War upon war. Battles after battles. There was blood on his hands that would never wash off.
Percy could feel years he hadn't lived settle on his shoulders, pain he had experienced roll inside his body – pain that was on par with Tartarus.
He would know. He'd been there.
He clenched his fists and stared at the somewhat uncaring faces of the gods of Olympus, and then turned to look at his friends who had arrived with him; Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, and Piper stood on one side, huddled together with relief and pain all mixed together into a paranoid cocktail. A paranoid cocktail without Leo.
On the other side stood Nico, Thalia, and Reyna, closer than Percy would have expected after just a few days. But then again, it had been war.
He saw their darkened faces and tired eyes. He saw the way they were accepting everything with a defeat he had never thought he would see – a defeat he could feel in his bones.
He saw them and he just couldn't do it anymore.
"I'm done," He said, and his words cut through the awkward silence like a patented Leo Hotknife through butter.
Zeus raised an eyebrow. "Done? With the Giant war? I should hope so, boy."
Ares laughed. No one else did. Athena's expression tightened.
Percy didn't budge. "I'm done," He repeated. "With the wars, the monsters, the pain—" He inhaled sharply, and Annabeth took a half step towards him, eyes wide. "I'm done with being one of the stupid pawns you only play with when you consider us useful."
Poseidon flinched.
Hera sighed. "Child you are over-wrought. We do you a great service in letting you live, so stop talking and leave."
"She speaks the truth, Perseus," Athena warned quietly. "Be quiet."
Percy laughed bitterly, his voice ringing through the throne room without real mirth. "Why? What will you do? Smite me? At least Hades would treat me better dead that you bastards have ever treated me alive." The gods' eyes flared. "Oh wait, you could also turn me into an animal. Or a plant. Or literally anything in the known world," He snarled. "But you never do because you want to leave us alive to do your dirty work for you."
"Percy—" His father began, a placating note in his voice.
Percy's mouth hardened and he shook his head. "No. I'm done listening to you, to Zeus, to any of you hypocrites. The only one who's ever been nice to me is Aunt Hestia, and guess how you've treated her? That's right, as if she's expendable. Like us. Like us demigods who are the only fucking reason you lot haven't faded away. The only reason Kronos didn't take over Olympus and most certainly the only reason Gaea died as she did."
"How dare you—" Zeus began to shout, halfway risen from his throne.
Percy clenched his fists and half the water raced out of the Ophiotaurus's tank, whirling around Percy to form a dangerous miniature whirlpool resonating with power. The throne room began to hum.
"I DARE!" Percy roared. "I dare because I am sick and tired of being a demigod! I dare because I have seen my friends die, time and time again, all so you monsters can live! I fucking dare because I will not do it again." He glared, and his eyes, ravaged and bloodshot, made the gods squirm.
And then he turned and swept out of the room. Annabeth gasped.
Zeus glowered. "I have half a mind to kill your son, Poseidon."
Poseidon blinked blearily, heavily, and rose a hand to calm the god of the sky. "Do not worry, brother. I am sure Percy will apologize once he has calmed. He just lost a friend to the war."
Hera huffed. "He better," She said primly. "Such insolence in front of his betters is a grave offense."
The demigods bristled.
Athena sighed. "Please try to control your boyfriend, Annabeth. This behavior really will not be forgiven again."
Annabeth spared a last glance at the door through which Percy had disappeared, and then stepped towards it, turning her head to look at her mother one last time. "No," She said simply, echoing Percy. "I don't think I will."
Athena's eyes widened. "Annabeth!" She glowered. "I knew that idiot boy was a bad influence on you but to this extent?!"
Annabeth sent back a cold, unfeeling smile. "Like Percy said, mother, since when have we been anything more to you than pawns?"
"You are my daughter—"
"Whom you sent on a quest no one has ever come back from alive!" Annabeth shouted. "I fell into Tartarus, and where were you then? Lounging on your throne in Olympus." She scoffed. "Percy was there. Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Nico, and Leo were there. They were there and they tried to save us. Hell, they did save us!"
Behind her, Piper swallowed a sob.
"Goodbye, mother, possibly forever," Annabeth said. "Because if Percy is never coming back here, than neither am I."
And then she headed out, tracing Percy's footsteps with an urgency everyone could feel.
"This is going too far!" Zeus snapped. "Thalia, calm your friends this instant or you children will know what it means to anger the king of the gods."
Thalia laughed, but it was Jason, who replied. He looked more severe than anyone had ever seen him, and as he stepped forward, Piper could see he was straining against the respect for the gods that had been ingrained in him since birth. "Well, you think highly of yourself, Father," Jason said. "Percy and Annabeth just went through literal hell. Do you think anything you do will threaten them? They've gone through the hell that even you fear to even come near, and they've survived."
The gods flinched. The room darkened.
Jason shook his head. "I've always been taught that you were entities beyond reproach. Powerful and above any mortal failures. Turns out, that was correct. You're worse." He took Piper's hand, and stepped back, defiant.
For once, the gods were silent.
Thalia took it as her turn to speak. "Honestly, I expected Percy to blow up sooner than he did. Though if had, you wouldn't have survived this war." She shook her head, then pulled the tiara off. "Lady Artemis, I have always had the utmost respect for you, but if you're on their side?" She pointed at the gods. "Well, I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be your lieutenant anymore."
She began to march towards the exit, head held high and the rest of the demigods at her heels, Reyna at the very end.
No god tried to stop them, too stupefied in their places to even move.
A step before disappearing outside, Reyna stopped and looked back at the gods who had been nothing like what she had expected. "I suggest you prepare yourself," She said quietly. "The Roman's may have known Percy for only a few weeks, but they admire him more than some of you, and they would give up their lives for him. I know I would. And I can only imagine the loyalty Camp Half-blood feels if they have known him for years. So, Lord Jupiter, Zeus, or whoever you have become after Percy and his friends saved you from disappearing into nothing after this war, you should hope and pray to Lady Hestia that Percy doesn't want to rise against you in revolution, or it will be you against all the demigods, and Percy won't even have to ask for help in the first place." She smiled coldly, and then she was gone.