Poseidon sighed, his head in his hands. Everything ached, even though it should not have. Even though he was a god.
Just something else, he'd managed to convince himself. Just another one of them. But he should have known the consequences when he broke the oath on the river Styx.
Because Sally Jackson was dead. She didn't survive giving birth. Now he was left with an aching heart and a ton of problems on his shoulders.
He had loved Sally Jackson. 'Had'. She was different, very much so. She was a literal goddess. She deserved the world.
But now, she was stuck in Hades' realm, never to come back. Never to escape.
The Fates could be cruel sometimes.
But, oh, now he was left with a sweet baby girl, who he'd named snorted. Ironic. Hades' wife.
Oh, all he wanted to do was storm up to Olympus and kill all the gods. They'd leave him alone. But he knew he couldn't do that.
He was feeling a foreign emotion, something he'd never felt before. He wanted to cry but no tears came out; instead, everything ached. He wanted to smash something, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it; he was too exhausted.
He was brought back from his stupor by a nurse waving two forms in front of his face. A birth and a death certificate, he realized.
He filled them out numbly, and the nurse went somewhere to get the certificate. And that was when he saw Sally's body, covered in a white sheet, being wheeled to the morgue. And that was when the reality of the situation hit him. And it hit him hard. Silent, hot tears streamed down his cheek. Tears for the woman he lost. Even the baby started crying.
He could feel his blood boiling, all the oceans and water bodies around the world thrashing in his rage, creating typhoons and storms. He left the hospital, and all his bad memories behind, and immediately teleported to Atlantis, his ocean palace.
When he reached, his wife, Amphitrite, came swimming towards him. Persephone, in his hands, was sound asleep, sucking her thumb. She needed a new family.
Amphitrite voiced his thoughts. "Where would she stay?" she asked, careful to whisper, almost humming.
"In Atlantis." He said it so simply, he was shocked he said it. But it seemed like the most plausible option now. She had no other family. So, he pushed his dark thoughts about Zeus finding out about her. She was just a baby, and Zeus could go die in Tartarus if he felt anything could stop him from loving his daughter.
So, after long talks with Amphitrite, Triton, and many of his advisors, it was arranged that Percy would live in Atlantis until she was old enough to be sent to Camp Half-Blood. Hopefully, without anyone finding out about dear Persephone.
But the Fates always had a plan.
And this was not going according to plan.
It was the 18th of August once again. Persephone was four on this day. The fourth death anniversary of Sally Jackson, her mother.
"Daddy!" Persephone screamed, running to an adoring Poseidon. He hugged her tightly. Every day, it was like airplane turbulence. It was terrifying, irrationally terrifying. And every day, Poseidon felt like he would lose Percy to the gods.
But he couldn't help but feel happy about her. She had grown beautifully. She had long, thick, black, shiny hair. He could go on and on about it if he could. And her eyes - oh, her eyes. They were vivid green, and seemed to change with the sea, or, in better words, his mood.
He felt a swell of pride realizing he had given her those eyes.
If only an emergency meeting wasn't kept, he could have enjoyed the day with Amphitrite, Triton, and of course, Persephone. It was the day she would get Riptide and know all her history. Every single bit.
He sighed, and teleported up to Olympus, literally being serenaded by the nymphs. He had always loved this place, it was lavish. But now, he had responsibilities.
He strode over to his throne, trident reappearing. He met his brother's eyes. He was angry, bright yellow lighting flashed in his eyes. And this was not a good sign.
Dionysus was the last to arrive, having hastily changed into his clothes. He almost looked like he had been having wine again.
Zeus' mood turned darker.
"Poseidon, you have broken the oath." Zeus simply said, and that was when he knew things were going wrong, but what else could he do? Turn him into a complete mortal and exile him? He wasn't sure that was even possible. But he had used his name. And he got the feeling this was bad.
"Which one?" he asked, sweating. Gods didn't sweat, no, they didn't. He said it more confidently, clearing his throat.
"Which one?"
"Which one?! Poseidon, I am about to exile you, after you broke our important oath, and you ask which one?!" Zeus said, blowing up.
Oh, that one, about children. He thought he already got his punishment.
But he also knew something was wrong. The one rational part of his brain kept whispering 'How did he know? I kept her hidden!'
Then his gaze met Athena's. She was smirking. Smirking. She knew something. And she snitched.
"Where is she? We need to kill her. Tell me where she is, or she'll kill us all!" Zeus shouted after the clamor of the gods stopped. Hera, under her veil, was looking venomously, straight at him. And Poseidon felt his blood, his ichor, boil with anger.
"No! You will not kill my daughter!" he stood up. "You never killed Hades' children - "
"They were different!" Zeus spoke over him. "They are no threat!"
"Then you will not hurt my daughter! I swear upon the River Styx, I will protect Persephone with my life! None of you will ever touch my daughter!" He yelled uncharacteristically and strode out of the room. As if on cue, thunder occurred, deafening him. And the last thing he heard was Zeus putting up all the gods to find Persephone and kill her.
And he had to hide Persephone somewhere. He knew that he probably had messed everything up by keeping Persephone against the rules. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't the one taking care of her, it was Amphitrite and Triton, but it was clear after the little fiasco that he couldn't even convince himself, let alone others.
So, he did the next thing that came to his mind.
He broke off all ties with his daughter.
When he reached Atlantis, he immediately asked some random merman to pack a bag for Persephone. He plopped on his throne, sighing, as he wrote a letter to whoever came to his mind first. Before sealing it, he addressed it to the Titaness, Calypso. He wasn't in his right mind, or he would have known that keeping her with another immortal would make it worse.
He sent off the letter with Triton to drop Persephone to Ogygia, leaving her with a person he'd never even seen yet.
He didn't even say goodbye.
A few months later, the gods were still searching, and Poseidon was moping around in Atlantis, alongside an equally grieving Amphitrite - she'd been very pleased with Persephone's company, a fresh breath, she called it.
He decided to explore his daughter's room, for the first time in a long time. Entering, he realized it was stripped bare of all its possessions, made like any other room in his palace.
But, sitting in the center of the bed was a toy, a blowfish stuffed toy Persephone had named 'Harold'. It was her favorite toy.
Poseidon swam over to the bed, hugging the toy to his heart, breaking down on the silk sheets.
He didn't even say goodbye.
-x-
Hey guys! I have finally finished the rewrite, and here's the first chapter! Nothing major's changed (*ahem*), and I just wanted to thank you all for waiting! Enjoy! (Posting the same story on Wattpad under same username and title).
Thanks for reading!