Prologue: For the Glory of the Forgotten
Poseidon heaved as the ground around him stopped shaking. He needed to leave, and he needed to leave now.
In front of him, Hades lay in a pool of darkening blood with a black sword protruding from the hole in his dark, smoky armor. The Symbol of Power was beginning to dissipate, smoke coming out of the edges. A sign that its Master was losing the battle with life.
Zeus tried to stand but was forced to a knee as Poseidon flared his Enlightenment. He held his face, blood oozing between his fingers as he covered his right eye, and his dark yellow left eye glared at him with intense hatred. Masterbolt lay broken to the side, snapped in half. He had lost.
Poseidon leaned on his trident, the handle and prongs chipped but unbroken. It had truly been a battle, and the main hall of Olympus Academy was in shatters. The white walls were dark with soot, dust, and blood. The pillars that held the great crystal ceiling were broken, and the pieces of glass that made up the roof were scattered around the crater that the three men had formed in their power.
Poseidon limped towards the exit, but Zeus' voice stopped him.
"Y-you really are a traitor." Zeus said with venom, and the air around them began to sizzle. Poseidon was tired, and he didn't know if he would be able to handle Zeus and control himself at the same time. He gripped his trident, flared his Enlightenment as much as his tired body allowed him, and glared at the man who had once been like a brother to him.
"I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family, Zeus, even if it means going against Olympus itself." Poseidon said, "You know what's out there, you know the danger it poses, to me, to you, to our children whenever we get to having them. Athena is convinced the shittery is about me, so I will do what I must."
"You will forever be branded a Monster, Poseidon of the House of Seas, your descendants will be tainted by your actions today, and so will your reputation. Can you outrun us; I wonder?" Zeus said as he stood. "Prophecy or not, rise of the Titans or not…you betrayed your oath."
"Do not tempt me, Zeus, I can barely hold onto my emotions as it is. Keep testing me, and you will feel the wrath of the sea." Poseidon's eyes glowed, the earth shook, and his Enlightenment threatened to overwhelm him.
Zeus backed down.
"I loved you, you and Hades. You were my friends, my family. I'm doing this to protect you too."
"You're betraying your duty for a mortal whore!"
"DO NOT CALL HER A WHORE!" A clap of thunder sounded, and Zeus was blasted across the room. The earth broke, and water began to pool around Zeus, tendrils threatening to drown him. "I am not my father, nor am I my mother. I am my own person, Zeus, and I choose to forsake tradition for the safety of the world! It is thanks to that sacrifice that we will live another age, Amphitrite can never be near the Seastone chair, do you hear me, Zeus? She. Must. Stay. AWAY!"
Zeus broke. He flinched, for the first time in his life, flinched at the sheer power radiating of Poseidon. His missing right eye and bloody left eye were focused on the man, and as much as he tried he could only hold so much hatred.
"You're making a mistake." Zeus said.
"Then its my mistake to make." Poseidon said. "For whatever its worth, I am so—"
Poseidon turned sharply to the side, looking at a pillar in the room. He seemed to glare at it for a long moment, but eventually dropped his gaze and returned it to the defeated form of Zeus.
"Remember this, Zeus. There will come a time where the Flame of Olympus will be threatened, it may be the Titans, it may be the Giants, it may very well be the Firstborn. I don't know when, nor how, but it will come. Only a child of mortal birth, born under the dying sun, will be able to reignite the flame that was lost."
Zeus' eyes widened, the implications running through his head. Fury gripped him, fury like he had never felt before.
"Leave." Zeus said, "Leave you filthy traitor! Words of vile, your presence disgusts me! LEAVE!"
Zeus summoned all the power he had, all his raw hatred and anger, and flared his Enlightenment one last time. He smiled in satisfaction as Poseidon tensed. At least he was not completely defeated.
"Farewell, Zeus. Say goodbye to Hades for me." Poseidon said sadly.
"LEAVE!" Zeus yelled, hiding the raw pain in his voice as well as he could. The words he had spoken…anger, hatred…fear. He couldn't break, not now.
Poseidon limped out of Olympus, into the Mortal world, and with a tear in his eye he said goodbye to the place he had called home. He needed to do what had to be done, even if it meant death and pain.
"For Sally…" Poseidon said as he walked, "For Percy…" He said as he took another step.
"For the Glory of the Forgotten."
He disappeared in a flash of mist, and all that was left behind was the destruction that brought the burden of power.