A/N: Quick Author's Note before we get into it, I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you who have read my story and continue with me on this adventure. You are the best inspiration anyone could have so thank you. Also wanted to comment on the fact that how many chapters have I ended with Percy passing out, I mean come on man.
{Heliopolis, Ancient Egypt}
"I really gotta stop doing that." I thought aloud as I blinked my eyes open to the sight of the infirmary's ceiling.
"Yeah, not gonna lie it's starting to get a little wimpy, plus I cannot tell you how tired I am of sitting in this chair. I can tell you right now if I end up getting back problems because of it, I just might have to kill you." I rolled over to see Jade's piercing purple eyes staring intently at me. There were obvious signs of concern on her face, probably due to the fact that this was the first time she was seeing me in a week and I was right back in a hospital bed.
"Ooh was someone worried about me?" I teased.
"Not even close doofus, I just wanted to make sure that you would still be around so I could show you up in literally everything. Plus you drool while you sleep, and there was no way in the world I was missing an opportunity to see that."
I quickly went to wipe my face and felt my cheeks burn red from embarrassment. "Whatever, you're just.. just.." I struggled to come up with an insult to say, and I am fully going to blame that one on the fact I had just woken up from a mini coma.
"Brilliant, beautiful, intelligent, charismatic, influential? I think any of those would fit quite nicely wouldn't you Hemetre?" At the sound of her saying this I flipped to my side and saw my favorite man in the whole world enter through the white linen blanket they had draped in order to provide me some privacy.
"Don't forget humble my dear." Which caused Jade's cheeks to turn just as red as my own. "Percy I'm glad to see you're awake, you scare me half to death every single time. However, I suppose by that logic I would already be 2 halves dead. Hmm quite a curious expression."
"You do have a knack for picking the curious ones Hemetre, as Perseus has so kindly demonstrated for us." Chief Lector Ammon said as he followed Hemetre. "Not only has he managed to be the youngest graduated initiate after so bravely embarking on a journey to slay a leopard, but during said graduation managed to attract none other than the king of the God's to bestow his blessing."
Jade whipped her head back to focus on me and gave me a quick slap on the wrist. "Why in the world did you not tell me?"
"Probably because, I don't know, I was awake for all of two seconds before my hospital room became a party. Isn't there a nurse that's supposed to keep you guys out so that I can rest?" I pleaded, hoping that no one else decided to peek their heads in and complicate the situation further.
"Jade if I may, I need a word alone with Perseus and I promise you that once I am done you can tear into him all that you want." Chief Lector Ammon said.
Jade seemed unsure at first as if she didn't keep her eyes on me at all times that I would disappear in a puff of smoke. "Go, I'll be fine, trust me I'm not going anywhere." Which seemed to satisfy her enough so she left with Hemetre after he had suggested they get something to eat from the nearby vendors.
As the Chief Lector approached my bed side, his face obviously conflicted, I started to fear for my own safety and really wished I was still gonna be able to keep that promise to Jade. "Perseus, you are an enigma that I can simply not figure out. Now boy, I need you to tell me everything that happened on your journey, if you don't it could spell out disaster not just for yourself, but the entirety of the world as we know it. Fear not, I am not your enemy, I just want to help but I'm afraid I can't do that unless you allow me to."
I was torn between telling him the truth or once again trying to cover it up, but when I looked him in the eye I knew that I really didn't have much of a choice. When I was in ba form I remember overhearing Abysa say that the Chief had studied the art of divination in secret and of course I had been a little skeptical. Looking in his eyes I knew my skepticism was completely unfounded, there was the wisdom of a thousand years aging back to the time when the gods roamed the land no different than mortals in those eyes. He knew back to the time of creation when Ra broke free from the sea of chaos and began his immortal crusade against Apophis. This was not a man that I could hide the truth from and so I told him everything that had happened, even including the strange events leading up to the journey. The more I spoke, the more concerned he became until finally when I was done he took a step back and turned away from me finding a sudden interest in the wall behind him.
"Chief Lector, what does it all mean?" I half asked, half pleaded the despair shockingly evident in my voice even to me. Everything I had ever known had been turned on it's head these past few days and now it felt like I was drowning in the weight of it all not even knowing which way was up.
The Chief Lector turned around to face me and I knew that my troubles would not get any easier anytime soon. "Young Perseus, fate was not kind to you at your birth and for that I could not be more sorry. I am sure you have a long destiny laid in front of you, but that journey will put you through enough heartbreak and misery to break any man. Now I must ask you have you heard any mention of the Greeks?"
"Just little bits here and there that Hemetre mentioned in passing, they're a mostly nomadic people with little to no unified culture and very little infrastructure. Oh and Hemetre served me some fruit juice that he was sold by merchants from some mountain, but I can't remember which one." I said trying to squeeze out everything I could possibly know about these people as if it were life and death, looking at the Chief's face it looked like it might just be.
"You are partially correct my boy, the Greek's are a newly budding civilization from north of the Mediterranean Sea. They are indeed a mostly nomadic people however, they are starting to settle down due to the influence of some outside powers. You were incorrect in saying they had no culture which is actually their primary reason for settling down. You see these Greek's worship a completely different pantheon of god's, the Olympians as they liked to be called."
I felt a sudden tug in my stomach at the mention of this and interrupted saying, "It is common for people to worship deity's in order to explain away that which they cannot understand, surely they're not real."
"Think about it Perseus, I'm sure people felt the exact same way when they heard about the Egyptian pantheon. People are not as easily fooled as you would assume, these Greek people would not have been able to found a widely accepted story of history and accounts of these gods if they didn't actually exist, but I feel like you already know that don't you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked feeling apprehensive about what he was going to say next, fearing that it might change my life forever. "Why does all these Greek stuff matter to me anyways."
"What do you know of your parents Percy?" he asked throwing me off.
"Um, I don't know much really. Just the little I've been able to squeeze out of Hemetre if we're being honest. And all he tells me is that they were important people and they loved me, but they weren't allowed to keep me for some reason."
"Once again Perseus you are partially correct, your parents were and are some of the most important people of this entire age and they both adored you." He mused. "However, the reason for them not being able to keep you is far more complex then you might yet realize. There's no easy way to say this my boy so I'll just come out with it, your father was Poseidon, Greek god of the sea."
Blank. That's about the only thing I could process, trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Chief Lector, a man who I respected and was valued as the smartest magician of all the known world, just claimed that I, an orphan, was the son of a god. The idea was so ridiculous I almost laughed out loud, and I would've if not the look of pity on the Chief's face, he looked as though he was already picking out the design I would have on my sarcophagus.
"But how..." A million questions raced through my head, and I didn't't know which to start with first.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not finished either. You see up until this point we, Hemetre and I had no clue who your mother was, thinking she was simply an Egyptian commoner who had somehow caught the sea god's eye. If this would've been the case, it would've been a much easier solution, we would've raised you for a while and then once you were ready sent you to live among the Greeks. However, this last encounter with Horus all but confirms it, Perseus you have the blood of the pharaohs coursing through your veins meaning that your mother was the late queen Neithhotep."
That name caused my blood to freeze in my veins, I knew that name and I knew that face. I thought back to the images floating in the Hall of Ages, of her face sticking out to me, calling to me. Images started to flood back, I remember glimpses of her as she ran, loud noises following behind us, I was much to young to process any of it, but even as I baby I knew it was trouble. I remember the soft sound of her voice calming me as she laid me in the basket and the soft whispering of her blessings. Though they were as quiet as a summer breeze I remember her invoking the name of the river goddess Nephthys.
"But that means..."
"Yes, that means you're royalty, which I'm afraid is why your mother had to send you away out of fear of what your brother might do if he was to ever find out. However, at this point your brother finding out is the least of our worries. Let me see your arm, I promise I'm done branding you I just need to see."
I hesitantly offered it out to him and winced slightly as he rolled the sleeve up to expose the skin underneath. It was an ugly red blotchy color and the skin was sensitive even to the light breeze that blew through the open window. Standing out as clear as day from the ruined skin were two symbols. The first was inscribed in black ink, and it was the insignia of the House of Life, the Per Ankh. The ankh was slightly raised in comparison with the box around it, and as the Chief Lector traced his fingers over the pattern he muttered a quiet spell under his breath. The breeze intensified for a second and my skin tingled with a cold burning and then within a moment it was over and the skin had visibly recovered. "Just trying to help out with some of the damage I inflicted." He chuckled.
Then his chuckling died off as he looked at the worse wound still present on my forearm, the burns were blistered and raw. The skin itself in spots was cracked as if it had left out in the sun for too long. However clearly evident through the blood stained skin was a collage of navy blues, whites, and brilliant golds. It was easily the most beautiful tattoo I had ever seen and would've been completely mesmerized by it had it not hurt so damn much. Seeing it gave me the sudden urge to scratch at it, but deep down I knew that would only serve to reopen the scabbed skin. Trying to distract myself I instead inspected the tattoo that Horus had so graciously bestowed upon me, of course without my permission though I suppose god's rarely do anything with permission. Honestly though, the inscription was so beautiful if the whole god thing didn't work out for Horus he could definitely get a job as one of those local tattoo artists.
"It's the Eye of Horus, the Wadjet as it's commonly called." The Chief Lector answered to my unspoken question. "You see we believe it's divided into six parts to represent the six different senses." I remembered Hemetre mentioning it in our studies, back in simpler times. The curve on top, the eyebrow was a navy blue outline by gold in a way that it seemed to pop right off of the skin. It was said to represent thought. Below that was the main part of the eye with the iris and surrounding area colored a deep blue hinted with flecks of gold, almost similar to my own. The two parts separated by the iris were a perfect white without hint of blemish. The one on the left was said to symbolize smell while the right side was supposed to be hearing. The iris itself of course was representative of the sense of sight. Finally extending from the bottom of the eye were two lines, one straight down with the other at an angle to the left and ending in a curly bit. The straight one stood for touch and the one at an angle for taste.
The entirety of the tattoo was outlined by gold as pure as the kind I had seen in Nubia, and made the tattoo seem all that more realistic as if the eye truly was staring right back at me. It must have been able to read my mind also because as soon as I thought that I was racked with a searing pain originating from that spot on my forearm. It burned through my body in a matter of seconds, but it left tears in my eyes and me gasping for breathe.
"Please is there anything you can do?" I begged of the Chief Lector, fearful of another attack.
"I'm sorry I wish I could, but a god's magic is not something I dare tamper with. I could very easily make it worse than it already is."
Great I thought just another thing I get to go through life with.
"However there is one thing that could help, it'd be risky though." The Chief Lector mused.
"Anything I'll do anything."
"Tell me Perseus, how much do you know about the Sands of Time?"
A/N: Boom, didn't see that one coming did ya. I've got a lot more in store where that came from so make sure you keep coming back. Percy's got quite the adventure in front of him, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. I hope you liked this chapter, it took me a while to formulate everything and make sure you review so I can continue to improve our story.