Hey ya guys! So I decided to go ahead and write this chapter up immediately, mostly because I was bored.
Anyway thank you everyone who has reviewed/Favourited and Followed this story, seriously guys I really appreciate it.
Main Pairings: Percy/Olympians, Percy/Artemis
Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth
I in no way own PJatO or HoO
A sudden wave of anxiety and annoyance brushes over Percy like a paint brush marking colours on a canvas, making his skin feel as if it is both boiling and freezing at the same time.
It's a weird phenomenon that he remembers reading about in his Health Class at Goode, a panic attack. It was one of those things Percy had never really had the pleasure of having despite the countless times he had been at deaths doors both metaphorically and literally. He had come close once when he was trapped down in Tartarus with Annabeth, in fact up until this very moment he had believed that it had been a panic attack. But this feeling of dread that was currently running up and down his spine seemed to tell him that what he had suffered in the pit was not a panic attack.
What he felt in Tartarus was more of a hopelessness then a panic. It was a feeling deep in his soul of not being able to continue on with the quest, a feeling of being trapped and alone.
Even with Annabeth right there beside him.
That hopelessness was a feeling that seemed almost like child's play compared to this current state of panic that was running rampant through his body.
Slowly, he turns to face the god in front of him, a gnawing feeling deep in his gut that screams at him to run and drop everything.
Who knows; the god, his father, may not even have seen him yet and had been calling out his name for the past few hours at random intervals in the hopes of an answer from the demigod.
Like some sick game of hide and seek. He thinks to himself with a frown, because in the reality of the situation that is all this really is.
The rational part of his brain tells him that he is being stupid and that the god has seen him and is expecting some kind of short apology for running off into the world without telling anyone.
"Perseus." The voice says again, this time a lot closer than Percy was expecting. Rather it sounds like the god is standing right behind him rather than around the back of the warehouse in the shadows. Playing cool and calm, unlike the choppy ocean around them.
"Percy." He mutters slowly turning around to face the sea god.
Poseidon stands tall in front of him, well a little taller. It seems that over the past few months since the Titan war that Percy has grown and almost shot up to his father's preferred mortal height. Poseidon must have noticed this because Percy swears that the god grows an extra inch within a second of Percy turning around.
Percy doesn't know what he should say if he should just play clueless and say; 'Oh hey dad, fancy seeing you here. What am I doing in a creepy warehouse? Well I figured I would just brush up on some survival skills in the city. You know, sleeping in abandoned warehouse, penny handling, dumpster diving, the usual stuff.'
Or just act how it really is and go along with the god despite his best wishes, 'Oh well.' He could say with a shrug. 'Looks like you found me. Come on dad let's hold hands and skip all the way to Olympus together. Just like the good old times.'
Except there weren't any 'good old times' and Percy doubts the two would skip all the way up towards Olympus.
He can't even imagine Poseidon skipping.
With both ideas sounding weird, Percy instead stays quiet and stares up at the god with as blank of a face as he can.
He has a feeling he looks like he has seen a ghost.
He wonders briefly what Lupa, the wolf goddess who briefly took him in after Hera's mind wipe, would do to him if he came up to her looking as pale as a ghost and absolutely terrified. He doesn't need to guess that she would be just about ready to feed him to her wolves, because he knows she would she wouldn't even have any guilt for it either.
New and Old Rome was a place that only the strongest could survive in.
Poseidon seems to guess Percy's inner turmoil because his hard face seems to soften, however it is only slightly. So know instead of looking pissed off, he looks only slightly pissed off.
Really there is not much of a difference between the two, never the less Percy takes the minute change as a good thing.
"Percy." He says a little softer and moves towards the frozen son of Poseidon. Percy is silent, watching the god carefully. He isn't ready to physically fight with the god, but if things go south it doesn't mean that he won't fight him. "Where have you been?" he grunts his chin jutting outward.
How should Percy even respond to that?
"Uh, just wandering around New York." He says his hands in his pocket in a move that shows he is relaxed. But his hand grips his weapon hidden in his pocket and he is ready to pull out Riptide and fight if he needs to. Poseidon seems to notice the boy's offensive move. The god's stance shifts slightly. "Just getting to know the area again, you know after everything that happened."
Poseidon grimaces a little and rubs the back of his neck in slow soothing circles. He wonders what the god is thinking about, what his next move might be. If he will attack or play pretend with him for a little while longer.
Percy kind of hopes for the pretend.
"See." He says after a moment of silence. "Even got myself a souvenir." He gestures to the hat that sits atop his head with a fake sort of enthusiasm.
"Hmm." Poseidon mutters, taking a long glance around the warehouse.
Percy suddenly feels as if he should have tidied the place up, like maybe swept the floor or perhaps turning all upturned furniture back upright and maybe into more of a Feng Shui refuge.
However he figures that even if he did do all of that, which let's face it would be a Hades of a lot of work, the old broken down warehouse would still look like an old broken down warehouse and there was quite possibly nothing he could even do about it that would change it.
The anxiety that had been building in Percy slowly begins to dissipate as a calming breeze blows in from the still open door, the salt water pulling him into a relaxing state as Poseidon continues to look around the warehouse with a look of distaste and curiosity.
"What are you doing here?" Percy suddenly asks. He is still going with the whole innocent theme.
A theme his sea green eyes don't seem to understand as they give off a stormy appearance that Poseidon recognises almost immediately as he looks back at his son.
The air around the pair changes into one of suspicion.
It seems however that Poseidon is also quite curious of his son and not just the warehouse as he continues to toy with the boy. "I wanted to see my son."
He gives Percy a sly look, his legs locking into place preparing for an offensive attack from the demigod.
Percy doesn't notice and nods his head slowly. What would he have said if he didn't know his father's true purpose. Would he have smiled? Hugged him? he doesn't know what he would have done because all he can think of is finding a way to escape, a way that seems just about impossible, well at least without some sort of fight, but even then the chances of him getting out of this is slim to none.
It would be a fight that could very well kill or incapacitate him.
The top half of his back shivers uncomfortably.
"Well," he starts trying to calm down, his body however, has other ideas and begins to tremble slightly. "Here I am." He spreads his arms out wide as if telling the god to take a good look at him before he disappears for good.
Who knows maybe he just might disappear for good.
No. He thinks to himself, careful not to show any of his inner turmoil. Hestia promised this wouldn't last forever.
Poseidon smiles slightly and Percy is suddenly hopeful that his father has no idea of what he is thinking. Well that is until he looks into Percy's eyes, and when he looks in Percy's eyes, he looks in Percy's eyes and suddenly Percy is fully aware of what his father really is.
He is the sea, the trembling of an earthquake, the beating heart of a horse.
A god.
A god that has killed and cursed mortals like him.
A god that could curse and kill him.
Percy's chest feels heavy as if Hannibal the elephant has decided that his chest would make a comfortable beanbag.
"Yes." Poseidon says with a slight upturn of the lips. He turns around suddenly his back to Percy.
Percy if he recounts on the moment at a later date realises that this was the window of opportunity he should have taken to escape the warehouse, perhaps even the city.
Instead he stands tall and watches the god in front of him.
The room suddenly starts to grow stuffy like Percy is being suffocated by fluffy blanket.
"Let's cut the crap." Percy says suddenly, his voice rough and hoarse from the previous suffocation by fluffy blanket. His arms fold over his chest and suddenly Percy feels as if he is far more powerful than his father, despite the fact that he knows the truth. There is no way in Hades he could be more powerful than his father. "What are you really doing here, dad?"
It's said in a cutting way, a way that Percy can see hurts Poseidon deeply.
Percy almost feels regretful and sorry for the god, but brushes it away quickly. After all it is partly Poseidon's fault. And by partly he means 1/12 of his fault.
Poseidon's face grows stony, a face Percy has never seen on the sea gods face, well directed at him anyway and not on a statue or at some kind of shrine.
The wind outside starts to howl, he can feel the waves moving roughly as if he is standing waist deep in the ocean. It's a feeling that can be both comforting and dread filling.
"You know why I'm here." His voice is gruff, the sound Percy had often heard from smelly Gabe whenever he did something he shouldn't have been doing.
Like everything. Percy thinks remembering his old step-father.
Percy sneers at him, his body shaking, this time out of anger rather than anxiety and fear.
"No."
Poseidon lets out a loud sigh and folds his arms across his chest giving Percy a look that almost seems to comical for his own good. Honestly Percy is not able to take the god seriously when he looks at him like that, he almost looks… fatherly.
Well like a stereotypical modern day sitcom father anyway.
Percy is only able to tell the god is angry from the loud outspoken wind that rattles the building to the very core, Percy starts to shiver slightly.
He half expects the god to sit him down and have a good old fashion talk to him about school and life and how even he found being a teenager difficult.
Except well Poseidon was preparing to overrule his titan of a father and ruling the seas when he was still a teenager. Percy's two wars almost seemed like child's play when he put the two and two together.
"Percy." His voice is careful, controlled. Percy can sense the anger being kept at bay.
"Poseidon." Percy replies his voice a horribly sad attempt at mimicking his fathers.
Poseidon takes no notice of Percy's outburst of smartarse and instead looks back down at his favourite with a look of distrust and annoyance.
Percy realises that he doesn't like to disappoint the god. He looks down at his feet, ashamed at himself.
"I need you to come with me."
The shame disappears almost immediately, a frown marring his features. He looks up towards the god, because he is just that a god, not his father.
Not a creature or a man who cares deeply for a child, someone that would do anything and everything for their child's happiness.
For their child to succeed in the world.
No he is quite simply a god, someone who is both jealous and possessive.
Possessive enough of their own child that they will not allow them a life that is rightly theirs, a life of their own choosing.
Poseidon was not a true father, not like Paul.
Yes Poseidon cared for him and loved him, but Poseidon loved himself too much, like any other god, to care for anyone else.
Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had hundreds of children who could attest for that.
The gods never cared for anyone but themselves.
Percy's heart starts to beat louder and louder until all he can hear is the constant sound of his blood thrumming in his ears.
It's far too late to calm him down.
"Leave." He all but growls at the god. His chest rises at least twice every second.
Poseidon doesn't move. He just watches his son with a passive face, as if the demigod doesn't scare him, Percy knows he shouldn't be concerned by that.
What god, let alone an Olympian, would be terrified of a demigod? That doesn't mean he isn't angered or annoyed by his unfear some capabilities.
"Perseus." The god says again, Percy wonders if the god has some form of brain damage.
That's my name, don't wear it out- no wait it's too late. It's worn out.
"You're coming with me." He says this time, his voice harsher.
Percy thinks a ship somewhere has just been pushed into some rocky shores and sunk into the abyss.
His hand reaches out towards Percy about to grip onto his forearm. Percy only just manages to yank his arm away before the god could wrap his fingers around his skin.
"STOP!" He howls a large wave reaches up off the dock, practically knocking one of the walls down.
His new hat flies off his head. If Percy wasn't mentally preparing himself for a fight with his father he would have been concerned about his hat hair.
Poseidon only just manages to stop the wave from demolishing the dock they stand on. He does it without even breaking a sweat, as if he is trying to show Percy all that he can do if he becomes a god.
Percy's outburst of anger almost exhausting the young man.
Who knew that all the sleepless nights that he has spent mulling over his future could have such a horrible effect on his mental and physical state.
"I don't want this." He shouts, his throat starts to ache as he glares at the god. "Why can't you leave me alone." He howls again his eyes shut as tears start to pool around the lower rims of his eyes.
It's all starting to get a bit much and it has only been three days. He can't imagine many more days like this.
Poseidon is somewhat stone faced, acting as if Percy is the least interesting thing on the planet.
"Perseus. It's your destiny."
Percy is silent for a moment, his face in a permanent sneer. He is suddenly aware of how Clarisse's face must feel as his cheeks begin to burn and ache. On the plus side it makes it easier to focus in on objects.
"I have had enough of destiny." He growls back to the god, Riptide held tight in his fist, ready to unleash the sword at a moment's notice.
Poseidon stares at his son, his form shimmers slightly. Percy can see the pearly armour shine through before he is suddenly dressed back in his Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt.
Percy's nerves begin to kick into hyper drive.
He feels like a scared little boy, like he has accidently spilt his juice on the good carpet and his father is about to curse and shout at him before sending him into his room, this time however his father will probably send him to Hades before bringing him back and the turn him into a god.
A little toy for the Olympians to use and abuse.
He growls, suddenly feeling taller than his 6 foot frame.
"I make my own destiny." He growls ripping riptide out of his pocket, he unsheathes it with a metallic clang.
A look of sadness and anger crosses over Poseidon's features. He shakes his head slowly looking at his son before his form shifts once again.
Percy looks away just in time, it would be a little embarrassing if he picked a fight with a god only to lose before the fight even began.
Before him Poseidon looks radiant, his armour a beautiful pearly shine that almost blinds Percy.
In his hand he holds a large ornate trident with a sword that dangles in a sheath strapped to his side. The sword looks a little longer then Percy's very own Riptide.
He realises that if he has any chance at winning, which let's face it he really doesn't have that much of a chance, he will have to get up close and personal with the god.
An idea that really doesn't' sound all that appealing.
"We don't have to do this Percy." Poseidon says, his eyes look sad and sorrowful but there is a deep twinkle in them a look Percy understands all too well. Poseidon may not really want to fight his son, but there is a tiny part of him that is thirsting for a fight.
Thirsting for the sound of metal on metal, for the adrenaline that only comes during a fight.
"You're right." Percy says slowly moving away from the wall, he doesn't want to be pushed up against it when it push comes to shove. "You could just let me go." He tries, he attempts to clear his head of any and all rage. It doesn't work.
"You know I can't do that."
That's when Percy lunges.
He can't hold back any longer Riptide raised high his aim is for Poseidon's right arm, the one that holds the trident.
He misses.
Poseidon dodges almost as if he was swatting a fly, the trident pointed towards Percy centimetres from Percy's throat.
He can't out fight the sea god with a simple sword, it would be like trying to fight Kronos with a rubber band.
"I don't want to hurt you." Poseidon says with a deep mumble.
Percy scoffs loudly as the two circle each other. "If you didn't want to hurt me" He says with a sneer. "You would have left me alone."
"I can't do that." Poseidon replies as he dodges another swipe of riptide.
Percy honestly feels undermined by his father's skill.
He is the best swordsman at Camp Half-Blood, perhaps even at Camp Jupiter as well, and yet here he stands in front of his father, a god not known for his fighting skills and he is unable to even land a scratch on the god.
Fighting Ares was easier than this.
Despite the fact that the only reason Ares was an easy fight was because they were standing in the ocean an area that had given him a strong advantage over his opponent.
He has a strange feeling that fighting Poseidon while standing knee deep in the water probably wouldn't do him any good however.
Percy growls and charges a move Poseidon anticipates immediately blocking the young man's blow and pushing Percy backwards.
He stumbles, almost falling flat on his arse, only just manages to right himself before he could take that final tumble. It is an impressive save, however it is a clumsy move as well.
A move that would be acceptable if it was his first time fighting and not after years of fighting and defeating monsters, titans, giants and even gods.
He growls and shakes his head, he needs to be smart about this. But he can't even think straight with anger blurring his vision.
The building rumbles around him the floor shivers and shakes beneath him, he doesn't know if he is causing it or Poseidon is, perhaps even both of them.
He tries to strike again, Poseidon is on the defensive straight away. Percy notes that Poseidon has not once lifted the trident in an attack and has instead stuck to his defensive position. Something Percy should focus on a little more as he continues his attack.
Poseidon's stance shifting with every step Percy takes. He wonders if Poseidon will ever attack him.
Percy moves forward again riptide raised once more in another aching slash, as Poseidon lifts his trident to block, a move Percy can see coming from a mile away, he quickly he shifts Riptide until it is almost flush against his body, something that Percy knows is a stupid and dangerous move that is more likely injure himself then his opponent.
He slides underneath Poseidon's raised arm and takes the god by surprise reappearing behind the god.
Riptide's tip now pressed against Poseidon's shoulder. An area that remains uncovered by the god's expensive looking mother of pearl armour.
The two stop, sensing a change within the air.
Poseidon turns around to face his son, his eyes crinkling as he looks down at the tip of the sword with apprehension.
"I don't want to hurt you." Poseidon says lowly.
Percy frowns and pushes the tip of Riptide into Poseidon's skin, ichor dribbles down his back. "Funny." Percy raises his brow. "That's my line."
Poseidon smiles dangerously and looks away from the sword and directly at Percy. "No it's not."
Poseidon moves quickly, too fast for Percy to process. The trident raises flat above Percy's head before it is brought down with a thud.
Percy drops his eyes watery and blurred his head aching with a pain that almost feels like he is swimming in the Styx again, or rather dunking his head into the cursed river.
Riptide falls out of his grasp as he falls to the ground with a loud Clang.
He calls out in pain, his hands clutching his head as he tries to assess where the pain is and just how bad it could be. It feels as if bone has broken, or rather skin has been bruised. There is a moment where he thinks he may be bleeding or even dying.
But just as the pain is there it is suddenly gone vanishing like magic.
When the pain disappears Percy takes a few silent moments to rest on the cold and hard floor, exhaustion slowly catching up to him, he is aware of Poseidon's presence looming above him, but he pays no notice to it.
He is wallowing in self-pity, and a blow to his ego.
I can't believe I lost.
He sighs loudly trying to blink away the tears from the pain, and not from the pain of having lasted less than a week although that might be the reason he is still laying on the ground.
He swore he could have lasted longer. He was the hero of heroes, one of the most powerful demigods in existence and he only lasted 3 days running away from the gods.
There was a word for people like him. Pathetic.
Where was this massive effort to find him when Hera wiped his memories, anyway?
"Can't you just let me be normal?" Percy mutters to no one in particular.
There is a shifting above him and when he opens his eyes and looks up at his father who is staring at the head of his trident which is just centimetres from Percy's jugular. There is an uncomfortable look on his face, one that reminds Percy of his mother whenever she looks at his report card.
An idea hits him then, an idea to play on his father's emotions to make him feel guilty and let him go.
One that makes Percy also feel a little guilty, but not too much. The guy was trying to immortalise Percy, something Percy was fully against.
"Please dad." He whimpers. Percy holds back a wince at how pathetic and ridiculous he sounds. Looking up at Poseidon Percy can see that the god is thinking the exact same thing.
But the hold on the trident weakens a little, Percy can see the inner turmoil in his father's eyes.
"I don't want this." He says, Poseidon blinks back at him, the hold on the trident tightens slightly, something Percy notices, he immediately tries to back pedal. "Sally." He tries again, calling out as Poseidon starts to bend over and pick him up.
Poseidon stops and looks at Percy blankly.
"Mum needs me." Tears pool in his eyes, tears that come naturally. His mum needs him and he needs her, he has never thought or felt this way so much in his life. Without him, Sally would start to fall apart. "I can't do this to her." Not again.
Percy looks away towards Riptide. It shimmers in the middle of the warehouse.
'CLANG!'
The sound startles Percy who almost jumps off the ground and into the trident. Except the trident isn't there anymore, instead Percy is met with open air.
He blinks once and twice looking at the empty space in an utter confusion.
"Go." Poseidon mumbles a hand covering his eyes.
Percy stares up at the god, confusion written all over his face as he tries to take in what has just happened.
He can't believe it. Can't believe that his plan has even worked.
Lying on his other side at least twenty feet away from his was Poseidon's trident.
The symbol of power looking out of place and somewhat beautiful against the ugly and dirty backdrop of the warehouse.
"Quickly." Poseidon growls, the air inside starts to grow thick with tension and frustration.
"Da-"
"They have already felt it." Poseidon grumbles turning quickly, Percy can see the trident disappear from the corner of his eye it re-materialises in Poseidon's hand. His body leans against it as if he has just taken a blow to the chest.
Percy stands slowly, blood rushing to his head he sways a little, trying to adjust to the new upright position.
"Dad." He says a little louder, Poseidon looks at him in pain. Percy doesn't know what to do or what to say. He continues to stare at his father with a frown. "Thank you, I suppose." He mutters rubbing the back of his neck.
Poseidon doesn't smile at him, he simply stares at his son.
"How did you even find me?" Percy asks, he doesn't want the god to be angry at him. He remembers when Poseidon was proud of him and he wants those times back. If he was going to completely honest the times when he knew how proud his father was of him, were quite honestly some of the happiest times in his life.
"The dream." Poseidon says standing straight. "I could feel you."
Percy nods as he picks up Riptide, capping it and pocketing the pen. "How?"
That's when Poseidon smiles, it's a sad smile, but still a smile so Percy takes it as a win. "You were in my domain, son."
Duh Percy. He thinks shaking his head a little.
Percy who takes the conversation as over, despite the fact that Poseidon is still standing in front of the young demigod, goes towards a small set of stairs on the warehouse floor that lead to another platform floor that he has been using as a sleep out since the destruction of the small room above him.
Granted his little nest isn't as nice, but here he is able to see everything and still manage an easy escape if need be.
"Percy." Poseidon says loudly, sounding more godlike and more authoritative then he has in the entire encounter. Percy turns towards his father, preparing for another altercation. "I'm letting you go, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to think about the opportunity that is being handed to you."
Percy frowns, he is too tired to feel any real anger. All he wants right now is a cheeseburger with extra bacon and a chocolate shake.
"I won't ever accept it." He says quickly, Poseidon looks down at his feet with a smile.
"No one wants godhood Percy." He looks back towards his son and Percy can see the sadness written all over his face. Percy remembers what he saw in the dream, what Poseidon has said about the entire matter.
'I refuse to lose another child.'
He looks away from his father chewing his lip as he considers everything. Percy doesn't know what losing a child would feel like, to see every child you have had with a mortal die, often after living a sad and short life and there is nothing they could do about it.
He doesn't like the idea.
"But we are the most deserving and qualified for the task. We are all victims of fate and our destiny." Poseidon continues with a sad look.
Percy thinks back on all the gods he has met and shivers at the thought. He can't exactly understand how Mr D deserved to be a god.
Poseidon walks towards Percy and places a heavy hand on Percy's shoulder. His new, New York Yankees cap appearing in the gods hand from the other side of the warehouse. Poseidon places the cap on his sons head with a fond smile. "I just want you to remember that."
Percy stares back at his father, a feint hint of disgust on his features.
Poseidon notices the look immediately, but he doesn't focus on it to much, the boy has been through enough as it is.
Something Poseidon feels immensely guilty about.
"I will try." Percy says through gritted teeth spinning around and walking towards his little nest, packing as many things into his pack as he can.
Poseidon takes one long last look at his son as he packs the bag. "Leave as soon as you can."
Percy pauses in his packing and looks down at his father. Poseidon continues. "They will send someone out. I can buy you some time, ten minutes at the most."
"How can I get out of the city?" Percy asks quickly then needing as much information he can get before his dad vanishes to gods only know where.
Poseidon smiles a little. "I can't give you all the answers."
With that Poseidon disappears in a flurry of light and a sea breeze that makes the demigod shiver in anticipation, making him far more alive and awake then he has felt in the past few days.
"Gee." Percy rolls his eyes strapping the bag to his back in one lazy movement. "Thanks for the help."
Percy fishes the phone out of his pocket and sends a quick text message to Rachel.
Thank you for everything RED.
Tell Annabeth I love her, I will see you all when this blows over –Percy.
Okay so I hope you all enjoyed, the whole confrontation with Poseidon was supposed to be around 2000 words long, not over 5000 so whoops.
Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to review :)
banesith777: Cheers man I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter. :)
monkeybaby: haha thankyou so much, I really appreciate that you enjoy my humour, hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)
NicercyPerico: Hey thanks so much, I really appreciate that so much. :)
xRinneandSharinx: Little bit of both I suppose, sadly more talk than fight seeing as I'm not so great at the fighting. But I am learning. Thank you for the review. :)
Ronnie R15: Thank you so much for the review and reading this story. :)
rockingzeus: Was this fast enough? I really don't want to be struck by lightning my hair is wild and crazy enough as it is. *Fidgets nervously*
Talesof tails: I will and I'm really glad you are enjoying it so far :)
FlyingPigs: Gah and I was so sure I had edited out all the spelling errors. My bad I get a bit excited when I finish a chapter and I get really keen to post them so I often have spelling errors. Thank you so much for the review and I'm so happy you enjoy my stories that really makes me incredibly happy. :)
StarofFeanor: Cheers man, I really appreciate it. :)
bambino01: Hahahaha I bet you're wrong ;) Thank you for reviewing hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
fantomfaire: Turns out you didn't have to wait so long for the next chapter. :) hope you enjoyed it.