NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE FIRST CHAPTER I'VE POSTED TODAY! If you haven't read chapter 8, please do. Thank you.
xXx
God Five would be the easiest. He planned on poking at his dad a bit more anyway, so he got together with the Hermes cabin and began brainstorming ideas.
"What about Poseidon?" he asked when they were wondering which god they should go for next.
"I don't know," Johan said, rubbing his chin. "How can we convince people you're a child of the sea, especially with the ban in place?"
Percy raised an eyebrow at him. "Weren't you the one who put our great king of the gods forth?" he asked sardonically.
Johan shrugged, running a hand through his dirty-blond hair. "I mean, who wouldn't believe he fell off the wagon again?"
The others nodded, although Percy did note Luke wincing and looking away.
"Again?" the time-traveler asked slowly.
Immediately, everyone seemed to freeze and quiet down, many glancing nervously at Luke.
"Never mind," Amy said hurriedly, rubbing her hands over her brown braid in a gesture of comfort and nervousness. "Poseidon sounds like a great one for now. I mean, if you were seen down by the beach often, I suppose… Could that work?"
"That wouldn't be enough," a girl named Mara called. She was a daughter of Nike, fifteen years old, extremely competitive, and focused to a fault, even—maybe especially—for ADHD demigods. She laid on her bunk, throwing a ball in the air and catching it, but Percy could tell her full attention was on them.
"Wait," Percy said slowly, "isn't he also the God of Horses?" Everyone turned to stare at him slowly before exchanging glances and nodding, almost in unison—well those who didn't shrug. "What if I'm seen by the sea—I can hold my breath for a long time 'cause my mom taught me, so what if I pretend I'm talking to the pegasi and they see me by the beach, holding my breath for a while as I swim?"
Everyone contemplated that for several seconds.
"That's not bad, Perce," Luke said, ruffling his hair.
"I knew all of that studying Greek and Roman myths would come in handy," Percy said excitedly.
The other kids laughed. The time-traveler just smirked in triumph.
xXx
Percy went down to the beach that evening and allowed himself to swim and relax in the tide. It invigorated him more than just about anything else he could have done. Letting the water wash over him again and again almost lulled him to sleep. Almost. Because he still had a front to keep up.
Every time he came up from being underwater, he gasped for breath, making a show to the Hermes kids, mostly, that he was, indeed, faking it.
Later, while at the Aphrodite cabin, he mentioned not having gone to see the pegasi yet, and they'd practically dragged him there.
'Lord!'
'The young master comes!'
'Do you hear me, lord?'
'Did you bring any apples?'
'Or sugar cubes?'
Percy froze in his tracks and looked around. "Who said that?"
"Said what?" Drew asked, looking over her shoulder disdainfully—even as a nine-year-old, she pulled it off. The two of them had fallen to the back of the group that was now just outside of the stables. Everyone else turned to look at Percy at their outburst.
"Someone just called to me. Asked for apples… and sugar cubes."
No matter what anyone thought, most demigods weren't stupid. Some of the older kids put it together pretty fast, exchanging glances.
"Uh… Percy," the cabin counselor, a sixteen-year-old named Pierre, ventured carefully. "Hurry up here, will you?" Percy did as he was told, picking his way through the Aphrodite kids. Once he stepped into the stables, the horses went nuts… well, inside his head. Thankfully, it was pretty normal for them to be curious about a newcomer. He was grateful Pegasi tended to be smarter than the average horse. He had to keep up some plausible deniability after all.
"What the Hades…?" he said, clamping his hands over his ears. "Who's yelling? Please stop!" They did. He slumped a little. "Thank you."
Then he played up a realization, letting his eyes go wide as he turned to Pierre. "Wait… can I hear the horses?!"
'Pegasus!' Several pegasi yelled indignantly.
'I know,' he sent back. 'I'm pranking the humans. This is part of the act. Sorry to offend you, though.'
'Oh,' several of them said, placated.
"I… think you can," Pierre said, exchanging a look with Selina.
"Which god can do that?" he asked excitedly. "I need to do some research!"
He turned to walk back out, but Pierre stopped him with a hand on his arm. "First, why don't you introduce yourself to the pegasi… and don't call them horses. They tend to get huffy when you do."
''Huffy,' he says,' one of the pegasi muttered.
Percy snickered. "That's a great idea. Thanks, Pierre!"
He hurried over to the first one. "Hi! I'm Percy! What's your name?"
Preferably your true name, not your given one, if you're comfortable with me saying it aloud, he clarified silently.
The pegasus, a beautiful, dapple-gray female, seemed highly amused. 'They call me Candy, my true name is She Who Rides the Storms.'
'And I can say that aloud?'
If you wish.
Percy grinned. "She Who Rides The Storms," he said. "What a lovely name! Nice to meet you!"
"Uh… Percy," Selina said slowly as several of the others snickered behind him. "That's Candy."
The time-traveler looked up with innocent eyes. "But she says…" he paused, "Oh… that's her given name. By you guys." He turned to her. "What would you prefer I call you?"
'Either is fine, My Lord. Many Pegasi prefer their given name over their true name.'
"Okay, Candy it is. Lovely to meet you, Candy!"
He went around to each pegasus, introducing himself and patting them on the nose. He could tell the cabin was confused and even heard Selina and Pierre whispering to each other, wondering if there was a gift of Aphrodite dealing with speaking to Pegasai. Animals tended to like most Aphrodite kids, but actually speak to them? Doves maybe… but pegasi?
He even heard Drew snickering to a group of fellow campers that he'd just been faking it the whole time. Which just made him smile more.
Mission accomplished.
God Five, check.
The next day, Poseidon appeared on the roster and he saw several Aphrodite kids look at that with confusion, realization, or disdain. Pierre and Selina fell into the first category, while most of the others fell into the latter two.
Percy grinned. It was time to move onto the next god.
xXx
That night, Percy finally, finally got to meet his father in this timeline. As soon as he realized he was deep under water, and dreaming, he grinned and looked around. He found his father, looking regal and stern-faced, floating a couple of feet away. He was even dressed like his old Greek self.
Percy still grinned. "Hi, Dad."
His father's green eyes narrowed. "Perseus, explain."
The demigod held up his hands, placating. "I planned on it. I always planned on explaining everything, which is why I needed to speak with you ASAP. Sorry if I caused any… mishaps. I didn't mean to."
Poseidon closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We don't have a lot of time. Me contacting you like this is dangerous, Perseus."
"Percy," he said, "I prefer that."
His father's face fell into deadpan. "Percy."
Percy grinned, then waved his hand. Even if he wasn't a god anymore, he still knew how to create something comfortable for them to sit on in his own dream.
"Alright, Dad… can you guarantee no one else is listening in?"
His father eyed the chair that had appeared behind him—an armchair fit for a king—before he sat carefully, watching his son. "I would probably know at this point, but I will check anyway." He paused, then shook his head. "No. No one is listening."
Percy nodded, relieved, even as he sat in his own, plain but comfortable armchair, both still floating in the middle of the sea.
"Good. Because… I come from the future."
His father just stared. "Excuse me?"
Percy shook his head solemnly. "You heard right. I'm from about three hundred or so years in the future. And I have a lot to tell you."
A pained expression crossed his father's face, even if he didn't say anything.
"Would you prefer if I swore on the Styx everything I say is true?" Percy volunteered.
Poseidon's troubled expression deepened. "No. That would just draw attention to us."
Percy sighed. "Fair enough.
"Let me start at the beginning then."
So he did. Poseidon made for a very good listener, eyes never leaving Percy as he explained more or less everything that had happened the first time, starting with the rise of Kronos—his eyes sharpened even more and wrinkles became more pronounced—then the war with the giants and Gaea. He even went into the Roman emperors quickly, but focused more on the giant war as that explained how he knew about the Romans and Neptune.
Being able to project images helped speed everything up, thankfully.
"So, you're from… how far in the future again?" his father asked when he'd finished. Percy ignored the 'supposedly' that silently echoed after that, even as he winced inside. It looked like he'd have to go into that to convince his father. He'd even given the prophecies he'd fulfilled, at least two of which his father should know. But apparently that wasn't enough. Fine, he'd just keep going.
He took a deep breath and braced himself. "About 300 years."
"How?"
Percy closed his eyes. He'd explained this to his father once before but… it still wasn't something he liked to think back on, not in the least because of the trauma it had given his children.
"I lived to get married, you know," he said. "We thought I'd die at sixteen, but… I survived, Dad. My wife and I ended up living in New Rome. I was a house-husband, took care of the kids while my wife was the breadwinner. Which she was so good at…" he said fondly, thinking back on the many conversations he and Annabeth had had.
"Anyway," he forced himself back to the present (in the past, trippy), "we went on a vacation for a while. Annabeth had to work, so it was just me and the girls. We were going to Disneyland."
His father closed his eyes, already seeing where this story was going, but Percy pressed on. "We were told it was a monster trap, but we had a new cologne that was supposed to mask demigod scent. It had worked on me before but… apparently it wasn't strong enough to mask all three of us. We thought it would be, but… I guess some of it washed off or wore off or… something. I'd even reapplied it after every wet ride…" He sighed.
"We were attacked in the Haunted Mansion."
"You didn't," Poseidon said, hand covering his eyes. "Even I know that's a ride monsters love."
Percy sighed. "Yeah. Well… it happened. While people screamed and ran, I defended my girls from… a bunch of different monsters. Normally, I would have been fine, but… I got injured protecting them. They were only 5 and 8 at the time. I still won, and we ended up stumbling our way out. Obviously, I wanted to get them out of there.
"We met dozens of hellhounds in the parking lot, leading an even larger group of monsters: cyclopes—not loyal to you, obviously—laistrygonian giants, empousai…" he shuddered. "And I knew a bunch of them, Dad. They were there for revenge. They must have heard somehow, I'm still not sure how…
"Anyway, I took my sword out, told the girls to run and call their mother, then anyone else they could. Once they did, I fought. After Tartarus… I thought I'd never fight so hard again in my life, but I did. I had to stop them from getting to my girls that day. Wounded and scared for my family, I still fought. I made them bleed for every single step forward they took.
"But my efforts weren't enough.
"I don't know how long I'd been fighting for when I overextended." He sighed, rubbing his side just under his ribcage. "It was an empousa that got me, one I knew, named Kelli. She'd been waiting for the right moment, dodged inside my guard, and stabbed me. This was in the middle of a mini hurricane, mind you… because yes, I can do that even now. She kept saying how much more delicious I would be after everything, and then how good my daughters would taste. I heard them screaming and… I lost it, Dad.
"I stopped caring and… solidified all five of my domains in that fight. Demigods—because my daughters were demigods, Personal Loyalty, the Deep—so much destruction with the earthquake I caused, reaching as far into the Earth as I could to make the land listen to me, Destruction—I hope that's obvious, and liquid."
Poseidon's brow furrowed. "Liquid?"
Percy nodded and looked down. "When… when I was in Tartarus… um… something happened." Slowly, painfully, he told his father about Ahklys and what happened there. When he finished, he glanced up and winced. He'd never seen his father's face look so… blank before.
"Anyway, when I heard my girls screaming, I threw caution to the wind and I grabbed their blood—all of it. Of every monster there. I'd… been through a lot. Got exploded out of a volcano, even. Almost drowned in unfriendly water and a bog. But I don't remember anything hurting that badly before." He rubbed absently at his sternum, where it had just burned. He doubted he'd ever be able to forget that. "It hurt. So much… I knew I couldn't recover, but I had to protect them. So I pushed on, and made every single one of those monsters combust from the inside out.
"But… it didn't stop. The burning I mean."
He took a deep breath. "The next thing I knew I was a puddle on the ground, and had a sudden, very headache-inducing, awareness of every single drop of liquid in any part of the world that had ever been under our pantheon's control. I could also sense every demigod, and could feel my consciousness drawn to acts of loyalty. I could tell where every fault line on earth was, and I could sense anything that could be remotely destructive, how it could be destructive, and the kind of damage it would deal. The more destructive something was, the more I could sense it."
More blank blinking from his father. "That's… immensely powerful."
Percy snorted. "Yeah. I hated it."
There was a reaction. His father's eyebrows rose, but one fell a little after a second, giving him a confused expression.
Percy sighed. "The only reason I've ever wanted power was to protect the people I love. I don't care about control or accolades or being put on some pedestal… so I hated it, actually. If I could have, I would have moved on with Annabeth and my daughters to Elysium." He looked off into the distance, lost in painful but precious memories.
"I woke up to them crying over me, you know. And by 'woke'… well, you probably understand." Poseidon nodded slowly and Percy went on. "It took every ounce of strength I had to pull myself back together and be there for my daughters. I kept apologizing to them, holding on to them even as I forced myself not to melt. Eventually, I had to try and use new abilities to flash them back to Camp Ju… the Roman camp. It was closer."
Poseidon's form flickered at the name, and Percy sighed. He didn't realize how bad the fissure between the two sides had been at this time—how unstable. Well, hopefully they'd fix that.
"Risky," his father said.
Percy nodded. "But necessary. I dumped myself in the nearest fountain after dropping them off with friends I knew and just… let myself go until I recovered." He chuckled. "My wife almost killed me once I got a solid form again, before she thanked me for saving our daughters." He smiled sadly at the memory.
They sat there in a heavy but companionable silence for several seconds before Poseidon spoke again.
"You know, speaking of Ascending is usually looked on as hubris and treason. Demigods are killed for it…"
Percy snorted. "Yeah. Well, it's apparently supposed to happen this time too." He grumbled under his breath, despite his father's obvious amusement. That was the Poseidon Percy remembered. His clothing had even changed to the terrible Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts he was so used to.
"I won't say this is unwelcome for me, even if I can tell you do not wish it," the god said.
"Yeah," Percy sighed, "that's what you said last time."
"You've given me much to think about, Son. If you are right and Father…" he faded off, troubled.
Percy nodded. "We need to start preparing now. Oceanus isn't staying out of this one. Or, at least, he didn't stay out of it in my memories."
His father closed his eyes and slumped back in his chair.
"This… will take time to think over."
"Yeah. Well, we have a little time. But we've probably been talking too long right now as it is."
Poseidon nodded again before meeting Percy's eyes.
"I am still not entirely convinced of this, but… I do believe you, for the most part. Again, I will think on what you have told me."
"Thanks, Dad," Percy said, grinning brightly. In the future, he would have hugged his father, but figured that would be a little too much at the moment.
They both stood… or floated off their chairs.
"Oh!" Percy said before Poseidon could send him back to his body, "I know I told you about the prank I'm doing, so… could you not claim me for a bit yet, even if some people figure it out?"
Poseidon raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I don't often get that request."
Percy felt his grin go a little sharp. "I have a chance to prank the entire pantheon, Dad. Come on." Well, not the gods really, he'd tell them asap, just so he didn't get smote and ascended too soon. But even a couple of seconds would be highly amusing.
Poseidon just shook his head incredulously. "Where in Chaos did you get that tendency from? Your mother?"
Percy answered with an unimpressed, and very pointed look.
His father seemed surprised.
"Surely not me," he said, only half in jest, "I'm the God of the Seas, not any kind of mischief."
Percy felt a smirk grow on his lips. "So you're saying you don't want to get one over on Hermes? That I should stop the prank?"
His father held up his hands. "Now, I didn't say that…"
"Uh-huh," Percy said, smirking.
"Oh, be off with you. You'll throw the entire pantheon into chaos before you even join it at this rate."
Percy just laughed out loud. "If I haven't, I've failed."
Poseidon laughed and waved his hand.
Percy woke in his sleeping bag in the Hermes cabin, already hearing some others get up and move around. Then he smiled.
He had to talk to Aunt Hestia.
xXx
Previous chapter's notes apply. LOL
Thanks to my beta readers and discord mods: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, Snow, and The Chronomancer! Also, than you to the rest of my Discord for continuing to answer my silly questions.
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)