[CHAPTER NOT EDITED THROUGH GRAMMARLY. WILL BE EDITED AT A LATER TIME.]
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"Somebody speaking."
'Somebody thinking.'
Disclaimer: I do not own PJ, MCU , or any other anime/novel/manga/fanfic that I may use.
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Chapter 2: The Birth of Perseus
Pain.
Pain was the only thing registered in his mind as he was ripped apart and put back together in a cycle of agony. He was being unmade and remade like clay over and over.
Who was he? Why was he here? How can he stop the pain?
His flesh was disintegrating and healing, his memories were being washed away, and he didn't even want to fight. He just wanted to drown in empty lamentation.
To go through this without even the desire to fight it? That was true pain on a level unfathomable.
And then, with the feeling that can only be described as what a fish caught on a hook might feel, his mind was reeled in by a power far beyond his own.
He appeared somewhere standing with his ankles in pitch black water while heavy mist was all around him.
Somehow being away from his body allowed him to focus without the pain he felt from his body and he could suddenly think again.
'What just happened? Who am I? Where am I?' (MC)
He had no memories aside from basic functions, he didn't know the who, why, what, when, where, or how of anything going on.
He looked around himself and noticed four vague shadowy figures in the mist.
One was humanoid, one was beastlike, one looked like a slime like creature, and the last didn't have a distinct form, it was just some weird, jumbled mess.
The only similarity was the fact that they all had glowing eyes and were staring at him. It was not a pleasant feeling.
"*Gulp* um.. hello?" (Percy)
A response came from one of them.
"Percy Jackson." (?)
A powerful and ancient sounding voice reverberated through the area.
"Who?" (Percy)
They was silence for a moment before a sigh was heard.
"*Sigh* We were too late. Lethe, can you do something?" (?)
The slime like creature almost seemed to nod its head before something hit his mind like a hammer.
Memories flashed before his eyes in quick succession. Pieces of it like broken glass flashed in his mind. Nothing clear or precise but it was like seeing a broken movie.
They were his but not.
His name was Percy Jackson, but he no longer felt a connection to such a name.
The 'ego' of Percy Jackson had already died. He was something else, something new.
Just as suddenly as the memories began playing, they stopped, and he slumped forward breathing heavily.
A voice reverberated out without a physical sound.
"The damage is already done, the memories may return with time, but he holds a new ego." (Lethe)
The humanoid figure seemed to contemplate that before waving its hand.
"Hmm, its fine. He is what he is, my champion will not be stopped by such a thing. If he is not 'Percy Jackson' then we shall refer to him as 'Perseus'." (?)
Perseus lifted his head to look at the humanoid figure and nodded.
'Perseus? Yes, I am not 'Percy Jackson'. I am 'Perseus'.' (Perseus)
The humanoid figure seemed pleased with his acceptance and it continued.
"Now, Perseus. You may have trouble following this conversation, but it will make sense in time. We chose to look the other way when you wished to use our waters at the doors of death, but this is not the same. We could not be seen directly standing against Tartarus, so we denied your request at the Delta. We didn't think you would end up diving in however." (?)
Perseus blinked at that and came to a realization.
"You are the gods and goddesses of the rivers." (Perseus)
Nothing changed with that, but Perseus could swear he felt a strange feeling of satisfaction coming from them for the recognition.
He turned his head toward the voice of the one who was speaking to him, the humanoid figure.
"Would you perhaps be lady Styx?" (Perseus)
The mist surrounding the figure peeled away to show a stunningly beautiful women with black curly hair that fell to her shoulders and obsidian eyes. Her purple and black dress billowed around her like volcanic smoke and her lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara were all expertly done in shades of midnight.
She looked like a piece of art, yet her presence was immense, Perseus felt himself sink down from the pressure, but he grit his teeth and squared his shoulders.
Styx smiled at the sight.
"Yes, that is the way a warrior should stand child. You were once one of mine, one of the few since time memorial who followed the correct procedure to bath in my waters and manage to succeed. You walked away with my blessing and managed to best Hades himself along with his army in single combat seconds after your success. Then fought a titan in single combat along with many more battles. You brought much honor to my name but….
It was taken from you by that fool! Tiberius made an enemy of me the day he chose to wash away my blessing from my chosen mortal!" (Styx)
Once the words processed to him, Perseus began to internally sweat. Memories flashed before his eyes of him first bathing in black water in the underworld before they changed to him crossing a river with an old woman on his back. He had no idea what he was doing when he crossed the Tiber river into the roman camp. He truly felt regret in his memories for losing the curse of Achilles back then.
It had its downsides, but it brought him the physical capabilities of a god. Anyone who bears the Curse of Achilles is nearly invulnerable, except in one weak point. They also get highly increased strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and fighting skills, also linking to their abilities, making it less tiresome to use immense powers.
Memories flashed again to the battles he fought with it. Having the curse allowed him to best Hades, Hyperion, and different armies all on his own. He was a force of nature with it.
Styx seemed to understand the look on his face because she smiled down at him.
"Fret not child, I know you were not at fault. One thing many seem to forget is that ANY oath made under my name has consequences, my curse is a form of oath. A champion of mine who tries to forsake my gift? I would have ripped their soul from their body and had it join my collection. But you knew not what you were doing, you were tricked by that bitch Hera. You may not have known this, but she was under orders from Zeus to make sure you lose my blessing, he feared your growth in power like he does for anyone not under his direct command." (Styx)
Perseus grit his teeth in anger at that. He didn't even bother to question her words when he mentally pieced it all together. It was like his mind was screaming that it was the truth. He recalled being kidnapped and forced to sleep for a period of time by Hera. What exactly did Hera or Zeus do to him during that time? Were they trying to find out how to weaken him without killing to avoid my father's wrath?
Despite the growing anger inside of him, Perseus knew now wasn't the time for that. He would be calm like the ocean and unleash his anger like a storm when the time came.
"Thank you, my lady, for telling me." (Perseus)
And he meant it. Perseus didn't enjoy the feeling of bowing his head, but he felt grateful to her.
'I'm pretty sure I'm only alive right now because of her so I don't mind showing her respect.'
Styx nodded before going back to being serious.
"The past aside, we find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation. You were dying due to being tossed into our waters in your fight against Tartarus.
Tartarus has not made allies of us. He has chained parts of us to his domain with his divinity of the abyss. Our rivers flow through many places and we are free there but here? No, we cannot escape his grasp so easily.
If we help you, Tartarus will know we assisted you." (Styx)
Perseus nodded at that but recalling the situation outside had him feeling awkward. He wasn't his old self, but he remembered that Percy died trying to save his two friends. The memories were broken and botched in places but that much was certain to him. He wanted to honor Percy's dying wish.
Something about that dying wish bothered him, like he was missing an important piece, but he pushed it down for now.
"Is there anything I could do to get your assistance? I wish to save those two out there." (Perseus)
A deep base like chuckle reverberated throughout the space as the beast like creature stepped forward.
The mist receded around the beastlike figure to show a massive lion with a mane of burning flames.
"Phlegethon." (Perseus)
The match was immediately made in his mind. The incomplete memory of drinking burning water came to him. Again, something important felt like it was missing from the memory, but he ignored it.
The lion nodded.
"Yes child. We did not summon you here just for a warning, Styx's favor of you was not enough to convince the rest of us to help you, we wish to make a deal." (Phlegethon)
Perseus internally gulped at that. Deals with gods almost never ended well.
"Perseus, we offer you our blessings in exchange for an oath to one day free us from Tartarus. You are a demigod, a mixture of divine and human, a race of fools that I can't help but love for their endless potential for growth. That is why I allow my waters to heal them." (Phlegethon)
Styx continued from there.
"And from me, I offer more. I wish for you to once more be my champion, if you pass my test, I will grant you more than just my curse of Achilles." (Styx)
Perseus blinked at that.
"You want me to defeat a primordial god? Not to be rude but are you insane?" (Perseus)
"Watch your tongue boy." (?)
The mist covered figure of the slime like being spoke up, but Styx waved it away.
"It's fine Lethe, it is not a simple request. Perseus, we are not putting all our hopes in you or expecting you to accomplish this anytime soon. You can consider this an investment. If you succeed, we all win and you keep our gifts, if you fail, we can push Tartarus's blame onto you while we won't blame you for failing, and if you try to run away, your soul will belong to us for eternity." (Styx)
Perseus felt like rolling his eyes at that. How the hell was that supposed to make him feel better?
"You all have me stuck between a rock and a hard place here, what choice do I have? I wouldn't even be here if you all didn't help me. Can I have some more information on this deal?" (Perseus)
They all nodded.
"Accept our deal Percy, and we will grant you our blessings. You will have the freedom to use our waters as you wish as long as you are strong enough. From myself, you will regain your curse. If you accept to be my champion, I shall assign you a quest for more of my blessings." (Styx)
Phlegethon went next.
"All forms of power are always concentrated in the blood. My blessing shall grant you advanced stamina to match Styx's curse as my water will mix with your blood and become your power. This serves the double purpose of boosting your immune system and organs which should counter most of the weaknesses of the Styx's curse. You will be required to consume more sustenance to match the stamina used.
Also, just as how mortals heal by drinking my waters, any being you willingly give your blood will be healed from critical injuries or illnesses. Beware that you are still mortal, your blood is not endless, it will lose its effects if its outside your body for too long. You cannot help everyone, treat your blood as something precious and not to be easily given away.
Moreover, any blood taken or used without your permission will burn the recipient to ash. To many beings out there can do very dangerous things with only a drop of blood, not to mention humans with their greed." (Phlegethon)
Perseus processed that and couldn't help but raise his hand like a kid in school.
Phlegethon's eye twitched while Styx and Lethe, the slime like shadow, chuckled at the sight.
"Yes?" (Phlegethon)
"If I have the curse of Achilles from Lady Styx, how can I give my blood to others?" (Perseus)
"…"
An awkward silence descended on the space with Perseus giving the Lion a deadpan look.
He tried to raise his paw and respond a few times but kept putting it back down when he realized his idea wasn't working.
"Just a minute." (Phlegethon)
The lion and Styx pulled back into the mist and Perseus could hear them arguing for a bit.
Lethe was giving off a feeling of amusement at the sight while the last formless figure, who Perseus assumed was Cocytus was just silent.
A few minutes later, the two came back.
"Ok, we are making a correction." (Phlegethon)
Perseus quirked in eyebrow.
"Long ago, Styx and I were once in love. Unfortunately, I was not able to control my flames back then and accidently burned Styx and caused her to go into Hades realm where our rivers would never cross as I stayed in the mortal world. Many millennia later, after hounding that undead child with request permits and drowning him in enough paperwork to make him cry, Hades allowed my river to enter the underworld and we were connected again. Unfortunately, she was married by then, so we decided to remain friends." (Phlegethon)
While interesting, Perseus could not see how this life story was helping the situation and just raised his eyebrows in question with a 'and?' look on his face.
"*cough* right, well you see due to our history, we are able to blend our blessings a bit. If you want to heal another by letting them drink your blood, you will have to focus on my blessing to allow your blood to 'heat' up like boiling water to essentially melt away the curse of Achilles like it was ice for a short amount of time. This will leave you vulnerable but with practice, you should be able to focus it on a small portion of your body rather than your entire body." (Phlegethon)
Thinking about it shocked Perseus. When he recalled the time he held the curse, he remembered the issues he had with it and that it wasn't invincible. There were numerous weaknesses to it aside from the instant kill weak spot.
First off, the curse will boost you to a god's physic, but it doesn't give you a god's stamina. Achilles was said to take twenty naps a day and Perseus can agree that he had to rest a lot more back then.
As for weakness's, he could still be killed in numerous ways. Dehydration, Asphyxiation, Diseases, Electrocution, Burning, Gods' true form's, Starvation, Poison, Over exhaustion. The list goes on. Of course, he would have a higher threshold than mortals, but it still wasn't invincibility.
Phlegethon's blessing would cover many of these bases, or simply improve his chances, as well as giving him the ability to heal others. Perseus was always able to heal himself with water, but it was not instant, and he would not always have water available like right now in Tartarus. There was no ocean water for him to use. Many don't seem to realize this but it's OCEAN water that heals the son of the sea god. Only rivers connected to the ocean can heal him while other forms of water can give him a boost while being his to control, it's not the same thing.
(AN: Nerfing the healing ability. If it were ANY water, he would be the fucking wolverine by pulling water out of the air.)
"Thank you." (Perseus)
Perseus didn't know what to say other than that. He knew how valuable this blessing was.
Phlegethon nodded with satisfaction and stepped back.
"Now for me." (Lethe)
The mist didn't recede, so Perseus was left looking at the shadowy figure of a slime like creature.
"He's shy." (Styx)
Styx mock whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Perseus would have laughed if he weren't a small demigod at the mercy of these very old gods, so he was left chuckling in his mind.
"What are you laughing about?" (Lethe)
Lethe's voice turned sharp and Perseus was a bit shaken. Did Lethe just read his mind?
"Yes mortal, I did." (Lethe)
Well, that answered that. Very creepy.
"*chuckle* yes, it isn't fun to have others in your mind is it? My blessing shall be to improve your mind. You have a honed instinct for battle, but your mind is a mess. Unorganized thoughts and trash litter your mind like a sewer while your IQ only worsens the longer you will live and that was before your memories were erased. Now it looks like a broken sewer.
I shall bless your mind; your mind shall forever be your own and you shall never doubt your identity. You can create a mindscape like the one we are in to organize and protect your memories. Your thought processing speed shall increase, and your IQ shall rise.
Furthermore, you will be able to create defenses to keep out any other being from your mind. When making your defense, remember that stronger doesn't always mean better. Think smart, not hard." (Lethe)
Improved mind? He could see the usefulness. Looking at the memories he does have, the old Percy would feel like a monkey being given a computer. He didn't even know what he didn't know so how could he know how useful the gift is other than making him think better.
And then he realized he just compared the 'him' that died only minutes ago to a monkey. Right. Boost in intelligence sounded great.
"Thank you." (Perseus)
The fact that he sincerely meant this one or possibly because Lethe heard his thoughts, he chuckled and looked satisfied for a mist covered slime like god.
With the first three done, Perseus and the rest turned to Cocytus who had been silent the whole time.
"Well." (Cocytus)
A strange voice echoed around. It was deep and high, far and close, awful and beautiful. It was like the greatest and worst siren call being spoken at the same time and it was very uncomfortable to hear.
"This is a bit awkward; I have never given a blessing before." (Cocytus)
"…"
No one responded to that, the world seemed to slow down for a second before it was broken by Styx and Phlegethon cracking up.
"*Pft* dude, we have been alive for thousands of years and you're still a blessing virgin?" (Phlegethon)
"Is there a problem with that?!" (Cocytus)
"*Pft* Cocytus, we talked about this deal with Perseus while we were healing him, why didn't you mention it then?" (Styx)
There was a shuffling sound and Perseus had the weird mental image of someone shrinking in embarrassment.
'That's exactly what she is doing.' (Lethe)
Lethe's voice sounded in his head and gave him chills.
'Can you please not do that!' (Perseus)
A chuckle was his only response. It did not fill Perseus with confidence.
"I didn't want to say anything before. *cough* Anyway, I have no idea what my blessing might be. You will simply have to get whatever you get. A blessing will be given, I simply don't know what it will end up being. It could be big enough to match the others in usefulness or something minor, I really couldn't tell you." (Cocytus)
The fact that gods and demigod alike were giving her pitying looks only seemed to annoy Cocytus more, so she went back to staying silent.
"*Cough* Right. Anyway, Perseus, if you accept the deal, all these blessings shall be yours permanently, we shall never recall our powers and in time, they will blend with your being and truly become your own power." (Styx)
Perseus nodded at that. It felt good to know he would have his freedom.
"The five of us here shall swear an oath with myself as witness and judge, our blessings shall be yours with the only goal of one day freeing us from Tartarus's grasp.
There is no time limit, you should go speak to your titan friend about prolonging your life as he is the Titan of mortal life spans, he can help you stay alive to keep growing stronger.
If you fail in your journey your soul will return to us and we can enter you back into the underworld. Take this from us immortals though, I advise that you take as long as you need to complete this quest, the Greek underworld is not a nice place, immortality is much better.
Especially when Tartarus is your enemy.
And finally, while we don't care where you go, if you betray us, your soul is ours to toy with. We won't be watching over your shoulder; the oath will do the work for us to make sure where you stand." (Styx)
Perseus nodded despite the pressure Styx gave off at the end.
Her serious expression changed back into a smile.
"Good, last thing to mention before we begin and send you back. Tartarus has never been this vulnerable before, he foolishly decided to place his essence into a humanoid body and cut off his connection to the majority of his realm just to play around. Drown Tartarus's humanoid body in the Delta of Despair and we can make sure he sleeps for a few millennia at least. At least for time down here. Do you understand?" (Styx)
Time down here? Perseus wanted to question it, but it looked like they wanted to move on, so he pushed it off and simply nodded again.
"Great, let's get started then." (Styx)
With a wave of her hand, detailed words of an oath floated in the air in ancient Greek. Perseus was fascinated that it translated perfectly in his mind.
They all spoke as one.
"I, goddess of the river Styx, swear on my domain…."
"I, god of the river Phlegethon, swear on the river Styx…"
"I, god of the river Lethe, swear on the river Styx..."
"I, goddess of the river Cocytus, swear on the river Styx…"
"I, Perseus, swear on the river Styx…"
The voices blended together and echoed throughout the space with power. Chain like strings appeared in the mental plane and connected each of the gods to Perseus and vice versa.
As the last words were spoken, the chains lit up with divine power starting from each god and flowed into Perseus.
Deep beneath the surface of the Delta, Perseus unconscious body lying on the lakebed began glowing with power. Golden essence funneled into his body, tearing it apart and putting it back together with purpose. His brain was being funneled with Lethe's essence and enhanced, his blood was being mixed with the burning waters of the Phlegethon, his lungs and vocal cords were being altered by Cocytus's essence, and finally, his body was changing with Styx's essence.
With the atomic alterations of the curse of Achilles giving a god's physic to him along with the waters of fire fueling his stamina, Perseus's body was evolving to a level it had never reached before.
His muscular swimmers physic was enhanced and compacted to an Adonis level. His handsome features were pronounced, his height increased to 6'5, his shoulders broadened, his muscles realigned themselves to be more streamlined and combat ready, his jet black hair grew longer with the single strand of grey from holding up the sky pronounced, his sea green irises began to glow, and even his little brother increased in size.
His roman SPQR and trident tattoo grew to match the size of his new forearm. Unfortunately, past scars were not healed, the marks on his face where Tartarus hit him with his own pommel were pronounced with two jagged scars running down his left cheek over his eye and another thinner scar over the corner of his lip. Along with those were minor sized scars over his body from the past five to six years in the mythological world that couldn't be healed.
Wounds received through special weapons and enemies with special abilities are not able to fully heal.
His mortal spot on his body was chosen for him by Styx who was smiling mischievously but Perseus wouldn't know until much later.
Back in the mind scape, Perseus began to lose consciousness as the divine power flowing into him began to dwindle down with the blessings being completed. The last words he heard were: "Go Perseus, my champion, awake and begin your legend with the drowning of a primordial god."