you can chose when to use it."
"Uncle, thank you," I say in awe, forgetting how powerful the original 6 can be.
"I don't like that he has this much power," Zeus starts but stops when he sees my dad start to grow irritated.
"Yes, he is powerful. Get over it," he says to Zeus but that causes Zeus to grow angrier.
"No, I will not get over it. Say he joins Erebus and turns dark. He has all that power then to use against us!" He cries out, clearly wanting to get rid of me due to my power level. That makes me grow irritated. Sometimes, people don't change. Well I think I can do something to persuade him that I won't go against him.
"Lord Zeus, if it makes any difference, would it help if I swore an oath of loyalty to you and all of Olympus?" I ask in a tone that could have been either taken seriously or the complete opposite.
"Swear upon it and I shall rest my case," says Zeus with a set expression on his face.
"I, Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, swear upon the River Styx to forever be loyal to Olympus until the end of time. So mote it be," I say loud and clear for all of the gathered.
"So mote it be," Zeus responds back looking much more at ease knowing that he has a powerful demigod that will forever defend Olympus.
It was at that moment that I felt an excruciating pain wash over me as I fall to the ground in pain curl in the fetal position. I barely hear a scream but couldn't identify the voice due to the pain that had started to resonate within me. All of a sudden, it just vanishes and left me lying curled in a ball in the center of the throne room. Shakily, I stand back up but almost instantly collapsed back onto my hands and knees, weak from the pain and trauma I had just gone through. Apollo rushed over to me and started to check on me. He gasped and took a slight step back.
"Apollo, what is the meaning of this?" Zeus said, clearly showing concern now for me. Goes to show what a few words can do.
"Father, I've only heard whispers about what just happened. I was told that it would happen one day but for it to happen to Percy... amazing," he says sounding amazed and in awe.
"What is it? Tell us," Zeus questions again, making it more of a demand rather than a question this time.
"He has done it. Percy has obtained the blessing of Olympus. There's no doubt about it seeing as there is a trace of each of our essence in him. He has become the champion of Olympus," Apollo says, sounding still amazed.
"What?" Zeus thunders (yes I used that pun for a second time. Deal with it :P) and started to look on edge, "How can this be? Why does he have this blessing? Explain NOW Apollo!"
"From what I can extrapolate from this father, due to his loyalty oath binding him to Olympus, it (Olympus) has deemed Percy here worthy to wield its power for the use of justice and security for the good of us all," Apollo explains ad if it were possible, the jaws in the room had dropped even farther. I thought it would be funny to get a picture of each of the gods as it would make a nice calendar with one for the last four months of the prior year but I decided against pushing any buttons for the time being.
"Under normal circumstances, I would just kill you," Zeus says, slightly angry at the fact that I had yet more power but also glad that I was on his side, "but I fear that would be rather redundant now that you are sworn to defend Olympus."
"Lord Zeus," I say trying to hold back anger at the fact that he would have killed me lest I swear my loyalty oath, "like I said, I would never go against Olympus. Not for a moment."
Just then, an Iris message appears and Chiron appeared and in a state of distress. "Lord Zeus!" he exclaims, "There's something very wrong with camp!"
"What is the problem Chiron?" Zeus said, sounding concerned. After all, demigods were their children, not to mention that his own daughter, Thalia, was residing at camp with the hunters for the time being.
"It seems that many campers have just vanished out of thin air!" Chiron exclaims with a tone that held both fear and worry in it. It seems that he just can't catch a break with losing demigods. Poor guy.
"What?!" Zeus says, uneasy about the fact that campers had just gone missing. It sounded just like the last time, "how many and who?"
"For the most part, it was the Athena campers. All of them are gone apart from Malcolm, the second to Annabeth. Others that are gone include some Ares campers, a few Hermes campers, an Apollo camper or two, and a few from the minor Gods and Goddesses cabins. That's just the Greek demigods that are missing. I will be in contact with Lupa to discuss who is missing from their camp, if any," Chiron says sounding even worse now that he took a tally of the missing campers. I notice that all of the Olympians paled when they heard that pretty much all of the Athenian campers had just up and disappeared, "What could be the meaning of this?"
"I will have Dionysus tell you later Chiron as it is a long and upsetting tale," Zeus said, sounding pained that so many demigods had turned traitor right under their noses for the second time in a decade.
"As you say, Lord Zeus," Chiron said, now looking depressed as he braced himself for the worst. He slashes the message and the image of the centaur fades away.
"Is there anything else that needs to be done here?" Zeus says, clearly worn from everything that had happened throughout the past 24 hours. Surprisingly, it was Ares voice that resonates next.
"Yes, actually. I want to set a few things straight that have been wrong from many eons ago to the present day," he says solemnly. What another bomb to drop on the council. Everyone just looked at him with shock in their eyes. I don't know how much more they can take in a single day.
"What is it son?" Zeus asks cautiously not knowing what might come out of the God of War's mouth.
"After seeing the display earlier, I want to just apologize," he says, much to the shock of everyone; myself included, "I realize that the path I'm on now can only do harm. Don't look so surprised; you make me out to be dumber than I actually am. Being the God of War also enables me to be great at strategy. While I'm nowhere at Athena's level, I do know how to strategize things upon occasion. My gut is telling me that I need to make change or else whatever future I might have is bleak."
A pin could be heard dropping if there were one to be dropped. I thought of dropping one just for humor's sake but stopped because I knew deep down that this was something not to be taken lightly; the most brutal of all gods was asking for forgiveness like a 4 year old that got caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
"My first hope of seeking forgiveness is by lifting the curse I set on Percy here back when your bolt was taken father," Ares says and snaps his fingers. Immediately, I feel lighter.
"Thank you Lord Ares," I say politely. He may have removed the curse on me but my opinion on him is still pretty low. Because of him, I have been nearly killed more times than I care to count. And then don't get me started on his children...
"I know that it may not be enough to just remove the curse, Percy, but please know that I want to give you a minor blessing," he said, again much to the shock of all Olympus. 'How many blessings can Percy handle in one day without going completely power-mad?' must be the next game show that Apollo will be hosting. "With this minor blessing, it will enable you to be proficient at any type of weapon I can use apart from a bow. That kind of blessing you will have to get from one of the twins," he says with a click of his finger. Immediately, I feel a vast increase to my knowledge on weapons and how to use them most effectively in any situation. Right after being blessed, I collapse to the ground in agony once more. I thought that the blessing of Olympus was a one-time thing.
"Apollo!" Poseidon exclaims, "What is going on to him?!"
"Hang on Uncle P," Apollo said while rushing over to me. He places his hand on my head and immediately removes it. "His core temperature is spiking. A half mortal body is not meant to contain this much godly power. Long and the short of it, Percy is burning from the inside. I'm taking him back to the infirmary right now to try and get this under control."
"Do what is needed Apollo," Zeus says, looking scared that his powerful ally might be crumbling from being too powerful.
"I will," he responds and instead of teleporting me, has a brief conversation with Hermes telepathically and teleports away without me. Hermes then runs over, picks me up, and ran at an extreme speed to the infirmary.
"Apollo," I say in a weak voice once I see him preparing what looked like a human size fish tank, "What in Hades are you making?"
"This cous," he says, sounding slightly proud, "is my solution to fix majority of the problems you have when on Olympus. I will flash you into a bathing suit and ask you to get in the water. From there, I will explain more. It doesn't look like you have much time left," as he could see my hair starting to smoke. He flashes on a pair of boardshorts and Hermes sets me into the water.
Immediately after, I felt a wave of relief wash over me and wonder why this water made me feel much better.
"To answer that question Percy," Apollo says, looking relieved also, "it is because I had your father help me create an infusion of water and nectar. That water should help any form of aquatic life, including you as you are son of a Sea god, regenerate and heal at an accelerated pace."
"That's great and all Apollo," I say with one major concern still on my face, "what happens when I get out? Will the powers of the water cease to surround me?"
"Way ahead of you Perce," he responds sounding even more proud of his creation, "while that chamber is a temporary solution to most problems for you, I have made with the help of your father yet again as well as Hephaestus, an amulet of sorts for you to wear to keep the powers of the chamber cloaking you. We fashioned it in the style of a simple chain necklace knowing you aren't one to wear much in terms of jewelry."
"That's really cool," I say and actually mean it. To be able to have that kind of protection at all times? Wow, I'd be nearly unbeatable.
"However, there are some drawbacks to this," Apollo says, reading my mind, "three quarters of the power in that amulet are devoted to make sure that the main problem, you're burning from the inside, is nullified. If the necklace is removed, you will feel the onsets of the burning again and resume where you were before you were put in the tank."
"Oh," I say, realizing that an idea of being invincible was too good to be true.
"Don't worry, it won't be too bad," Apollo says and I have to agree. Given the choices I had of either living with a necklace on at all time or burning up and going to visit my uncle the hard way, I believed that the necklace wouldn't look too bad.
At that moment, a flash went off and Artemis appears in front of me looking displeased about being in the presence of her brother.
"Apollo, they want you back as soon as possible in the throne room," she says while trying to keep her eyes from looking at me.
"I'm almost finished here," he says, waving to the necklace I wore, "no more blessings for Percy though. Any more and I don't think my device can handle it."
"Alright," she says, clearly put out. Why would she be upset that I cannot receive any more blessings? Like I'm not powerful enough already.
"What do I do now milady?" I ask her knowing that she was effectively my boss now.
"Percy," she says with a mixture of anticipation and worry in her eyes, "we leave for the hunt."
And it's done! Once again, I'm sooo sorry that it takes me so long to write a chapter. I honestly have no excuses to give other than how amazing Game of Thrones is (the book, not the T.V series). I think I should be able to promise a bit more frequent updates like maybe once a month (I'm only in grade 11. Cut me some slack) and I'm now into more of a routine. I also wanted to ask all of you a question: do you like the length of chapter? Should it be longer, shorter, or stay the same? Leave me reviews and also a poll should be up on my profile soon for those too uncomfortable to leave a review. As always, thanks for the support and I hope that you are still enjoying this as much as I am. For now, Scribe... Out.