CHAPTER 4:
One of the earliest memories Percy remembered had been one of his father's warm smiles. Over the years, even as his mother told him that his father had been lost at sea months before his birth, with nary an idea about the birth of his son, Percy couldn't quite shake the feeling that his father had watched over him.
When the god of the sea had appeared next to Percy's crib, he hadn't expected to be quite that transfixed by the sight of a baby. His mind hardly paid any attention to the sounds of Sally Jackson moving around the kitchen in the next room. Even though the idea of staying even a moment longer felt like going against his nature, he couldn't help but reach towards his son with one long finger.
He tickled Percy right at the centre of his chest and was enraptured by the way Percy's eyes blinked open. It had been like staring into a mirror, watching the sea green of his eyes, so akin to his own, perfect for a son of the sea god.
Poseidon couldn't help but smile when Percy held onto his finger with both his tiny hands. That smile only turned warmer the more he gazed upon his son. It had been something incredibly special to have seen the tiny creature that Sally had birthed, so perfectly him. A god he may have been, but he had hoped then that this child would inherit all of his qualities from his mother.
There was something to be said about the remarkable woman Poseidon had met one day at Montauk and the light she had exuded that had brightened the lives of everyone around her. With one last look, the god disappeared from the room, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there at all.
He stood on the shore of a beach, hands stuck within the pockets of his shorts, his gaze moving over the hordes of people and shrieking children running about around him.
The calm demeanour of his body portrayed the opposite of the storm raging in his eyes. He had never felt quite this helpless, quite this aware of how he couldn't make a difference despite the immense power he had.
Even the smell of the ocean didn't do anything to ease the pressure building in his head. Suddenly the air around him weaved away and Poseidon turned away with a sigh as he recognised the presence of his son beside him.
"Father," he greeted him with a slight bow.
The mortals around them gave no indication that they were aware of the presence of another immortal god among them.
"Triton," Poseidon tried to say amiably. If gods could have had headaches, he was pretty sure he was close to becoming susceptible to one.
There were a few moments of silence where Triton appeared to think about what to say next.
"Father, we think it's time for you to return to the palace. You have been away too long. There are also all these baseless rumours that you—," he tried to start, but his father cut him off before he could finish that sentence.
"You can say nothing to convince me now. I will return when the time is right."
Triton nodded. He turned to face the ocean, opting the same pose as that of his father. Being on land had always felt foreign to him. His place had always been in Poseidon's palace, surrounded by the rage and the beauty of the sea. He eyed his father from the corner of his eye.
Poseidon closed his eyes and shook his head, "Ask what you've really come to ask."
Triton let a little of his irritation seep into his words, "If you already know what I've come to ask, then why not address it head on? You're not once to mince words."
"Well, if my avoidance is so very uncharacteristic, I'm sure you can tell what has prompted this change within me."
Triton turned to him, his voice full of anger, "You cannot be serious, Father. You cannot mean to tell me the rumours are true! Swearing an oath on the River Styx for a mortal? You cannot be in your right mind."
Poseidon turned to face Triton in an instant, his hands fisting into the loose fitting of Triton's clothes, "How dare you stand before me and question my decisions?"
His form flickered to that of his Roman counterpart for a few brief moments before Poseidon appeared to take a deep breath and settled into his Greek form once more.
The children playing in the water let out little screams as the water flowed around them more furiously, but they simply continued to enjoy in delight at the ferocity of the shallow waters.
Triton looked mildly abashed as he shook himself free of his father's grip. Even though he had always deferred to his father for making any final decisions over the centuries, there were some things his father was likely to forget, "He's just a mortal demigod. You're putting your whole kingdom at risk by throwing around words that could be used against you."
"He's my son, and for that reason alone, he deserves my help."
Triton snorted, "I may not live among the mortals, but even I know you won't win any 'Father of the Year' awards for saying you can help in a situation you clearly have no control over."
Poseidon continued to stare at the horizon, "I'm not doing this hoping that Perseus will be grateful to me down the line. What has happened in the last few years alone is greater than other events that have spanned centuries. And it's all because of my son."
He continued, "Zeus has a decision to make. Either he will force the Fates to change Perseus' future as much as they can, or he will not be in any position to run the Pantheon."
Thunder and lightning struck the sky all at once and one bolt was even strong enough to hit the water in the distance but Poseidon merely smirked.
"You think the only way to win this war with the giants is to wage another against your own brother? After all these eons, you're ready to start one for Percy Jackson?"
Poseidon brought out a black bead from his pocket and looked at it with something akin to sadness and regret in his eyes, "Anyone who truly knows my son can understand why I would be willing to do this for him, why he's worthy of it. And anyone who knows me should know that I don't make decisions lightly."
He looked towards Triton for a few moments, as if trying to guess if his other son had understood even a fraction of the reason he was doing this for Percy. But he could find no understanding in his immortal son's eyes.
The sea god would hardly have done this for any demigod child of his even just a few decades ago, but in his heart, he'd always known that there had been something truly remarkable about his son from the second he'd been born. He had given his son everything he could - as a god forced to watch from the sidelines - since the day he had first laid eyes upon him. He couldn't find it in him to regret that decision.
Poseidon closed his eyes and concentrated on his next destination. He had a whole world to see and not long before time would catch up with him.
Three days since the crew had made the decision to return to Camp, things were going relatively well, all things considered.
They had only had to fight about a dozen storm spirits every day, avoid the ocean that seemed to stretch out endlessly below them, and most importantly, keep Coach Hedge from jumping onto the back of a venti in a fit of rage.
As Leo said, everything was going perfectly. Including the fact that he was on fire and had no idea what had triggered it.
Hazel fell back from where she'd been standing next to him with a yelp. Leo tried to get the flames back under control but his panic was making it very difficult to concentrate.
Oh, had he forgotten to mention that the air spirits were essentially preparing to throw the Argo II off-course while Jason was dead tired and couldn't do anything?
See, everything was going just fine.
Frank had transformed into a mighty eagle but there was only so much biting he could inflict upon literal air. Leo turned the dials on the Archimedes sphere with a curse. Piper was charmspeaking the heck out of those storm spirits but truthfully, the Argo II couldn't take this much longer with the dozens of storm spirits surrounding them.
Leo, Hazel and Annabeth knew that Jason couldn't stand upright, much less fight the storm spirits after having done so for three whole days. So Leo did the only sensible thing he could in that moment, he called Annabeth from where she'd been trying to fix something at his insistence.
He had been planning something reckless, and he knew it would work, but he couldn't help that feeling of insecurity that came over him. Save for building the Argo II, he'd done nothing but let his team down since the beginning and now, with Percy gone, Leo felt responsible for not having paid attention to getting his team members back on board before securing the Athena Parthenos.
"I have a plan, guys. It's reckless but I'm sure you'll love it."
Hazel rolled her eyes, but nodded her head. Annabeth tried not to look too concerned about the blow that had been delivered to the Argo II on the right. They stumbled a bit.
"It would be wonderful if that plan came together a lot more quickly, Leo," screamed Piper through clenched teeth. And then she turned around and smiled at the storm spirits as though she loved them. It was eerie.
Leo snapped his fingers to get the attention of Hazel and Annabeth, who'd been staring out at the darkening grey clouds surrounding them, "The only way to get rid of storm spirits, in conditions when a child of Zeus is not readily available, is simply not to be in air any longer."
Annabeth's eyes cleared a bit, "True. Theoretically lowering ourselves to the ocean could neutralise the storm spirits because of increased atmospheric pressure."
Leo nodded like he understood, but really, he was just concerned about his ship and the sounds Festus had started making, "Yep. Exactly what you said."
Hazel looked at him like he was a bit mad. Leo was ready to accept that expression for the compliment that it was.
"So, we have to choose between fighting these spirits now or dealing with much worse sea creatures?"
Leo tsked. "It'll be okay, Hazel. Why do you worry?"
His fingers tapped against his tool belt, a nervous tic of his, because they all knew fighting the air spirits was one thing, fighting the vastness of the ocean was another.
The air turned sombre. Annabeth was silent for a few moments and then she quietly said, "Do it. We have no other choice."
"Everybody, hold on to something. Piper!"
And so, having issued his warning, Leo pulled the lever and the Argo II dropped from the air.
In hindsight, he should've discovered a better method to this than just free-falling. Oh, well.
Jason had been having a good sleep, by which he meant that he had not been having any dreams of doom and gloom. He wasn't sure when the blank expanse of his dream turned to one of him standing at the base of the pine tree at Camp Half-Blood.
He looked through the archway and heard laughter. A part of him didn't want to take a step, didn't want to venture any further into this dream for he knew it would turn into a nightmare. But, still, he went.
He had just begun to walk when he felt the presence of someone walking alongside him. It was Thalia.
"Baby bro, what are you doing?"
Jason looked confused. "What am I doing? What do you mean?"
Thalia rolled her eyes, "You're returning to Camp? The place where even Dirt Lady wants you to go?"
"I know it was not in our original plan to go back where we started but even Rachel is asking us to come back."
She laid a hand across his shoulder and it was only slightly awkward due to their similarity in height. The blue of her eyes pierced his own and for a second, she didn't look much like Thalia at all, with that too-wide smile, "You still have time to turn back. If you continue this voyage, you'll never be able to reach the House of Hades in time."
A small hand tugged at his pants and Jason looked down. It was Ella, the harpy that Jason had briefly seen at Camp Jupiter. He turned back to his right only to find that Thalia had disappeared. When he looked down, Ella had disappeared too.
He was still walking towards the sound of the laughter when he fell. And then the world turned darker.
A gentle laugh followed, different from the raucous laughter he was used to hearing at Camp Half-Blood and a voice that chilled him to the bone, Well, well, I can't have them giving you all the answers so plainly.
Them? What answers?
The last thing he wanted was to have the 'Dirt Lady', as Thalia had put it, talk to him. He had found it difficult before, but now, for the first time, it seemed impossible. It was as though he had lost all hope at succeeding on this quest.
Don't fret, said the voice.
He was still on the ground and looked on helplessly as the form of a woman took shape before him. It was a very faint outline but he knew this was Gaia's conscience getting stronger.
You're only now coming to realise the truth. That makes you smarter than your brethren. You now know how useless every one of your attempts against me will be. My sons will create a better order for this world than any before it.
She reached a hand towards him.
"I don't care what you have to say. I don't care about any prophetic visions. We will defeat you. We will prevent your rise," said Jason, but he lacked the conviction he put into those words.
Gaia smiled as though she knew it too.
You can go wherever you wish to. Whether it be to that camp you call a home or to the Doors. Your fate will be the same either way.
She looked around and smiled a wicked, cruel smile before she continued, Well, I see you're entering some uncharted waters.
A wave of her hand and the dream dissolved. Jason woke up with a gasp and tumbled off his bed at the swooping sensation in his stomach. He felt as though he was falling and his body lifted off of the floor of his room.
No dream with Gaia was ever pleasant, but for some reason, he felt as though the stakes were higher with this one.
He tried to concentrate on holding the ship aloft. Maybe someone had hurt Leo and tampered with the controls. But the weight and the velocity of such a large ship free-falling was hard to control, especially when Jason was trying to curb his own panic.
All he could do was slow the fall just a fraction. Maybe instead of breaking all his bones, he'd now just break a dozen. When he felt the impact of the ship with what he could only assume was the ocean, he fell to the floor and knocked his head once more.
"Not again," he grumbled, getting to his feet. His shirt was drenched in sweat, but he couldn't dwell on that. For all he knew, someone had taken over the ship. And he didn't like the tone in which Gaia had said 'uncharted waters'.
He opened the door of his room, only to hear the loud voice of Coach Hedge from the deck.
"Valdez, the television is more broken up than your bruised body. If you wanted my help with the ánemoi, you shouldn't have told me to lock myself in the room. Who gives up a fight like this?"
Leo rolled his eyes, "Coach, I'm hardly in the mood for a lecture about why we're still alive."
Leo happened to turn in his direction and upon noticing him, asked in a high, guilty voice, "Jason, sorry, did we disturb you?"
Jason walked up to where the girls were sitting, talking in low voices and said with a small smile, "You mean when you let the Argo II free fall from air?"
He bent to squeeze Piper's arm before settling against the chair next to her. Hazel was rationing the ambrosia for Annabeth, who had injured her ankle once more.
The Coach grumbled at the lack of attention he was receiving and moved back towards his room, his club beating against his thigh as he walked, "Let me know when you have some monsters to kill."
Jason hardly paid the satyr any mind. He was still fixated on his dream and the low ache in his head. He didn't know what he could even share about it, seeing as it was something they all knew.
It had been highly risky for them to turn back the way they'd come, and still they'd done it because it was the only path they could take. And despite the monsters, they'd been making decent progress in cutting across the ocean, taking the shorter route rather than the one that they'd had to follow previously.
He didn't want to bring up how they would be unable to fight any large sea monster. Frank could only do so much. He was pretty sure Frank was still circling the air above the ship, just to be sure they were safe from harm for now.
In the chaos of his mind, he hardly paid any attention to the conversation around him until Piper laid a hand on his arm and asked him, "Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"
He looked up into her kaleidoscope eyes. They were shining brightly despite the windblown and tired appearance of the rest of her body. He wanted to talk about it, how he was worried about the vision they'd seen. His dream with Gaia and Thalia only made him more anxious. They had all skirted around the topic of Percy waking Gaia up for the past three days.
And maybe now was the best time to bring it up. Before they were too close to Camp, before another monster attack.
Just then, Frank swooped in from above and turned back from his eagle form. He looked a little out of breath and was flushed from exhaustion. Jason felt guilty for how much all his friends had to work to fight the storm spirits when he was the only definite way of taking them down.
Frank pointed the way he'd come, "We've got company and not the good kind."
Great, Jason thought. He had woken up just in time to fight some sea monsters.
Word Count : 3,296 words in the main content.
Date : 21st January, 2023
Author's Note : I know no apology would be good enough for not having updated this for over a year, without any warning. I only hope that those that liked this enough to follow it or review it still find it in themselves to be interested by the outcome of this story. Also, the absence of Nico will be addressed in Chapter 5/6.