3. Percy- Father-Son time
I sat on the ocean floor, silently praying to my father. I had half an hour before capture the flag, and I thought: What better way to fill in the time than speaking with my father, who is never around. That being said, I have a much better relationship with my father than… well, most other demigods have with their godly parent.
After twenty minutes, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked behind me to find… nobody. I looked back, and my Dad was sitting in front of me, legs crossed, in a similar posture as me. He was wearing a blue hawaiian shirt, cream cargo pants, and sea green flip flops that matched our eyes. His trident was sticking out of the sand next to him.
"Dad, where have you been? You've been ignoring my texts and you haven't been returning my calls. What's up with that?" He smiled at me, but I could tell the humour wasn't masking my grim mood in the slightest. I had a lot of questions.
"Hello Percy. We both know this isn't a social call, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, well in that case you can start by-" I stopped myself, and calmed my tone. There are many questions I would like answered, but I have to prioritise.
"What is happening in Olympus? Why did Ares betray the other Olympians? And why would Aphrodite join him?" When I asked this, he raised an eyebrow, and appeared surprised by my question.
"Oh, that. I wish I could answer those questions, but unfortunately," he shrugged. "I can give you some information that Zeus has... decided against revealing." When he said this, I pinched the bridge of my nose. I hoped my assumptions were wrong. My mind drifted back to a plot against the gods when I was twelve. He seemed to already know what I was thinking, which is easy considering he is a god.
"Yes Percy. The bolt has been stolen… again. Ares has it."
Ares has never been very frightening. The war god isn't all that intimidating when you get to know him a little. I stood my ground against him when I was twelve! But the thought of that maniac wielding the most powerful of the godly weapons? That scares me. He may not be able to use the bolt like Zeus can, but I have no doubt that facing him in battle would be a big mistake. Maybe even for Zeus himself.
"Next question?" He asked
"Ok, um, why bring me and Annabeth into this? I mean, honestly… give us a break already!" When I said this, his smile momentarily returned to his face, before fading again.
"It wasn't my idea. Unfortunately the rest of the olympian council outvoted me on the subject."
"They feel they need us?" I asked.
"Percy it… it's more than that. You're… changing. You don't know it, but you're becoming more powerful. We need you." He took a deep breath and continued. "After your dip in the river Styx… no, after you crossed the little tiber in Camp Jupiter… the power of a blessing as powerful as the Achilles curse cannot simply be washed away."
"I don't understand," I said.
"The power you gained from bathing in the styx was simply pushed deep down inside you, slowly rising back to the surface. You're powerful enough without that added power, in fact you surpass all of my sons. You have surpassed most demigods, even Hercules. But the power of the curse left untamed by a singular purpose… the purpose being to protect you, has added to your power. You are becoming more than a demigod."
I wish I could say that I had no idea what he was talking about, but it all made a startling amount of sense. 'More than a demigod.' There's a little secret that I haven't told anyone, never spoken about, in fact until recently I had no idea about it either. I uncapped Riptide, and closed my eyes as I placed the blade against my wrist, and sliced open the veins. Blood floated from my wrist, but instead of being dark red, it was more mango orange.
My father nodded knowingly.
"The ichor concentration in your blood is increasing rapidly," he said.
"Have you ever seen anything like this before?"
"Only once." I waited for him to tell me more.
"Dad, when? Who?" But he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Who?" I asked again, with a stern tone in my voice.
"Dionysus… before he ascended to godhood," he said softly.
"How can I stop it?" I asked, but my Dad just shook his head.
"You can't, I'm sorry."
"I- no, there has to be a way. I need-"
"Perseus Jackson... son. Being a god isn't that bad. There is absolutely no reason why you and Anna-"
"It's more than that. I want to live a human life with her, and I can't just ask her to give up her's for me."
"You think she wouldn't?" He asked, to which I had no reply. So I just sat there in silence, thinking what this means for me, for my life and for Annabeth… for 'us'.
I was so caught up with this, that my other questions, like where Daniel came from, were pushed from my mind.
"Don't dwell on it too much, you have bigger problems," Dad said.
"Y- You're right. Ares first, my problems later."
"Actually, I was referring to capture the flag." When he said this, my eyes widened. I was already armoured up, thank the gods, but that doesn't help much if I've already missed the game.
"You have two minutes. It's good to see you again, son. Better get a move on now," he said, before disappearing.
I called upon Blackjack telepathically, as I summoned my new found strength. The ocean surged around me whilst I counted to ten to give Blackjack some time.
"Nine, ten!" As I finished my countdown, I pushed against the ocean floor, and summoned my powers. In the blink of an eye, I shot up, twice as fast as a torpedo, and burst out of the ocean and into the air. My ascent continued for another couple seconds before I even began to slow down, and after another five I finally stopped, before I began to descend.
I wasn't even falling for a second before I felt the saddle underneath me, and I was soaring through the air once more on the back of my Pegasus friend.
"To the forest Blackjack."
"Capture the flag time, boss?"
"Yea, maybe we'll beat the hunters this time."
"What's the scores now?"
"I think sixty-three matches in a row is their current record. I intend to change that."