Percy
The next day, Jesus gives instructions to go find a donkey for him to ride. As we enter the City, people are praising and worshiping him, waving palm leaves in the path and calling him 'Hosanna.' Andrew tells me that's a cry for deliverance, saying Please Save Us as well as giving praise to him. They're welcoming him as a king.
We observe Passover while we're in the city, but things get tense on our last night before we leave. Jesus tells us he's about to die. He tells us to eat bread and that one of us will betray him. I look around the table, dumbfounded. Everyone of these men love Jesus, I know it. Who would betray him? While I'm thinking about it, and I can tell everyone else is doing the same, Jesus blesses the food and passes the bread out.
"Take it and eat; this is my body." He says. Okaaaay? But I've learned by now better than to question him. Then he pours wine in a cup, drinks from it, and passes it around. "Drink, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for the sin of the world. But I say unto you, I will not drink from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." He lets us think about this and then leads us in singing hymns, then we go out to a place called the Mount of Olives. At some point I'm looking around, and I notice Judas is gone.
"Stop here." Jesus tells us when we arrive. We circle around him. "Tonight all of you will fall away from me." He tells us. Everyone looks shocked and look around at each other. That can't be right. I know several of us would die for him, me included if I didn't already know the future and that I'm not allowed to change it. "For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter. But I will rise again, and I will go before you in Galilee."
"Lord, it will not be so!" Peter tells him. Jesus just nods it will. "Rabbi, even if everyone else here will fall away, I will not."
"Peter, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, You will deny me three times!"
"Lord, No! I would die for you!" Peter argues. Everyone else says the same. Jesus just sighs.
"Come along to the Garden. Let's get moving."
We get to this place called The Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus tells us to sit tight while he goes off with Peter, Big James, and John, then goes off alone to pray. The rest of us are dead tired, so we fall asleep on the ground. I have a hazy memory of Jesus waking us up at some point, but I can't keep my eyes open. That is, until the Romans show up. Then me and everyone else is wide awake. Judas is leading them. I grab the handle of my sword, but right as I'm about to go after the traitor, Jesus catches my eye. And with a subtle shake of his head, he tells me to stay put. It goes against everything inside me, but I let go of my sword.
Peter doesn't though. He comes out of the shadows and goes on the attack, cutting one guy's ear off in the process.
"Peter!" Jesus reprimands him. "Put your sword away! This is my father's will, shall I not drink the cup given to me?" He then goes and picks the man's ear off the ground and puts it back on the side of the man's head. It reattaches and heals immediately.
Peter looks absolutely grieved, but after a moment he sheaths his sword, then Jesus is bound and led out of the garden, leaving the rest of us behind.
….
The rest of the day goes by in a haze. Everything Jesus said would happen comes true. Just like he said, Peter denies him three times before the rooster crows the next morning. I don't think I've ever seen a man cry so bitterly as when he realized what he'd done.
John's able to actually get into the courtyard and see the trial. I'm the only one who goes with him. I've never seen anything so brutal as the flogging Jesus is getting. I get now what he said the other day, of why God didn't let me have my powers on this trip. Even without trying to right now, I'd cause an ocean to sprout up in the middle of Jerusalem. Instead of that, I'm forced to just stand and watch, eventually having to run out so I can throw up anything left in my stomach, then just sitting in shock. The same crowd that a week ago was professing Hosana is now screaming for his crucifixion, to release Barabbas to them instead. He's not even able to carry his own cross up the hill; he's so badly beaten he barely looks alive. Every time the hammer hits a nail going into his wrists and feet, it seems like I feel it in my own body.
I stay with John at the foot of the cross with some of the women in his ministry, including his mother. It's awful. I don't even know why I'm here, there's nothing I can do. But I can't leave either.
It takes six hours. And even on the cross, he's crying out to God to forgive the people who put him on the cross. After six hours of watching him on this horrible cross, He gives his mother into the care of John, then Yells It Is Finished. He dies, and right after they stab a spear through his side to make sure. Then there's a massive Earthquake and the sky goes dark even though it's the middle of the day. When the earthquake subsides, I see myself, John, and the women weren't hurt.
They take his body off the cross, and wrap it with linens. Mary tells me they're going to lay it down in Joseph's tomb. Not her late husband, but another man named Joseph who's pretty wealthy and was a follower of Jesus.
I'm still standing there at the foot of the cross after they cart his body away, just feeling numb. I know he's going to be raised in three days. Not only is that the story Lassa told me however long ago I was home, but it's also what Jesus told us himself. Even though I know that's going to happen, it doesn't do a whole lot to ease the grief of watching him die. I don't know how long I stand there before I feel John come and put his hand on my shoulder. I look back at him and I see his face is streaked with tears.
"Let's go, Percy. We should find the others."
…
Three days. I have to wait three days. The first, we find the others in town and they're all barricaded inside of a house. They let us in, and it's more silent than anything. Day two comes and goes. Still hardly anyone speaks. If there is any noise, it's someone finally breaking down. No one knows what to say.
Then the third day comes. I wake up in anticipation. Peter and John are already awake. They're cooking fish for breakfast over the fireplace. We all jump a bit when we hear the gate outside rattle. Peter runs upstairs to look out the window.
"Are they soldiers?" John calls after him? "Are they coming for us, too?"
"No!" He replies. "It's Mary!"
"Which one?"
"Of Magdala. Quick! Let her in!" He tells us. I go over to the door and open it to her. She comes in and embraces each of us, seeming confused and flustered.
"Mary, what's wrong?" John asks her.
"I went to the tomb this morning to anoint his body, but the stone's been rolled away! He's gone! Someone must have moved him in the night, but I don't know who would have done this or where he is now!"
"What?" Peter asks her. "His body's gone?"
"Like I said, the Stone's been rolled away and now his body isn't there!" She exclaims. John, me, and Peter all share a look, then we all take off. I pass Peter, but John sprints ahead of us both.
When we finally catch up with John, we go into the tomb. The cloths and linen are all there he was wrapped in, but the Tomb is empty.
"He's gone." Peter says.
"What does this mean?" John asks. I start to smile, but something tells me I'm not supposed to let them know yet. I have to let it play out. John sighs. "We best get back to the others. I doubt it's safe for us to be out. We could be recognized and next on a cross." He says and we all head back.
…..
We've been back at the house for maybe 30 minutes, just pondering everything quietly when Mary comes back to the house and raps on the door. I go and open it, and unlike earlier when she was confused, she's overwhelmed with joy now.
"Mary, what's going on?"
"He is risen!" She tells us. "I have seen the Lord! He appeared to me at the garden, but I did not know it was him until he revealed himself to me. Then he told me to come and tell you I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. He's come back to life!"
"He's a ghost?" Peter asks.
"I don't think that's what she's saying." I tell him.
"He died. We saw him." John tells her. "There was no mistaking it."
"Remember when he said he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days? He wasn't talking about the physical temple, he was talking about himself! He's back!"
"I-I need some air." Peter says, then goes into another room. I walk over to Mary and take her hands. John sinks to the floor and puts his head between his knees.
"I believe you, Mary." I tell her. She leaps to hug me.
"It's wonderful, Percy!" She says. "He's back!"
….
The rest of the day goes by without too much happening. It's evening when we start cooking dinner. Mary is still excited about this morning and the rest of everyone is still wondering whether to believe her or not. No one thinks she would lie, but some think she might be dreaming, or that Jesus appeared to her as a ghost after all. Only Thomas is missing. He went into the city to get some supplies.
The rest of us are all gathered together when suddenly the air is filled with a strange but sweet smell, like Perfume. Then there's a bright light that chases any darkness away. Everyone gasps as Jesus stands before us with his arms held open wide.
"Peace be with you!" He says to us. "Look at the scars on my hands. On my side." He says and shows them to us. "I am no ghost." He tells us, sitting at the table and taking a bite of bread. "But As I told you I would, I've risen from the grave." We all just stand exactly where we are like statues. Jesus grins at us. "I must say, I was expecting a warmer welcome." He jokes. That snaps us out of our dazes and We all rush forward to embrace him. He laughs and gets up as we do. "Peace be with you brothers." He says again, then takes a deep breath and blows it across all of us. "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
….
Jesus doesn't stay with us the whole time like before. He comes and he goes. We spread the news of his resurrection, though the religious leaders and Romans try to stop us. Jesus appears to crowds as well, once to more than 500 people at once. This goes on for about a month.
One day, I'm by the Sea of Galilee with Peter, Big James, John, Thomas, and Nathaniel. We've been sitting for a while, not really sure what to do.
"I'm going to go fishing." Peter says after a bit. "Anyone care to join?" The others hop in the boat with him, but I wave them on without me. Since losing my powers, I learned I get a bit seasick after the whole Flood, The Tempest with Jonah, and that massive storm where Peter walked on water to get to Jesus. So I sit on the beach through the night, catching a few hours of sleep, and wake up the next morning as the sun's coming up. I see Peter and the others are rowing to shore, but it doesn't look like they caught anything.
I hope this uneasiness with water doesn't carry on when I get home.
"It won't." Someone says, making me jump. I look beside me and smile, seeing Jesus there tending a charcoal fire. "The second you get home, you'll love the sea every bit as much as you did before."
"Jesus." I say, leaning over to give him a hug.
"You've had a long journey, my friend." He says, standing up. I get my feet under me and walk with him down the beach.
"Now tell me, Percy, Who do you think I am?" He asks. I smile, the answer coming easily to me after all this time. I get on my knees before him, something I've almost never done to anyone god or not without it being sarcastic. But now it's genuine.
"You're Jesus, the Christ, God the Son, who died for the sins of the world."
"I am." He says gently. "Do you believe this with all your heart? Will you tell others about me when you return home?"
"I will. I'll do anything you say. You're truly the God of the universe, who created the world. You reign higher than the Olympians. And I'm your servant until the end of time."
"Tell me, Percy," He says, sitting beside me. I shift on my butt instead of my knees. "If I told you to stay here and help proclaim my story through the first century until you pass away to join me in my Father's kingdom, would you?" He asks. My heart rate picks up. Stay here? Never see Annabeth again? I don't like the question, but I know my answer.
"I miss my wife desperately, Lord. I don't even know how long it's been since I've seen her. But I'll do whatever you ask." I tell him. He smiles.
"I know you will. But it will not come to that. The next time you go to sleep and wake up, you'll be in bed with your wife. Right where you left off." He says, and a smile lights up my face.
"Really?!" I ask.
"Yes. You've been among me for three years now. And you've lived through great moments in history. Don't be afraid to share them with others. You're a respected leader in your camp as well as among the Romans. Not all, but many will listen to you when they'll listen to no one else."
"What about the gods?" I ask, wondering how long it'll be before I'm smote.
"I will not reveal to you the way or time you'll die. That's for my father to know. But I will assure you, the gods and other immortals only have what power my father grants them over you. And he will not allow them to smite you for proclaiming his message. But they will not be the only ones who seek you harm, either."
"Am I still allowed to fight?" I ask. He chuckles.
"Did you not see me with the temple merchants? You have the same right to self defense as every one of my children."
"Okay."
"I do have one thing to tell you, though."
"Anything!" I answer.
"Your sister's friend. Jesse." He says. Memories of the kid and what he helped do to Lassa flash through my head and the smile falls off my face. "He's not pretending anymore to get your sister to trust him, Percy. He truly did give his life to me, same as you have now done. He is no threat to Lassa. Forgive him." He tells me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, pushing my sudden anger at the kid away.
"Yes, Lord."
"Good." He says, and motions me to walk with him back to the charcoal fire. Peter and the rest of them are almost at shore. "Friends, have you caught any fish?" He calls to them.
"No!" Nathaniel calls back. "Not a one!"
"Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some!" He tells them. They hesitate a second, I guess not realizing it's Jesus, then I guess decide what the hell and throw the net over. I smile, seeing a similar scene to the first time I ever met Jesus as an adult. The net gets so full of fish they can't even haul it in.
"It's Jesus!" John says, smiling ear to ear. "It's the Lord!" Peter hears him, then puts on his cloak and jumps into the water so he can swim to shore. The others follow him in the boat. They all get to the beach, and come over to the fire with us to see Jesus has cooked some bread and fish for us all.
"Bring some of the fish you have just caught." Jesus says, and Peter goes to get some. There's well over a hundred fish in the boat. "Let's eat breakfast." He says, then blesses the food and we begin to eat.
"Simon Peter, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?" Jesus asks Peter. He looks up at him quickly.
"Yes, Lord! You know I love you." Peter tells him. Jesus just smiles.
"Then feed my lambs. Simon Peter, Son of Jonah, do you love me?" He asks again. I look over at John and James. Why's he asking twice? They just shrug back at me. Jesus' ways are his own.
"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Peter answers him again.
"Take care of my sheep." He tells him, then takes another bite of fish. When he swallows, he asks one more time. "Simon Peter, son of Jonah, do you love me?" This time, Peter starts getting a bit worked up. I guess he's upset Jesus keeps asking. It might be because of what happened at the crucifixion where Peter denied him three times. He's been insecure about himself ever since that happened.
"Lord, you know all things, you know I love you!"
"Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted to go, but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will lead you where you don't want to go. Now. Follow me!" He says and gets up to leave. Peter goes with him. John after a second gets up to follow.
"Lord, what about him?" Peter asks, pointing back at John. Jesus just smiles at him.
"If I want him to remain alive until I return, what's that to you?" He says, then looks at me and winks. "However, there is one thing I'd like you to do for me now, John."
"Anything, Jesus!" John says, getting to his knees. Jesus squats so he's on John's eye level.
"Did anyone notice since the start of my ministry, Percy's never been baptized?" He asks. The disciples all look at each other then at me. They all shake their heads no. "Well, I think it's time that's rectified!" He says. "John, would you do the honors?"
"Of course, Lord!" He says, getting up and going into the water. I smile and follow him.
"Let's do this." I say. "It's past time."
"I'll say so." John laughs. "Percy, because of your faith I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!" He says and lowers me into the water, then pulls me back up. I forget to plug my nose and saltwater goes up my nostrils. All these years later, I'm still not used to not being able to breathe underwater. I come up sputtering and the others laugh at me. I join in and John and I go back to shore.
"What was that whole bit?" Peter asks John. "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He mimics John. John shrugs.
"It came to me."
"The spirit revealed it to you." Jesus tells him. "Now come along! We must go gather the others."
….
We gather the rest of the group and go with Jesus to a mountain in Galilee. It's strange Judas not being here with us, but the traitor hanged himself. The group doesn't feel just right. Then again, I never totally fit in anyways. And tomorrow, none of them will even remember I existed. It's a little sad, but I get it. Can't go changing history. I just need to accept the gift I was given with this journey.
We get to the top of the mountain after a while, and by this time a whole crowd has gathered to follow us. Jesus turns around to speak to everyone.
"All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He says and winks to John and me. "Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. ANd surely I am with you always. To the very end of the age!" He says, then we all watch as he ascends into the clouds. We watch until he disappears. Then we look at each other. And then I blink, and I'm surrounded by a bright white light. When I open my eyes again, I'm on the beach with Castiel standing in front of me with a smile on his face.
….
"So. Ready to go home?" He asks me. I take a shaky breath, thinking about exactly how long I've been on this journey. "Roughly six years." Cas says.
"Can you stop reading my mind?"
"I didn't have to read your mind. It's pretty easy to assume what you'd be wondering."
"It is?" I ask. He smiles.
"Percy, I've been your guardian angel since you were born. Yes you're a powerful demigod, more powerful than any I've ever encountered over the eons, but do you really think you could survive everything you've lived through without at least a bit of help?" He laughs. "I've been beside you in every battle of your life, even when you strangled that snake in your crib. So yeah, I've gotten to know you a good bit." He says it casually, like he didn't just drop a bombshell.
"Wow. Okay. Thanks, I guess?"
"It's my pleasure. I'm glad you decided to accept Christ. I was hoping you would."
"I'm glad I did too. Now back to this six years business. I'll still be 17 when I go back, right?"
"Physically, yes. But you won't lose all you've learned in this time."
"I'm ready. Thanks, Cas. For everything." He smiles and sticks out his hand. I shake it, and the world goes white again for the last time