Summary: Perseus, first-born child of Poseidon and Amphitrite, God of the Stars and Constellations, of Navigation and of the Astral Plane. Patron of Heroes and Consort to the Goddess Artemis. Sitting upon the ruling council of the Gods for thousands of years – and now facing the end of Olympus.
Apologies for the delay with this Chapter. I've been busy with Holiday preparations and my whole family seemed to come down sick all at once. That, alongside work picking up ahead of the new year means I've been incredibly busy. Because of that, this Chapter was delayed by a week from my original schedule, and while I hope it doesn't happen again, no promises. Family, work and real life have to come first I'm afraid, and I still have some holiday shopping to do as well as normal obligations, so the next update could possibly be after Christmas unfortunately.
If that happens, I'll try my best to double up one weekend and post 2 Chapters at once, but again, no promises. I do appreciate those of you being patient for the next Chapter, and to those of you who PM'ed me demanding an update – that will never work with me. I will work at my own pace or not at all.
I only get every Sunday and every other Monday off work, so while I try to work on this throughout the week, some days I just don't have the time. I get three days off every two weeks basically, and my workdays last anywhere from 11-14 hours. I go in at 3am, and don't get off work until 2-5pm, depending on the day. I'm only explaining all this so that those who are impatient might understand why my chapters, which are usually 8.5k-10k words, may sometimes take a while to put together. Unfortunately, with other obligations sometimes I don't get to write at all, as I refuse to ignore my family in favor of Fanfiction.
Thank for all the feedback, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Seven
"Make sure to tell them to pull out all the stops, if you don't mind sir. I almost lost a leg to that thing."
"Will do," Perseus said, nodding once. He flicked his fingers and a stack of cash was in his right hand. He handed it to Atlanta quickly. "I have to go, I'm not allowed to help you any more than this. Just keep up the way your going and don't focus on anything else."
He glanced at his daughter once more, holding her gaze for a second, and then he was gone as well.
As the children made haste to continue their quest, Perseus appeared back on Olympus in a relatively foul mood. It seemed things were going from bad to worse with each passing day, and a reprieve in the form of a return to normalcy would be welcome at this point. Seven days since the discovery of Thalia by the Council as a whole, and seven days since he himself revealed the existence of the other three. That's all the time it took for things to deteriorate so rapidly.
It was precisely why the three brothers made their agreement in the first place. They were far too prideful and far to competitive with one another, and that competition transferred over to their children nearly always, even if the children themselves had very little input in the issue. In this case, the daughter of Zeus had stoked the fury of both Hades and Poseidon, and in return she was nearly killed. Perseus had known that history would only repeat itself in a few short years with his young mortal sister. He'd attempted, then, to stop that eventuality from coming to pass.
Apparently he'd only sped up the process and in the act of doing so, he'd placed himself as a convenient target.
He was okay with that, and even expected it. Perseus was not, however, okay with Hades believing himself in a position to transfer that enmity over to his daughter. Atlanta was precious to him in a way that could hardly be described in words, and to see her cowering in the dirt at the feet of another God, nearly pleading for mercy and making promises to appease them…
It would not be allowed to pass unanswered.
Over the many thousands of years he'd allowed himself to be compromised. He'd forsaken his own morals and followed the will of those who stood above him in the hierarchy of the Gods on countless occasions. He'd followed the laws and stood by, helpless as he watched his own children butchered in mortal wars and by the often-cruel hand of the Fates themselves. However this was different. He would not watch his uncle crush his only child beneath his heel out of a sense of aggravation. Perseus would remove the entire limb before it could reach her.
His own challenge to Hades had been a simple way to draw his attention and force him to focus on something far more threatening. Now the older God would be wary of interacting with the quest. Not out of fear, Perseus knew – he wasn't arrogant enough to believe Hades feared him at all – but out of precaution. Hades was crafty and intelligent, and even believing himself above Perseus wouldn't force him to act rashly. Methodical and with extreme precision was how Hades operated, often to the detriment of those who called themselves his enemy.
Perseus knew his uncle as well as anyone, and knew that he was likely already neck deep in strategies to force the outcome into his favor. He still didn't care. While it was true that a challenge had been the easiest way of drawing the eye of Hades from his daughter, he'd also meant it. He would fight to whatever outcome emerged from that challenge.
Perseus was only relieved to have arrived in time to stop Hades from forcing some type of binding oath on Atlanta.
That had been his plan, and Perseus read it loud and clear. Force the children into submission with fear and dread, and then give them no choice but to bind themselves to a situation of his choosing. Perhaps to simply swear to see his children safe, even at the cost of their lives, or perhaps something even more insidious. Perseus didn't know or care – he'd been moving as soon as he felt divine energy from a God near them, and hadn't given his uncle the chance to finish his display of dominance.
He'd kept a relatively close eye on the quest, having known the outcome to be important, and that single choice was all that allowed him to act in time. Once more he'd nearly been too late to save one of his children from a likely hopeless fate, only this time to the hands of his own uncle who was, to his estimation, just throwing a tantrum like his brothers and using children to absorb the bulk of his ire.
The ultimatum given by Hades – two weeks to complete the quest – told Perseus that the older God didn't actually want the fight. If he did he would've told them to complete it much, much faster. For whatever reason, he wanted the quest completed more than he wanted war. The success of the children would mean several things. It would mean that the two temporally-displaced demigods would be relatively safe. It would also mean the girl being placed beneath the protection of Artemis, and the boy being sent to the Underworld with his father.
Maybe it was that simple and Perseus was overthinking things. Maybe Hades simply wanted his children safe, his daughter well cared-for and his son at his side. It was difficult to tell with the Silent One, as he would never openly admit that even if it were true. He would never admit his love for his own children, viewing a display like that as an intolerable weakness. The sentiment of wishing for the safety and security of your children was one Perseus could fully understand, however he would not allow that to come to pass at the expense of his own daughter.
As agitated as he felt at the situation, Perseus would make no move to incite this conflict any further unless Hades did so first. Atlanta was unharmed, much as it chafed his own paternal instincts to see her bowed in the dirt like a common servant, and so long as Hades kept it that way he would wait for the conclusion of the quest or the opening shots of war, whichever came first.
His course decided, Perseus took a moment to observe his surroundings, uncaring of the fact he'd stood in a single place for several minutes lost in his thoughts. It likely wouldn't even seem strange to any immortal had they witnessed it – they were in many places at once, after all, and when they spread themselves thinly enough it wasn't uncommon to lose track of a small piece of themselves for a moment.
He'd arrived at the 'visitor's entrance' near the elevator as an afterthought, and the city of the Gods was laid out before him. It's majesty was mostly lost on him. He'd seen it built and while he still viewed it as something beautiful, he was a traveler at heart as proof by his dominion over navigation. There was much more to the wide-world than this one place and he'd done his best to explore it all. Still, with the ever-changing nature of the world he could always find something new and worthy of his attention.
However from a fresh perspective the view would be magnificent.
Mount Olympus was, as the legends said, the decapitated peak of a mountain resting gracefully upon a bed of clouds. The summit was snow-covered and shined brilliantly beneath the light of the sun, while the city clung to the mountainside in splendor and beauty enough to capture the hearts of every artist the world over. Dozens of magnificent palaces spread across the city, many of them made from white marble with columned porticoes, gilded terraces and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires year round.
The finest stone roadways wound lazily up to the peak, where the largest palace – the throne room of the twelve Olympians – stood in both glory and solitude. Perched precariously between mansions and some smaller administrative buildings, gardens bloomed with rosebushes, olive trees and wildflowers. There was a large, open-air market filled with colorful tents, as well as a massive coliseum, a hippodrome and an amphitheater, all built to a scale for beings many times taller than a human.
There were parks and statues, bathhouses and small ponds filled with the most colorful fish. Chariots drawn by horses and pegasi and other animals that shouldn't have been tamable. Temples, as glorious as they were diverse scattered themselves throughout the city, each of them bearing the symbol of a divine patron. Amongst the glory of it all walked nymphs and satyrs, Gods and Goddesses and immortals of every kind.
It was an ancient Greek city dragged straight from the pages of history and into the twenty-first century.
There were modern amenities as well. Many of the dining halls and public spaces had access to Hephaestus TV, Hermes had drop-boxes for deliveries of mail and packages ordered from the Amazons in California, and Ares had a building devoted to MMA with a full gym and an octagon-shaped arena. He liked to pit the fighters who owed him tribute – those who died on the losing side of wars – against one another for his own entertainment and the betting pleasure of any who wanted in. That is, when he could be dragged away from the Middle East.
There was a rumor that Zeus had a hidden room somewhere that was filled with over-sized Tesla Coils, but it was difficult to say if there was any truth to that. Aphrodite had a speed-dating hall where she sat upon a throne of red satin and watched those who wished to participate in her game, and the Clubs ran by Dionysus were popular year round. If there was one God who could throw a party that could barely be remembered hours afterward, it was him. Madness and Alcohol were always a fun mix, and the relatively young God passed both out like candy at a parade.
In the old days his parties had brought entire cities to their knees. When he and Apollo teamed up for music festivals, the alcohol-induced debauchery was a thing of legend. Back in the sixties and seventies it resulted in a lot of demigods born to the peace-loving, free-spirited mortals who embraced counter-culture and all forms of free love.
Shaking the thoughts of hippies from his mind, Perseus wondered exactly how annoyed Athena was going to be that he was late for their meeting. They'd agreed to meet up and discuss plans regarding the training at Camp Half-Blood, as well as the upcoming Capture the Flag game that suddenly may have to be postponed, or at least move forward without his involvement. He would assume that her annoyance would likely be approaching actual anger. Joy.
Already having been twenty minutes late, he decided to get moving before she bailed altogether. He wasn't the only one with a busy schedule, after all.
The walk through the city was a fast one, as while it was large it was also so well known to him that he could navigate it almost without thought. He made his way through the market and cut a path straight across the park where the three muses were setting up for a concert. Apollo was there, chatting with his son Aristaeus and raised a wave as he walked by. It made for an odd sight, as Apollo preferred the appearance of a young adult and his son looked three times his age, with dark hair streaked with gray and a full, bushy beard. Their familial roles could easily appear reversed.
He passed Hephaestus' workshop – a large, sprawling building that belched smoke and the acrid scent of sulfur – and made his way to a small cafe with a walk-up bar and outdoor seating that was shaded by colorful tarps hung overhead. There were perhaps a dozen tables, only four of them occupied, and seated at one of them was Athena. She glanced up upon his approach, and almost instantly frowned.
"Once again you shirk your duties," she commented in place of a greeting. "I'm beginning to wonder if you take any of this seriously."
"I do," he said truthfully, maneuvering around an empty table to claim a seat across from her. "Believe it or not, I have a lot to deal with at the moment and unfortunately that sometimes means things slip through the cracks."
Athena only raised a single eyebrow in question, her nostrils flaring slightly.
Perseus nodded once, before speaking. "I have a camp to run, a quest to keep track of and an unknown enemy whom I have yet to uncover. My daughter is currently out in the wide world beyond my immediate protection and unable to be aided by the Gods, with only a pair of young and inexperienced children to watch her back. They are, as we speak, hurtling directly toward a monster's lair and drawing all types of attention from the divine world – very little of it good."
Athena looked as if she might interrupt, but he continued anyway. "I also have to keep up with the training regiment we've been working on for the campers, keep up with Thalia Grace's personal training, prepare for the summer activities including Capture the Flag and the annual tournament for which I still have to commission several items from Hephaestus to give as prizes. That's not to mention the constant need for guidance for all souls who seek to navigate the world, to nurture and keep track of billions of stars, hundreds of constellations, and uncounted comets and asteroids that, if not kept in check, would destroy all mortal life on earth. I am busy."
Athena was still frowning, though she looked less angry and perhaps more upset than anything else. It made him feel bad immediately for nearly running her over with his brief rant, yet all of it was true. He hadn't even mentioned the possible war with Hades he was facing. It wasn't the time for him to be listening to lectures from her on punctuality and duty, and how the second demanded the first. He'd heard it before. Even knowing that, however, snapping at her made him feel like an asshole. None of it was her fault and he didn't have the right to treat her as if it were.
"You speak of an unknown enemy?" she finally questioned, her tone far more mild than it had been to begin with.
Perseus huffed a laugh at her response – of course that was the detail she focused on. "I have several at the moment, as it turns out. That particular one is simply more infuriating and crafty than the rest. It doesn't matter. I'll handle them as I always have."
"Alone, then," she said, and he nodded once in return. Her frown took on an even more melancholy tilt, and he wondered why that was. He'd always handled his issues alone, and never once had he called upon the other Olympians for aid. They stood by him on occasion but it was never at his request. He always viewed his own issues as just that, and wouldn't burden anyone else with their weight. They could be heavy indeed, at times.
"Alone," he agreed. "Not to worry, I'll try my best to place my duties in a more careful order so that it doesn't continue to be an issue."
"If you have enemies, you know there are those who would stand with you if you but asked," Athena commented. "To face multiple foes alone, and on purpose, is foolish."
Perseus shrugged, motioning the dryad at the bar for a chalice of nectar. "Probably," he agreed. "I've been told I'm just about as smart as my father, so who knows. Maybe I am a fool."
Athena looked away slightly, and he knew she recalled her own words spat at him in anger a very long time ago when they'd had their last and most vicious argument. Since then their tempers had cooled, and they'd both attempted to remain cordial if nothing else. It was also a dick move for him to bring it up so suddenly when she was trying to give him advice, and he wondered why he was suddenly feeling so hostile. Either way, she didn't deserve it.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, frowning as he allowed his eyes to trail down to the table between them. "It's not you I'm angry at, and I shouldn't be treating you as an enemy."
Athena looked at him, her sharp gray eyes narrowed in thought. "It's nothing new," she said, and he winced at her blunt honesty. "You've done that for a long time when you're feeling defensive about something. I usually just avoid speaking to you when it's so obvious. Your words can be quite cutting."
Perseus clenched his jaw around what he wanted to say, to throw back at her about how 'cutting' his words could be. He knew better though. That would only reopen an argument that was old and dead, and the grave is where it should remain. Old things were coming back to the surface the more they worked closely alongside one another – something they hadn't done in thousands of years, and were now forced into at the order of Zeus. None of those things were likely to be pretty for either of them.
"I….we probably shouldn't have this discussion at the moment," he said instead. "We have work to focus on, and I'll try to temper my own emotions so that you don't bear the brunt of them."
Athena said nothing, simply continued to stare at him. For a moment he thought she might refuse to bury the issue, that she might just want to start spitting her vitriol at him as she had in the past. Finally, after a tense moment, she nodded her agreement. He nodded at her in return, and once more their issues were entombed. Perseus wondered briefly just how long they could avoid them while working so closely together.
'For as long as we have to,' he decided firmly.
Despite his own boldness that bordered on reckless at times, Perseus wasn't ever in the mood for the type of humiliation she could always seem to crush him with, and he never wanted to say the things he'd said to her ever again. Their fight had shown a side of him that he never wanted to admit existed, and had laid bare exactly how deep she could drive a knife when she wanted to with words alone. Her actions afterwards had been even more cruel, if that were possible, and he could go the rest of his immortal life without that type of pain. His own actions in response to hers….he'd never really seen Athena so hollow, and he didn't want to again.
They were, they both realized, better off as distant colleagues than anything else. With distance they could remain formal and amiable, and with time they learned they could even be somewhat friendly. Any type of close working relationship they'd both avoided for a very long time, and the next few years were likely to reopen some old wounds if they didn't set some boundaries.
Perseus glanced briefly at her again, and accepted his drink from the dryad for the price of a single drachma. Finally he decided it was time to put the awkwardness behind them. "I may not be able to make the Capture the Flag game this Friday, depending upon some other commitments, though I will try my best to do so. I'll continue with the training on schedule however, and I'll attempt to be more mindful of my own attendance."
"Acceptable," Athena agreed. "In return, I'll attempt to be more aware of other pressing duties that may supersede your presence for training and planning, though I would appreciate some type of message to at least give me a head's up."
"Of course," he said, and he felt a small twitch develop in his finger as their formality settled into something resembling a business transaction. It was better this way, and he absolutely hated it. He didn't even want to be part of the conversation anymore. If anything, he only yearned for the freedom of the Astral Plane and the millions of stars that had become his companions. He longed to just leave and return to his silent vigil above the world.
Almost without thought, he withdrew all but a tiny portion of his energy from his current form – just enough to leave a version of himself at the table. As he did so Athena's shoulders slumped downward very slightly, almost too fractional to notice. Her energy thinned too, then, and she was barely present as well.
Their conversation would continue for nearly an hour as they made plans for the trajectory of the training they would be implementing over the course of several weeks, and yet neither of them were really conscious of it at all.
Within the throne room Perseus sat and awaited the meeting to start. For the third time in just over a week the Olympian Council had been called – this time by Poseidon. Only he and Zeus were present when Perseus arrived, though the others filled the room quickly. Some of them appeared instantaneously, while others who were already on Olympus strolled in through the magnificent golden doors. Said doors were immediately sealed once all were in attendance, and Hestia was the only other being allowed within as she cared gently for the hearth fire in the center brazier.
Perseus however found his mind to be a thousand miles away from the current business, and instead locked onto the small group of heroes in Las Vegas, Nevada who were likely struggling somewhere deep within the lair of the Lotus Eaters. He'd watched them enter more than three days ago, and while he was a little worried to have not sensed a sign of them since then, he was happy they were at least wise enough to leave one of their number outside as backup.
Glancing at his father Perseus noticed that he appeared agitated, which was unusual. Poseidon, despite what it may have seemed like when into an argument with his brothers, was usually extremely calm. He could be gruff at times, but was generally an easy-going and likable God. He was more level-headed than Zeus, and more reasonable than Hades, and so to see him visibly agitated meant that something had happened that was either very serious or very dangerous.
"Last night," Poseidon began, "I was attending to my realm and searching for anything out of place. The conversation we had more than a week ago aroused my curiosity, and so I began to look for anything that could have indicated a threat – either to my own realm or Olympus as a whole. What I found was...disturbing, and I'm unsure what to make of it."
"In what way?" asked Zeus, his full attention on his brother. There was a lot of bad blood between them over the millennia, but he knew, as Perseus did, that Poseidon was not one for dramatics or exaggeration.
"Both the forges housing the Elder Cyclopes, as well as the palace of my daughter Kymopoleia have been ransacked, and the Cyclopes and Briares – the last of the Hekatonkheires – are gone. Taken, as far as I can tell, as there are signs of a struggle." he said, in a low, serious voice. "I don't visit the forges often and they tend to work alone for years at a time, so I have no way of knowing how long they've been gone."
Perseus tensed immediately, his eyes meeting Zeus' for a brief instant. Both of them knew the power of the Elder Cyclopes, as did Hades and Poseidon – all four of their symbols of power were built in their forges. The knowledge of how their weapons were made, and the possible ability to recreate them was the exact reason why they'd been relegated to Atlantis in the first place. There were very few beings capable of entering the sea for an extended period of time, and then they would have to get around Poseidon himself.
They'd always assumed them secure.
"Grave news, indeed," said Zeus, but Perseus wasn't listening anymore. It hit him in an instant, the knowledge of what had been happening seemed to fall over him like a bucket of cold water. For the very shortest of moments he didn't even want to believe it, but even so he knew it to be true.
"They've been gone for quite some time," said Perseus, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears. He wasn't even sure if he'd interrupted anyone else and didn't really care. Like a jigsaw puzzle the pieces were slotting into place and he felt a mixture of fury and apprehension. It all made a sort-of uncomfortable sense now.
"How could you know that?" asked Poseidon, his eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Because they've already been put to work," he answered, raising his eyes to meet his father's. "Nearly a week ago, I began to feel something strange in my own realm, but I ignored it for some time. It didn't seem important with everything else going on. Finally it bothered me enough to go looking, and what I found…"
The fury seemed to edge it's way back to him, and he clenched his fist. "Someone had been sabotaging my realm, though they'd done it without my noticing. I didn't even feel it. When I went looking, finally, I found it to be a tiny fraction of my realm that was no longer beneath my control. Tmima was unable to overcome it, or else it matched the energy exactly and thus one canceled the other out. Right now, that small piece is still beyond my control."
There was a deathly silent pause at the admission. "Why, exactly, was this not brought to the Council immediately?" asked Zeus, his tone nearly a growl. Absently, he also noticed Athena staring at him in undisguised alarm – his comments from their conversation about an unknown enemy immediately apparent to her. She was a brilliant mind, and was quick to connect the dots.
Perseus glared at him in return. "Because I had no way of knowing who it was, or how they'd done it. Only days before I'd made enemies of people in this very room. I had to know first if one of them were behind it. And now, the means by which it was done has been exposed. The Cyclopes have either turned, or are being coerced unwillingly, but either way they've created something capable of exerting influence over the stars. It's likely, then, that they would further create items capable of matching the other three relics."
The news fell across the room like a shroud, and it was possible that no more dire words had ever been spoken in the throne room before. To have items created that were capable of matching the Master Bolt, the Helm of Darkness, the Trident and Tmima of which the four had been powerful enough to unseat the Titans themselves...it was a sobering and terrifying thought.
"So what?" Ares sneered. "If you need something like that to keep hold of your realm, or if it's so easy to take from you then you don't deserve it."
Perseus stared at him flatly. "You couldn't begin to fathom the vast amount of power contained in even one of these relics, to say nothing of all four. With the energy you possess, trying to use them at full strength would devour you. If, then, there are others at large that are capable of using items created as mirrors of these – that entity likely stands head and shoulders above a shit like you."
It was the truth, in a sense, for to power Tmima it had to be infused with his own energy and the blade was ravenous. Perseus had never held the other three – that would never happen – but he had to assume they were similar. In order to bring about their full potential, their wielder must feed them their own energy. That energy was then converted and multiplied, allowing them control over a particular domain. To take one of them up without the power necessary to wield it would be the height of stupidity.
"We should contact Hades," Demeter said, attempting to ignore the two of them.
"Don't bother," Perseus waved her off. "He probably won't come anyway. As of a few days ago, he's given me an ultimatum – the quest must be finished within two weeks, or he plans to declare war against my realm. I've, naturally, invited him to bring his worst."
The silence was, once more, deafening – and once more he caught sight of Athena's incredulous stare. His comments about more than one enemy were finally sinking in, and she looked stunned. Perseus ignored her. He meant what he said before. He'd handle it alone.
Ares only laughed, however. "Sounds like you're getting in over your head. First getting your realm stolen without even realizing it, now Hades is gonna kick your ass. Sure you want to try picking a fight with me?"
"Gladly," Perseus answered, staring at him unconcerned. "I could knock the rust off my blade on you before turning it to the others who actually pose a threat."
Ares was strong – there was no doubt about that – but attempting to pick a fight with Perseus was most certainly punching above his weight class and everyone knew it. There was a clear divide and always had been, between the four warrior Gods born before the Titanomachy and those born after. Something about the way they came into their power and the way they'd had to fight to keep it had allowed them to thrive. While the Big Three certainly stood atop that pyramid – Zeus at the peak, barely above his brothers – Perseus was only just down from them in the hierarchy. Perhaps Hestia could match him, as vast and dangerous as her realm could be, but everyone else including Demeter and Hera were a step – or several – below him. The relics had empowered Perseus and the three brothers above even them.
Ares, then, was a non-issue as far as he was concerned.
"If someone is making weapons to attempt to subvert us, there will be no infighting until this situation is resolved." Zeus commanded, his eyes steady on Perseus. "Whatever feud you have with Hades is now ended."
"No," he said, his voice calm despite the trepidation he felt. Once more he was being commanded to stand aside and allow someone stronger than him to have their way. The sight of Atlanta kneeling in the dirt as Hades attempted force her into submission flashed across his mind's eye, and he knew that he could not relent on this issue.
Zeus – and everyone else – stared at him blankly for a moment. He didn't care. He'd decided that he was finished with being told to set aside his morals for those stronger than him, and he meant it. Perseus would not, could not, step aside and allow Hades to have his way in this issue. He didn't want war, not really, but for the sake of his own honor and for the sake of his daughter's safety he would fight.
His own plan, hastily formed in an attempt to find a way around Zeus' orders was coming together rapidly, and the boldness of it surprised even himself. It would not be taken lightly by those within the room, but with one enemy already taking from him, he could not allow that which was his to be commanded by any other but himself. With a certain sense of purpose, Perseus prepared himself for what was to come.
"I will meet Hades in battle, should the need arise. There is no order or command that will change that. He's officially crossed a line that I will not abide. In this, I will not be moved by you or anyone else." Perseus said.
"You will if I command it," Zeus said dangerously.
"No," Perseus said once more. "I will not. You all seem to forget that you regularly encroach upon what has become my realm, and you do so without batting an eye. The demigods – all of them – are mine. It doesn't matter if they're your children, they are mine. I will no longer allow the interference to stand. Every time you do so you break the ancient laws. I will no longer tolerate it."
"Excuse me?" asked Athena, her eyes narrowed at him.
"You heard me, don't pretend to be deaf now," he responded. "The very next time one of you interferes in my realm, you open yourselves up to the same treatment as the ancient laws state. I would be cautious."
Zeus stared at him, nostrils flaring, and in the most freeing moment of his life he didn't care at all. A certain joy seemed to encompass Perseus with the act of finally taking the stand he should have so very long ago. He smiled then, at the faces around the room. Some of them were merely surprised, some angry, and Artemis was staring at him in disbelief.
"Is that not the law that we all swore to uphold?" he asked the room at large. "If I were to enter the sea, and decide that I didn't like how it was being managed, I guess I could then affect changes to my liking?" Poseidon glared at him for even insinuating it. "Or perhaps the Hunt could be better managed by being restructured. Would you allow me that liberty, Artemis?" Her lip curled at the thought.
Perseus nodded. "As I thought – you all wont allow me even a little sway over your domain. I'm merely returning the favor. I still intend to uphold the laws, as well as all agreements up to this point including Athena's training at the demigod camp. However, any more decisions regarding Camp Half-Blood, or the demigods in question, are mine to make. Just the same as our King commands the winds, and Poseidon commands all beneath the sea."
The only face in the entire room that didn't look like they'd just swallowed something foul was Hestia, who was attending to her fire and grinning secretly beneath her hood. He winked at her, briefly.
"If I may circle back to the issue with Hades, then. He crossed a line that I'm no longer willing to allow when he threatened the heroes on the quest to retrieve his children – my daughter among them. Now, he will face the consequences. Or perhaps I will, who's to say? But even our King does not have the right to command me to stop a direct defense of my realm, by laws which he himself created."
He turned to Ares, then, and pinned the younger God with a stare that could heat steel. "If you ever enter my camp again and threaten children in an attempt to subvert a quest I commissioned, you will learn the truth of War the likes of which you've never known. I wont just destroy you, I will carry you to the edge of the abyss and toss you into the realm of the Creator itself."
There was something strange, in that moment, as if the power dynamic in the room had shifted. It wasn't something truly obvious. Just a feeling, like a puzzle piece slotting into place as Perseus claimed his realm in it's entirety. The weakness and helplessness he'd always felt as the others were allowed to reach into what was his and he had to sit by and watch was finally gone, and the lightness he felt in that moment was incredible.
"And should I refuse to honor this ridiculous notion?" asked Zeus angrily.
"Then you must rescind the laws that stop all of us from encroaching upon one another. Like always, the laws must apply to everyone or none at all – that is our way, by your decree." Perseus answered firmly. "It's only worked in the past because I allowed it. They are your children, and I didn't like the thought of managing that connection in a cruel and thoughtless way. However everyone in this room has showed me that they care nothing for the demigods, and so they are mine."
"Agreed," said Hera, in a shocking move to the room at large. "Maybe that will stop you all from spawning the wretched creatures in the first place, if you have no sway over them."
That made more sense, come to think of it.
"They will still serve Olympus, as they always have," Perseus remarked, ignoring her last statement. "They will still quest and be our envoys into the world of mortals, but they will no longer be directly threatened by people in this room. Camp Half-Blood will be as it has always been, as far as most things are concerned. However anyone attempting to directly stop a demigod from making it to camp – using creatures or any other method – will see my guardians enter their realm and begin an assault. The children, then, are no longer available to bargain with outside of any agreement already made."
There was a rush of energy throughout the room at his final announcement, sealing his words with the ancient laws themselves, and he grinned fiercely as his hail-mary plan worked. His own energy swelled within him until he felt like he could burst. A weight that had been holding him back for so very long was lifted, and in that moment the stars flared to life with a strength that had always eluded him.
The half-bloods were his, they fell within his realm and thus he could not be commanded to step aside and allow another God to have their way. He was still bound by the ancient laws himself, including the inability to interfere directly with quests or to use the heroes to sabotage another God, but he could now protect them from that which they could never stand against alone. Including Hades, it turned out. He'd threatened Atlanta, and that was the same as threatening Perseus himself. He could respond however he wished to such a direct challenge.
Hestia's giggle was quiet, but they all heard it. "Welcome back, Astraeus," she nearly whispered.
Perseus frowned at her in question, his eyebrow raised. She'd been the first to adopt his name he'd chosen to keep after his mortal life, and she'd never called him anything else since that time. It was, then, rather strange of her to do so now. He wondered at the significance of it, but turned it from his thoughts easily as he focused once more upon his King.
"Do not take this as anything beyond what I've said," Perseus told him. "My loyalty to Olympus has not and will not change. The simple truth is that, for a very long time, I've allowed everyone to become comfortable with breaking the laws in regards to me, and the shock that's felt at my refusal to continue is my own fault."
"And what does that mean for the rest of us, hmm?" asked Hermes, his expression serious but not hostile. "You say nothing will change in regards to their service to Olympus….then why even take things to this level?"
Perseus nodded. "Look around," he said. "In the past week alone, look at the strife caused between us as everyone scratched and clawed to have their way. Hades and Poseidon to have Thalia Grace killed, Zeus to have her spared. In the midst of it all your own son and Athena's daughter were nearly butchered alongside her. Now, in a continuance of the same damn fight, Hades is still out for blood and I aim to meet him. All of this….because I didn't hold everyone accountable in the way that I should have long ago. It ends now, and with it, the eternal struggle of who gets their way."
There was a deep, raspy chuckle as Hades stepped from within the shadows – apparently listening all along. "And you decided….that you get your way, then?"
Perseus glanced at him, a frown forming on his face. "I'm sure I'll do a better job than you. You can just go burrow yourself back in your fucking hole in the ground," he responded, his nostrils flaring. His anger still hadn't left him, and the sight of Hades flared it back up into a bonfire. "You've made very clear that you have no regard for anything but your own self interest. That, you'll find, is unneeded here."
"This conversation has gone way too far off the rails," said Artemis, frowning as her gaze flicked between Perseus and Hades, who'd advanced to the center of the room near Hestia. "We were originally called here to discuss the issues Poseidon brought forth – we should do so now, especially as Hades has joined us."
Hades ignored her, his eyes still locked with his nephew. "You think I'm just going to roll over and accept your commands regarding my own children? That you think you have any ground to stand upon is, quite frankly, hilarious."
"Is it?" Perseus asked, rising to his feet slowly. The starlight within his throne pulsed brighter as he stood. "Well, then by all means, laugh. Just do so somewhere else. I haven't forgotten your threats against my daughter, and seeing her grovel at your feet like a fucking peasant is something I don't find very funny at all."
Hades grinned darkly, tilting his head. Some of those in the room seemed to pull back, as if expecting a conflict, and Zeus was glaring at the pair of them. However by his own laws, a challenge by one God to another was, essentially, their own problem. He could side with one or the other, but he couldn't really stop them from warring in the first place.
"That…." Hades paused, chuckling. "Did you see the look on her face? It was….refreshing, I suppose."
"Hades," Zeus warned. "This is not the place to instigate conflict. Perseus, that goes doubly for you. This room is a sacred place, and even standing within is a privilege."
"However," Hades said, ignoring Zeus as well. "You also forget something, boy. You think to lay claim to the children of the Gods, and I suppose the ancient laws agree with you. But….that's only while they're alive."
There was a tense, heavy silence, and then a coldness seemed to fall upon the room. At Hades' feet the air shimmered, and there was a wash of energy as the Lord of the Dead exerted his will upon the world. The shimmer solidified, and suddenly there was a small girl that couldn't be more than nine years old. Her skin was pale and death seemed to only enhance that, while her red hair hung listlessly around her face. Eyes that had once been green but were faded to a ghostly shade flicked around the room in confusion, and the girl trembled.
"Hades, you didn't…." Hestia choked in despair.
Perseus held his suddenly damp eyes locked on the small girl, unable to look away as a feeling like a horse had kicked him in the chest overcame him, and finally she seemed to find his gaze as well. "Father?" she questioned hoarsely. "Father, it's cold…."
Hades had done it, he'd actually broken the most sacred oath he'd sworn. The oath was one that Hades had made when the Gods began getting closer to the mortal world. When they began taking lovers and birthing children – when some things they loved were lost to death forever. That oath was that no matter the issue, their loved ones who rested in the Underworld were sacred and off-limits. They were not to be used against the Gods should Hades find himself at odds with them.
It was the one line Perseus had never imagined he'd cross, and the pain that seared him at the sight of her….
"Hades!" Zeus thundered, his rage seeming to fill the room in an instant with a nearly unbearable pressure.
"How does it feel?" Hades growled in fury. "How does it feel to have your children looked down upon, to have them relegated to being the playthings of others? Make no mistake, boy, you will face this and much worse if you continue this foolish-"
"Draco, come!" Perseus commanded, his own fury igniting like a powder keg. Tmima appeared in his grip, the massive blade shining with raw starlight and banishing the shadows and the cold from the room. He crossed the floor between one heartbeat and the next, meeting his uncle with a thunderous crash.
The campfire was roaring merrily, the crackling sound of burning wood overpowered by the rising voices of singing children. Thalia grinned in delight as she saw Annabeth standing atop a log that'd been laid out like a bench, singing along with her siblings to a joyful song in ancient Greek. The melody they sang upon rose and fell gleefully from the instruments in the hands of Apollo's kids, and off to the side Chiron joined Cabin 10 in their merriment.
There were tables set up with snacks and drinks, marshmallows for roasting and fruit punch with slices of oranges and lemons floating within. Two kids from Cabin 6 were wrestling in the dirt, though it was more playful than hostile, and a pair of Luke's brothers spurred them on happily. All around the campers were mixing amongst each other, most of them in groups of five or six, and it was clear that everyone was having a great time.
There was a warm feeling in her chest that she hadn't felt in a very long time, a feeling of belonging and of something like home. It was the first time she thought of Camp Half-Blood in those terms, but it was beginning to feel like the truth. These kids were just like her, and they were making the best of it. Some of them were only around for the summer, while others were year-rounders, but they all shared a common history and a common future, and that connected them in a way that was difficult to define.
At the campfire, they were just kids.
She felt a laugh bubble up in her chest as she watched Luke attempt to chat up one of the Aphrodite girls, his relatively useless attempts at least drawing a smile from his target. It was the most normal situation she'd ever seen him in, and she felt true joy for the experience.
Moments later, however, everything ground to a halt as a large wave of something disturbed the camp. Above their heads the sky seemed to open up as the clouds were blown aside like balls of cotton and a massive collection of shining stars looked as if they might fall to earth and consume everything. The clouds halted in their movements, then, and Thalia felt something grab hold of them. They smashed together to form a rough outline of a bearded man in the sky, and then they converged to meet the falling stars as lightning crackled across them.
Her father, she knew, and something to do with Perseus. They were either fighting or something very similar, and she felt a chill slide down her back as she witnessed the power of the Gods. The entire sky as far as they could see was lit with starlight and lightning, and the crash of thunder created a soundtrack as if two armies were meeting upon a battlefield.
Terrified mutters replaced the happiness of moments before, and all their eyes remained locked upon the battle in the sky. Just as suddenly, they nearly shrieked as waves began pounding the shoreline nearby in the Long Island Sound, sounding like artillery fire as Poseidon joined his own realm to the battle. Clouds swirled on the horizon to form what looked like a hurricane, back-lit in the darkness by starlight, and the fear within her heart doubled.
"To your Cabins, now!" Chiron commanded loudly. "Everyone to your Cabins!"
That wouldn't save them, she knew, if the battle of the Gods ever made it close enough. The Cabins, as sturdy as they were, would be like kindling in the face of so much power. Still, she allowed herself to be herded along with the rest, many of them muttering their own speculation about the situation.
Once she was safely tucked into Cabin 1, Thalia maneuvered herself to a position where she could sit within one of the alcoves and peer out of a small window, the battle in the sky seeming to only intensify. She couldn't see the ocean anymore, or the hurricane-like clouds, but she could still see her father's likeness battling it out with a blinding wash of blue-white starlight.
"Perseus…." she muttered quietly, wondering within her own mind what could have him so furious.
Author's Note: Another Chapter done, delayed though it was. This, as you likely noticed, was a culmination of events that took place while Atlanta and Clarisse were inside the Casino. It shines a little light on Perseus' tense relationship with Athena and goes into a couple of other plot points as well.
Here we take a look at why Draco could be seen so close in the sky when they exited the Casino, and how Krios was able to exert some type of influence over the Stars. We also get a glimpse of what I believe would be one of Hades' most devastating weapons against a God like Perseus who's so attached to the mortal world and his children.
Hades is always depicted as being the sort-of reluctant anti-hero, though he is said to be vengeful to those who cross him. I tried to think of what he'd do if faced with a situation where Perseus almost arbitrarily endangered his children by bringing them into the limelight without much thought. He also did so at a time when he felt would be best, without consulting Hades at all. There has to be consequences for that, I feel.
Hades treating Perseus' children however he pleases at his own whims, I think, would be a realistic form of revenge. He also doesn't fear Perseus, so acting against him is done pretty easily.
As for the demigods being taken directly under Perseus' control – I view that as similar to the Hunters of Artemis. She has complete control and say over them, and wouldn't tolerate the other Gods commanding them, I don't believe. The demigods fall under the same rules with Perseus, so I just had him….take them back, so to speak. This doesn't make them untouchable – if they insulted or challenged a God, they're still fair game, just like always.
As for Zeus not fighting the declaration too much….well, he knows that he can, sort-of, do as he likes in the world in general. The demigods, while he does use them for interactions in the mortal world, are simply not that important to him. They are much like the Hunters, in that while he doesn't command them directly, he does command their patron God or Goddess. That is enough for him, I believe.
Anyway, enough rambling. I already have Chapter 8 in the works, so hopefully it will be uploaded soon – family and work permitting.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next one.