Wisdom of the Waters

Chapter 7

-Percy-

Grinning he got closer and closer to the boundary, Clarisse still wrapped around him as she clutched the flag, hearing the yells of battle in the distance as the dryads that Grover recruited 'captured' the Hermes group. Seeing the boundary he flung himself forward with his chains as he crossed it flying, his chains slamming into the ground to stop his fall and hold him up into the air as a group of battling campers at the creek stared up in awe as Clarisse held the flag aloft in victory.

The moment they crossed the boundary they heard the conch horn blow as the sounds of battle in the distance dwindled away and Lou brought the Hephaestus cabin over to them in a flash of light, using a spell she had placed on his bracers so that she could teleport to him no matter where he was.

"Winners!" Chiron declared as more and more of the campers arrived, those wearing the red of the Blood Sworn Alliance cheering at their victory while the blue team either glared at them or looked down dejected.

Right as the last camper had walked into the clearing he felt something rush over him and heard the assembled demigods, and even Chiron, gasp in shock as he stared up at the holographic trident that floated above his head for a few moments before fading away. "It is determined!" Chiron declared, the ancient centaur bowing as much as physically possible with a horse half "All hail Perseus Jackson! Son of Poseidon, god of the Seas, Storms, Earthquakes, and the father of horses!".

Before he could say anything, or ask people to stop bowing, the water from the ocean began to glow with a faint emerald light before a small portion floated up and over to him before it pulled back as two items dropped into his hand. Looking down he saw that they were a pair of fingerless gloves that seemed to have some sort of strange design on the palms and knuckles. Shrugging he slipped them on as he felt their power rush through him, feeling the connection to the sea from the designs on the knuckles and palms. Turning to his friends he was about to ask them to rise when thunder boomed and lightning crashed, the skies alight with the wrath of Zeus.

-Olympus-

-Poseidon-

As was the usual of the gods they were assembled in the throne room to watch the Camp Half-Blood Capture the Flag Game as it was for their own bragging rights as much as their children's. This was the first time though that he could remember himself being eager for the games as this was the first time one of his children was competing and he looked forward to what his son's new weapons could do, having used a bit of power to spy on their creation.

When Chiron had announced his son's team and they had done the blood sacrifice he had shivered along with Ares, Hephaestus, and Hecate but he knew his was stronger as the demigods had sacrificed to 'Poseidon' as well as 'Percy's Father', not realizing that they were one and the same. "Talk about a rush!" Ares called out gleefully.

"Why would he sacrifice to you four and not to me?" Zeus demanded "I can understand Ares, Hephaestus, and Hecate as it is their children but why you Poseidon?".

"Percy Jackson's immortal father is a water deity," he explained, wanting to keep it under wraps a little bit longer and be able to enjoy the match without hearing his brother complain "and I agreed to let him bring his girlfriends out onto my domain for their 'dates' and not interfere so he respects me.".

"Be quite, the match is starting." Hecate hushed them before Zeus could begin as the match started, several different iris message clouds showing different areas throughout the game. He faintly noticed his son's Satyr friend using nature powers to mess with the blue team, mainly Aphrodite Campers, while several Dryads came to the Red teams' aide and captured blues much to the displeasure of Hermes. But despite all that he kept his eyes riveted on the screen with his son, something Ares was doing as well as the god of war watched the boy who was dating Clarisse.

He was fascinated at the weapons his son had created with the help of his friends and their application was used flawlessly, taking down demigod and monster alike with their versatility until his son finally reached the flag. Seeing Percy basically toy with the daughter of Athena was amazing to watch and his speech only made it better, especially when Athena looked ready to blow an ichor vessel.

Finally though his son crossed the boundary line and brought victory to the red team and he prepared to make his move, waiting until every demigod was assembled before claiming his son as the rest of the Olympians froze in shock. Using it to his advantage he sent his son a gift he had prepared. The gloves wouldn't look like much but they were connected to his domains and had several amazing abilities. For his power over water he allowed the gloves to created ice spikes to extend from the knuckles as well as fire a concentrated blast of water, their reserves directly connected with the ocean, which would be of aide in battle…or pranks, either one. If his son trained up his other powers enough they should also grant the ability to cause minor earthquakes and perhaps some storm abilities as well.

Before his train of thought could continue Zeus shot to his feet and yelled in fury, pulling out a bolt of lightning which was likely to attempt to smite Percy. Before the bolt had even finished leaving his brother's fingers he shot forward and knocked it skyward using his trident as a club as the lighting burned through the sky, illuminating the world in its light. "He must die Poseidon!" Zeus roared, reaching for another bolt.

Snarling, he condensed the water particles in the air to slam into Zeus and daze the king of the gods before pushing the point of his trident into Zeus' neck, not enough to penetrate it but to the point where if Zeus moved the king of the gods would have a few new holes. "What gives you the right to kill my son?" he demanded furiously, his power bubbling around him as a storm appeared above New York, howling and screaming with his fury "When your daughter was born I allowed her to live and never took action against her as I knew it was not her fault yet you would dare attempt to murder my son?! When your daughter was revealed you tried passing a law saying that any god who took action against her would be thrown into Tartarus before the Styx stopped you due to the oath you broke to conceive her!".

"Added to that my daughter is very fond of him," Hecate said as she stepped up and prepared a spell that she aimed between Zeus' eyes "and I can't stand to make her sad.".

"Added to that Father he's a demigod I actually have respect for," Dionysus added, the god of wine sending a glare at Zeus much to his own surprise "you can't expect to stay king if you keep treating everyone around you like we're worthless.".

"I am your king!" Zeus spat in anger.

"Only as long as we allow you to be," he spat "you're becoming as bad as father was Zeus.".

At those words Zeus recoiled as if struck, a look of horror and disgust on his brother's face at the comparison, "Y-you can't mean that?" Zeus pleaded desperately, "I…I'm nothing like Father was!".

"Take a good long look in the mirror Zeus," he said coldly to his brother "tell me what you see…is it you or father that looks back into your soul?". Zeus said nothing, his brother simply seemed to slump in on himself before flashing away as he stared out at the rest of the shell shocked council. "I won't lie to any of you, I did break the oath but I don't regret it for an instant. I loved…no, I still love Percy's mother. Sally Jackson was and is a queen among women and I would give anything to see her happiness. I will do whatever I have to, to keep my son safe. Hate him if you wish, despise him if you wish, loathe his existence if you wish…but let it be for things he has truly done, not as some sort of sick revenge towards me.".

"How does Amphitrite feel about this?" Hera asked coolly as his sister stared into his eyes.

"She knows about him," he admitted "we realized long ago that our marriage wasn't the best one, arranged marriages rarely are but since Zeus arranged it and you forbid it we couldn't divorce. A few years ago we came up with the idea of being able to see other people but it had to be someone we truly cared for, not just a 'fling' or 'one night stand' and Sally is the only woman I've chosen for this and Amphitrite recently started dating a mortal of her own.".

"I will not harm your son Poseidon," Hera promised him "you have my word. And I will try to keep Zeus from doing so as well.".

"Thank you sister," he said with a smile as he surprised her with a hug which she hesitantly returned "it means a lot to me. Hopefully one day I can introduce my son to his Aunt?".

"I…I'd like that." Hera said softly as Demeter and Hestia agreed as well. Smiling he let his power over the storm dissipate as the thunderclouds faded away before he stared back at the iris screen that still showed his son, pulling the other demigods to their feet and telling them that he didn't want them bowing to him…he had never felt more proud in his immortal life.