Chapter 2
Later in Percy's house,
"Percy! Chiron's here to see you!" Percy's mother Sally said.
Chiron? What in the world was he doing here, visiting me? , Percy thought.
This was the first time Chiron had visited a half-blood in person, he never left camp. Percy knew that this was no laughing matter.
Percy wanted to make sure.
"Ma, you sure it's Chiron? You're talking about the camp half-blood activities director Chiron?"
"Yes Percy, who other half-man-half-horse immortals do we know?"
Point.
"Now hurry up and get your ass to the living room, you don't want to keep him waiting; he looked like he was in a great hurry."
Indeed he was.
"Ah, Percy! Finally, we must leave at once."
Wow Chiron, how straight to the point, Percy thought.
"Um, where exactly are you taking me and why?"
"Olympus, the gods are waiting for you, we must hurry, I'll explain when we get there."
Percy needed no urging. Olympus, the gods, this was a dire matter, and the fact that Chiron didn't tell him about it only meant one thing- trouble.
Percy and Chiron had finally arrived.
Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Hades and Ares all waited around a table and in the middle of the table, was a package. Their faces were down, as if all the life in them had suddenly been sucked out.
"Dad, what's going on?"
"Sit down Percy. We have a lot to discuss." Poseidon urged is son towards them.
Percy immediately obeyed, sitting next to his father.
"We are all here Percy because of that," Zeus said, pointing at the package in front of them.
"It is a package addressed to me, your father, Athena, Ares, Hades, Hermes, Chiron and apparently you."
"Me?" Percy said, almost in a scream, he was in shock, no one ever sent packages to the gods anymore, and none of which were also addressed to a mere half-blood, him.
"Who sent it?"
"I was just getting to that; it's a package from the Protogenoi."
"Who?"
"The Protogenoi are the first entities or beings that come into existence. They form the very fabric of our universe and as such are immortal. The Protogenoi are a group of gods from which all the other gods descend." Athena spoke up, her once proud and clear voice now sounding dry and stale.
"So basically, our ancestors?"
"Yes Percy, all of our ancestors."
"Then why are you all so worried? I mean it's just from our ancestors."
"As always Percy Jackson, you have proved incompetent, The Protogenoi, all descend to one creature, one being, Khaos. The void of darkness, the genderless god, who all fear, who we all descend form, who we wish never existed. And they also include Kronos, the lord of time, the one Percy Jackson that you defeated, that you killed." Hades objected, he loved it when he proved someone wrong, esspecially the young Percy Jackson, he continued, his pride higher than ever,
"We have worked hard for centuries trying to erase all evidence of the Protogenoi, when Kronos betrayed us all we engaged in battle, we won and sent them to the depths of Tartarus. And now they have risen again, and that Percy Jackson is not just some friendly letter from our ancestors wanting to have a reunion, for that Percy is a warning, to all of us."
Percy was speechless, he did not know any of this, the Protogenoi, that Kronos was part of it, and this god Khaos, who was he? What do they want from us? And more importantly, what do they want from Percy?
"Now you see Percy the importance of this meeting, we must read this letter together, we must find out what they want." Zeus said.
Hermes picked up the letter and read aloud,
Dear gods of Olympus and demi-god the famous Percy Jackson,
This is the Protogenoi, we have been cursed in this pit for over 1,000 centuries, the battle between us long ago has left us to rot here in this forsaken place, you were all of proud and convinced that we would never get out, that your children would never find out about us, well boy were you wrong.
When our brother Kronos escaped from the pit, he took us with him, he was eager, his greed had eaten him alive, he wanted to rise at once, and he wanted revenge.
The gods bodies shock in fear, they had risen? The same time as Kronos had, impossible.
The rest of us were not so eager, we knew we were still weak, we hid and watched our brother give all his efforts trying to destroy mount Olympus, years of preparation and he was finally ready, or so he thought. He was defeated and by who? No other than a filthy half-blood, you Percy Jackson; we watched you defeat our brother like he was nothing, not even respecting the fact that he was your ancestor, how could you? Because the fact was you were not aware of this, because the retched gods kept it from all of you! Destroying our legacy! And now we have come back, we have all come back to destroy all of you!
I Khaos, the void of darkness has discovered something, you all are well aware that we are the very beings that first emerged from the universe and therefore all the gods as well as the demi-gods share in our blood, in our very being.
You are also aware of the ceremony Protogenoism, are you not? Well guess what? We're ready to perform it, you see while Kronos used all those years building up his strength, he failed to remember an easier way to defeat all of you, frankly he was stupid, we tried to stop him, but his taste for revenge had grown too strong, the rest of us although spent those years collecting what we needed, and now we are ready, so we suggest you get ready yourselves.
Good luck,
The Protogenoi.
No one spoke for a very long time; the words searing them to the very core of their being, but finally Percy spoke up,
"What do they mean by get ready? What is this ceremony Protogenoism?"
No one wanted to answer, no one dared speak. The horrors of this ritual had not been spoken of, ever. They were merely told in forms of myths and legends when the gods were young. Now they knew that it was not mere legend, it was a fact.
Someone had to speak up, the dead silence suddenly started to become deafening.
"Percy, as you heard, we all descend from them, we share in their blood, which means we have a part of them in us, specifically we all have Khaos within us, the void of darkness is in each of us. When we were born the darkness was awakened, it continued to dwell inside of each of us, for others who immediately found it, embraced it and it grew within them, eating them to their death, Hades was one of them, so close to the brick of death until of course we saved him, but the other gods were not so lucky, the void inside them had eaten them alive. We, those who did not seek it, who never found it, the void simply stayed within us, it never left and it never will, only one god had been believed to get rid of this void, and he was Pan, since he vanished no one ever knew his secret, how he was able to get rid of the void, I myself have been trying all my life since I heard the legends, but it has proven unsuccessful." Athena spoke.
"Well this void? What does it have to do with Protogenoism?" Percy asked.
"Everything. The ritual Protogenoism was told to us when we were little; it is a ritual Percy, that self activates the void within us, instantly gaining control of our actions, and soon consuming us up in darkness. If the Protogenoi are telling the truth that can only mean one thing, they plan to rid of all gods and demi-gods on the face of the earth, ruling mount Olympus once again." Athena finished.
None of the gods wanted to admit this, but Athena was indeed right, the gods and demi-gods were hopeless once the ritual was finished, they would all seize to exist.
Percy was speechless; just one ceremony could end them all? He knew what he had to do, he had to stop them, and he would not let this happen.
"I must go to camp at once, we must gather everyone, the battle that begun and ended centuries ago has been reignited." Percy said, trying his best to seem brave in front of them, but deep inside he was as scared as a new born chick.
"Chiron, take Percy to camp, gather Annabeth, Rachel, Clarisse and Grover, I shall call Artemis and ask her to excuse Thalia from the hunt, we're going to need all the help we can get." Zeus instructed.
Zeus was right; they were going to need all the help they could get, and then some.