A/N: Went out for my birthday last weekend with my friends, and I had an idea for a mechanic in this story. So, when we get there, and you hopefully enjoy it, I'm going to look back and thank that ridiculously fun night for it. Anyways, new chapter that I hope you guys like! Please review and let me know.
Chapter 3: Meetings' Secrets Revealed
The anxious voices of eleven Olympians and two other gods echoed through the throne room of Olympus. Hades stretched impatiently in his guest throne, the erupted all-white seat blemishing the symmetry of the twelve Olympian ones. Hestia sat where she always did, peacefully tending to the central hearth. The goddess willed its flames to calm the others' nerves while they waited for the remaining Olympian.
The room lightly shuddered when a lightning bolt ripped down and marked Zeus' arrival. As the sparks subsided, the King of the Gods took his seat. He looked around the room expectantly.
"The Winter Solstice is not for another month. Who called this meeting?" he thundered.
"The Winter Solstice?" Percy heaved, dispelling red haze, "This was nine months ago?"
Dionysus ignored his question after a terrified look at Tartarus, who only nodded for him to continue the retelling.
All fourteen deities exchanged confused glances before Apollo spoke.
"We, uh, we were also trying to figure that out, and assumed it was you when you were the only one left to arrive."
Before Zeus could respond, a brief flash appeared near the doors. Like an audience, the gods snapped towards the intrusion. Warily, several gripped their weapons. But they quickly laid them down when the Three Fates stepped forward. Though the gods had dropped their arms, the apprehension didn't leave any of their faces; the Fates' appearance never bode well.
"Moirai," Athena breathed.
The trio nodded in unison, needing no formality of their own, as green smoke billowed from underneath their dark robes and out of the sockets of their six eyes. When they spoke, their voices melded into an ominous cacophony. The room continuously darkened; whether it actually happened or it only felt that way due to the weight of their words, no deity had an answer. All of the gods shivered, listening to the full, terrifying prophecy that warned the end of Olympian reign.
"…a pawn will come for seats of power…"
Multiple Olympians shifted uncomfortably on their thrones, jerked aware that the days could be numbered for the marble beneath them.
"…a seraph descends as heavenly aid…"
Athena tensed, sharp eyes locked in thought, as she listened intently to every passing line of the prophecy.
"…deserving shoulders bear the blame…"
The room fell darker still, and green smoke traversed further across the floor.
"…should the mantle have fallen to him?" the Fates finished.
All eyes snapped to Zeus, whose own pair shot wide. Everyone present had thought the same thing of the Fates' final stanza; both "kingly whim" and "the mantle" had to mean him. The smoke faded to thin air while a stifling silence enveloped the throne room. And before anyone could pry about the King of the Gods' role in the prophecy, one of the Fates grimaced.
"It is uncanny how one hero intersects so many pivotal auguries."
The drawling voice came from the center Fate, Lachesis. Nobody could question the Allotter of Fate before she and her sisters melted into nothingness. Silence held its grip on the throne room, and every god shared a single thought, more specifically a person: Percy Jackson. Poseidon looked as if he had been punched in the gut while Hera, of all goddesses, held an expression of deep worry.
The Queen of Olympus suddenly lurched forward, shaking briefly as her form flickered. Transformed, she slumped back in her throne. Her shimmering peacock dress had shifted to black robes with a goatskin cloak, and her face had hardened as if it'd seen twice as many battles. Zeus turned to Hera, now Juno, shocked that even she could no longer hold back the form-splitting plague gripping the gods. Demeter finally broke the permeating silence.
"What terrible timing," the goddess bemoaned, forcibly shifted into Ceres, and the room filled with disquieted chatter.
Zeus grunted in agreement before he slammed his Master Bolt into the floor. The gods silenced, some others now also suffering from schism-induced headaches. As Zeus spoke, there was a dangerous tone in his voice.
"Our worries are piling rapidly enough, and now we have been burdened with another in the form of a prophecy. Killing Percy Jackson may be the only way to ensure we are not overwhelmed by them."
The King of the Gods side-eyed his brother, though he didn't turn to face him. Poseidon did turn, and every Olympian held their breath in his direction before they dared to voice their own opinions. The Sea God's eyes burned a darkened green.
"You will court war with Atlantis, brother," he warned icily.
Only then did Zeus turn his head. His expression held rage, surely from the prospect of losing his power and all else that he had.
"You heard the Fates!" he shouted, red-faced, "Your son means to end Olympus itself!" the King of the Gods grossly simplified.
Poseidon's hardened gaze didn't falter, and his sharp voice didn't stall a moment.
"You kill him, and I will end it myself."
The two Olympians glowered in a tense standoff. The rest of the gods would have watched, but they suddenly had to shield their eyes from the maelstrom of wind and water that had erupted from nothing. The throne room creaked and groaned against the weathering onslaught stemming from between the pair. Every god held their armrests tightly, whipping back and forth underneath the torrential hurricane.
Hestia, much sturdier than someone of her 8-year-old stature should be, braced unshakingly as she tried to keep the hearth kindled. Her nearly smothered fire eventually won out; Zeus slammed his fists against his armrests and the storm dissipated. Poseidon released the trident he hadn't realized he'd picked up.
"You are making a mistake, Poseidon," Zeus seethed, wiping the water from his drenched face.
"I am defending my own," the Sea God replied, willing himself dry.
Before their tempest could reignite, Hestia cut in.
"Explicitly trying to stop prophecies, regardless of how sure you are of their major players, has never gone well," she warned forebodingly.
Both brothers paused, thinking back to all of the wars that had begun due to their direct attempt to thwart prophecies. It was only after Artemis voiced her own agreement with Hestia that anyone noticed Athena's deathly pale face.
"Daughter, what are you thinking?"
Zeus' voice was more eager than concerned, correctly predicting that the Goddess of Wisdom had an idea that fit his needs.
"What if…" she began, "what if there were a way to ensure the boy's loyalty?"
Athena's voice was small and harrowed, as if she were announcing the death of a loved one. In a way, that was exactly what the dejected goddess was doing. The King of the Gods urged her to go on.
"What if we guaranteed his allegiance by giving him a permanent enemy?" she asked.
"You mean Gaea?" Artemis inquired, confused.
Athena shook her head.
"I did not mean her specifically. It is more of a metaphor, though Mother Earth would work exceptionally well," the goddess explained before gesturing towards Poseidon, "Take note of Zeus and Poseidon's argument just now. Poseidon, you are not any closer with Perseus than any other gods are with their own favored children, yet you threaten Olympian sovereignty over him."
"Well, yes. He is my–" he faltered before Athena abruptly continued.
The pragmatic goddess' voice had picked up fervor, but everyone listening could hear the distress building as she marched towards the crux of her idea.
"He is your son, yes. But that excessive ferocity comes from your 'fatal flaw' of loyalty, an innate godly trait which Perseus also shares. I am not questioning whether or not you love your son, but if that was your reaction in avenging someone you have met less than a handful of times, how would he react in response to losing someone he loves much more dearly?"
As she finished, a light permanently left Athena's eyes. The goddess knew she'd lost a part of herself describing serving up her own daughter to an enemy of the gods, even if she hadn't explicitly stated the idea. The throne room fell silent, digesting the concept of a sacrificial demigod to ensure another's fidelity.
The cavern within Tartarus could only be described as the antithesis of that silence. Percy shouted against his chains, unknowing and uncaring of the gaping wound in his side, as the room shook violently from another quake. His dark glow had become ethereal, and the chains binding the demigod were failing.
Dionysus scurried away as quickly as his frail form could carry him, only to be roughly pinned down by Oryx again. The hulking monster eyed Percy warily, bracing against the vibrating cavern as he shrugged off falling boulders. Tartarus grinned madly when the wall behind Percy ripped to pieces, the chains around him sheared apart, and the demigod thudded to the earth freed. But the primordial merely snapped his fingers, and the wall reverted alongside freshly tight shackles. The iron's slamming weight knocked the feral sound out of the demigod, silencing both him and his glow.
"Continue, Dionysus," Tartarus leered, motioning for Oryx to throw the wine god back at Percy's again-dangling feet.
Ares shuddered and groaned as his biker jacket shifted to military fatigues, and he doubled over while clutching his head. The rest of the gods broke out of their stupor, knowing they needed to quell problems quickly before their splitting personalities overtook them. A decision had to be made sooner rather than later, and the gods decided a diplomatic vote was the best course.
Athena, having been the one to introduce the idea, unwillingly voted in agreement. Zeus quickly voted yes; Olympus was surely worth more than one demigod life, no? None of the other gods said anything, waiting for Poseidon to speak first. The Sea God looked deep in thought, weighing his options. He eventually sighed.
"I believe that would work," he relented, "and we would maintain a powerful fighter for the war."
Percy didn't shout this time; the silent demigod's eyes displayed enough devastation on their own. But the cavern shook again, the wall fell again, the shackles shattered again, and the demigod freed himself again. And again, Tartarus snapped to imprison him. The primordial didn't need to spare a glance at Dionysus to force him to continue.
The remaining Olympians, Hestia, and Hades now all knew where the council's two greatest powers stood. The rest chose sides; six voted yes with them, and five abstained altogether. Hestia led the faction that refused to vote.
"Voting over something like this," she whispered unevenly, utterly heartbroken at the idea, "is blurring a very dangerous line. What will we stomach next?"
Hades, another dissident, agreed with her. The God of the Underworld had judged souls for millenia; he was well-versed in what was and was not just, and this was not. But nine yeses could not be outweighed by five refusals to participate.
Percy took note of the nine gods and goddesses that voted for Annabeth to be killed. He felt sickened that the group included both his and her godly parents. But he could do nothing about them yet. His blackened eyes shifted down, honing on the ninth god that had voted yes. Dionysus refused to meet the demigod's murderous gaze, and he was shaking in terror.
The wall cracked. Chains ripped. His body thudded. But Tartarus snapped.
"Not yet, boy. There is more to learn first."
Zeus harshly eyed each of the five protesting gods. A rift in the council was the last thing he wanted to deal with, and there was much to do. The King of the Gods ignored Hestia and Hades' qualms, shifting gears.
"Now that it is decided, we will table the means for another time," he commanded, daring anyone to question him.
The room remained silent, and Zeus continued.
"We also have the Great Prophecy to deal with," he grumbled, "and Hera believes she has a solution."
The goddess, having regained control over her form, stood from her throne. She sped through her explanation of trading the Greek and Roman camp leaders to unite all of their children. The council shifted disdainfully when Hera mentioned that Percy would have to be the Greek candidate. Their concerns were quashed when Zeus decreed that no one would speak of the new prophecy outside of the throne room. He created the rule to ensure that, most importantly, Percy and Annabeth would never find out about their decision, but also because he knew many Olympians were ashamed of the choice they'd made. The council was shortly dismissed.
"Are we done?" Percy asked.
His voice was absolutely calm, which only made it more skin-crawling to Dionysus. The god lowered his head, supplicating before the demigod. He begged for mercy from whatever was about to happen. It didn't take an augur to know none would find him.
Rip, shear, thud. Snap. Percy was back on the wall.
"Just one more, boy," Tartarus sneered before looking down at the wine god.
"Your life depends on this, Dionysus. Leave out a single detail, and I will not restrain him again."
The wine god visibly swallowed.
Five demigods were teleported to the Olympian throne room, all wearing some variation of sleep clothing. Jason and Piper had on simple shirts and shorts, Leo and Frank both wore a full set of pajamas, and Hazel was clad in a heavy nightgown. They looked around frantically, shocked to be stolen from their ship and appalled at the haggard state of the surrounding Olympians.
Over half of them were shuddering, doubled over in their thrones while clutching their skulls. Ares looked ready to throw up, shifting sporadically between himself and Mars. Athena, Hades, and Hestia were missing from the room entirely. Out of the gods present, only Zeus and Poseidon looked in any shape to speak. Piper beat them to the first words.
"Where are Percy and Annabeth?" she asked, whirling around and only counting four of her six crewmates.
The pair of Olympians shared a glance while Jason instructed her to bow with him.
"They are who you have been brought here to discuss," Zeus thundered before shifting to Jupiter.
Jason and Piper straightened up, confused. The son of Jupiter turned towards Dionysus for answers.
"Lord Bacchus, we just saw you in the grass fields. Did you have something else to tell us?" he asked, his voice stoic and respectful.
The wine god attempted to grunt an answer, but he was having a hard enough time remaining upright that he could only point to Jupiter and Poseidon. The King of the Gods, also suffering from a headache, decided he didn't have time for pleasantries. He instructed the demigods to listen, and he recited the prophecy the gods had kept secret. The demigods' eyes only grew wider when, after Jupiter finished, he explained that the prophecy was about Percy Jackson. Poseidon contested him.
"We do not know for certain," the Sea God added, "Just an educated guess."
"I haven't known him that long, but I don't think Percy would do that," Leo said quietly, the first to recover.
The son of Hephaestus shrunk under Jupiter's deathly gaze.
"Will you take his side?" the god asked, clutching his weapon.
Leo stepped back, and Jason put an arm out in front of him.
"I'm sorry, father. Percy defended Leo when he was accused of firing on New Rome, so he just felt like he needed to return the favor. He didn't mean anything by it."
The rest of the demigods looked at their blonde crewmate, abjectly shocked at how calmly he spoke. Their absent friend had been accused by the gods of something far beyond treason, and here Jason was conversing casually. Piper had watched him and Percy, controlled by eidolons, duel to the death earlier that day, but that feud surely couldn't be influencing Jason here.
"What do you need us to do?" Jason finished.
"Jason–" Piper whispered, voicing her own shock as well as Leo and Hazel's.
But not Frank's.
The son of Mars stepped forward to stand alongside Jason. The pair was visibly apprehensive, wrestling with the accusation against their new friend, but they couldn't ignore the words of the gods themselves.
"Romans were always better at acknowledging authority," Jupiter praised before sending a distasteful glance towards Hazel.
Frank looked torn, but he remained silent. Jupiter returned his gaze to the pair.
"Your target is the daughter of Athena."
This strained their uneasiness further, but no demigod could simply speak out while a god was talking. None present, at least. Jupiter continued, warning them that if Annabeth lived past their war with Gaea, the secret prophecy would surely come to pass. The King of the Gods instructed the group that, if given the chance, they must let her die to an enemy of Olympus. And with a sideways glance at Poseidon, he confirmed that Percy could be allowed to live as long as Annabeth didn't.
A pit formed in the stomachs of all of the demigods when Jupiter finished speaking. Jason eventually found his voice for a brief contention.
"But father–"
"My son, there is much to be won in defeating great enemies. But there is even more in averting them from ever existing. I understand your qualms, and I wish there were a better way," Jupiter explained sadly.
If Poseidon wasn't suffering from a brutal migraine, he may have rolled his eyes at his disingenuous brother.
"All of you will be rewarded greatly as the Saviors of Olympus. Only you can save it from the Eclipse," he thundered, straightening back up.
None of the five demigods spoke. Frank looked grim. Piper and Hazel couldn't meet any of the gods' eyes, seemingly disillusioned with the deities that were supposed to care for them. Leo shook his head softly, his gaze also glued to the floor. Jason looked deep in thought, and he was who Jupiter had his eyes on. The King of the Gods knew Jason was not a traditional son of his, but even he was not exempt from the fatal flaw of pride. Jupiter could rely on that, letting the feeling fester. He didn't say another word before shooting them all back to their ship floating over Europe.
(Line Break)
The wall ripped. Shackles sheared. A body thudded. And this time, Tartarus didn't snap. Leisurely, the primordial took a dozen steps back. He commanded Oryx to do the same. Dionysus' head snapped back between the hellish beings behind him and the rising form in front of him.
"Wh-what are you doing?" he wheezed.
The god began to scamper backwards on his elbows and feet. At the same time, Percy shoved himself upright on shaking legs. His eyes were black and his fists clenched tight. Each step he took towards the retreating wine god became more firm.
"Wait! Wai-wait! There was another meeting!" he whimpered, "with only the blonde one of your friends!"
Percy paused. His expression wasn't a contorted scowl of rage or fury; it was calm. His mouth was flat, jaw relaxed, breathing even. But his eyes still burned black. His silence beckoned Dionysus to keep talking; every word was another moment alive.
"He-he came back a week ago! The night you and the other one fell into the Pit!"
"Annabeth," Percy grated.
"Yes, yes. Annabeth," Dionysus corrected, "He told us he let you both fall after securing the statue."
The wine god kept skittering back. Percy's gaze moved to Tartarus; none of the things the primordial had said were lies. He looked back at Dionysus and began to close the gap. Dionysus panicked, talking even faster.
"It was his fault! I only voted because I had no choice! Zeus was hell-bent on denying the prophecy; my disagreement would have amounted to nothing! His son condemned you both! And-and your father and Athena did! She cut off all sacrifices at your camp. Jupiter congratulated Jason for letting you fall as well. Your father was upset, but he did nothing. He and Athena slumped in their thrones and vanished! I had nothing to do with it! Jupiter sent your friends to the Doors as an extra measure as well! PLEA–!"
Dionysus' rant cut off abruptly as Percy's fist buried itself in his gut. The god heaved at the crippling blow, but had no chance to recover before another strike met his jaw. He slumped onto his back. The demigod lifted his heel and crunched it against his jaw. Dionysus wheezed as his neck snapped to one side. Percy hit him again. And then again. Fist, elbow, knee, foot, nails. The demigod brutalized him, shattering the thyrsus that the god tried to block with. Dionysus groaned, coughed, retched, cried, under the onslaught. All the while, Percy was silent.
This went on for too long; the demigod's body was already at its limit. Still, the demented primordial continued to observe, letting it go on for a while longer. Percy finally fell to his knees in front of the mangled wine god that had long stopped moving. The demigod coughed up blood and held a hand to his awfully wounded side. Even after all of that, only Percy would succumb to his wounds; you can't ever really kill a god. What a shame.
Percy's blackened eyes drooped, his mind a convoluted mess. He felt nothing but blind anger and the desperation to continue living. His world was fading to black, and the only images flashing through his mind were Annabeth's harrowing deaths across all of the nightmares he hadn't realized he'd had in Tartarus. Percy Jackson would die unable to exact vengeance on anyone.
Until a sharp clang rapped against the cavern floor. The source jerked Percy alert from its permeating malevolent aura, just as violent but separate from the smirking primordial that had dropped it. Percy's gaze moved independently, shifting towards the sound. His eyes immediately widened. It was a long polearm, harshly black, tipped with a nearly two-foot blade that only curved on one side. The weapon, several feet away, pulled at the demigod. Percy felt every hair on his body rise while his stomach sank. He'd only experienced the feeling once before: when he'd been nicked by Kronos' scythe with the promise it'd "sever his soul from his body." But this feeling was a dozen times worse, and the source wasn't even touching him.
The metal of the blade was as black as the staff, but it had pulsating cracks in it that glowed orange. It looked as if the fragmented metal had only just been welded together to create the most horrifying armament to ever exist. Percy had seen this type of weapon before at Camp Half-Blood. As he recalled its name, a line of the prophecy clicked into place for the grimacing demigod.
It was a glaive.
A/N: Uh oh. Next chapter, we may follow the gang on the Argo II. Remember, Gaea is still rising so will the gods and demigods even be able to win without two of their strongest demigods?
levisorus: an insane percy is a scary thought. i like the way you use percy's grief against him, in my personally opinion grief is such a main factor in the breaking of someone's mind and the way you're playing into it is great. i can't wait to follow along with this story, see you next friday bro.
I completely agree about the importance of grief. But man, is he going to lose his mind for good? I think we may be in some trouble right now because this doesn't feel like a person with a grip on sanity any longer. And, as always, thank you for the review :)