Answers to reviews:
user: Right, I've added Piper to the harem, but I'm not adding Hera. So stop asking!
Guest02957: Thanks.
Guest: I wouldn't say he ran... but he did get an ass kicking.
Guest250: Indeed they do.
BIRD0FHERMES: Interesting...
AlexBeowolf2: Jakob does have the capacity and potential to possibly surpass his father if he keeps training his abilities and growing.
Shiva547: Don't worry, Jakob will get that chance eventually.
branphillips001: Not happening. Odin is like a Mafia boss, everyone are tools for him to use until they run out of usefulness. He wasn't even upset at Magni and Modi's deaths, claiming them to be useless, he was only upset about Baldur's death because he lost his 'best tracker'.
Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Jakob Thorsson.
It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.
According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.
This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares) was the same man who had abducted Andromeda, Jakob and the others in New York and brought them across country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.
Poor little Andromeda Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. She'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus—"Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that.
A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police.
Finally, brave Andromeda Jackson and her friend (First they assumed boyfriend) Jakob had stolen a gun from their captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle and shotgun on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Andromeda Jackson and her three friends were safely in police custody.
The reporters fed the questers the whole story. They just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted (which wasn't hard), and played victimized kids for the cameras. The crowd was eating it all up. Jakob used his 'superb' acting skills to gain sympathy points with the crowd.
They were especially sympathetic as Jakob described the terrorist who attacked them in great deal. Andromeda couldn't stop laughing at that part.
Andromeda gave a moving speech about her gross step-dad and said that the man would give free appliances if enough people rallied money for them to get a plane ride back to New York.
Takeoff was a nightmare, and turbulence was just as bad. Jakob was thinking of threatening Zeus with stowing away his bolt on the next flight on the plane. See how he liked it.
It was smooth sailing from then on until they touched down safely at La Guardia. The local press was waiting for them outside security, but they managed to evade them thanks to Annabeth, who lured them away in her invisible Yankees cap, shouting, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!" Then she rejoined them at baggage claim.
They split up at the taxi stand. Andromeda told Annabeth and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened as Jakob called for a cab. They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all they'd been through, but this last part was for them, getting the King of Drama to stop waging war over his nightlight. Jakob's words, not Andromeda's.
So (after Jakob handed Mimir to Annabeth) they hopped into the taxi and headed into Manhattan.
Thirty minutes later, they walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building.
They must have looked like homeless kids, with their tattered clothes and their cuts and bruises. Plus, they hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours.
Both boys saw the security desk, and went up to speak to the man.
"Jakob Thorsson and Andie Jackson, son of Thor and daughter of Poseidon," Jakob said. "We're here to see Zeus about his lost 'item'."
"Six hundredth floor, please," Andromeda added.
The guy was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front. Jakob hummed at that.
The book must've been good, because the guard took a while to look up. "No such floor, kiddies."
Jakob sighed, not in the mood to deal with this.
Reaching out, he grabbed the top of the book and pressed it down on the desk. The guard was about to protest, but Jakob silenced him with a finger. "I don't think you understand," he started off. "I'm really tired and pissed off from everything that's happened in the past couple of weeks. Being accused of something I didn't do because of King Drama's paranoia, having to go find his boomstick, battle his dickhead of a son and prove who's the more superior lightning-wielder... and you would not like me when I am very pissed off."
"Believe me, you wouldn't," Andromeda agreed, smirking.
"What my good friend said. Now, we are returning the bolt. Do you really intend to stop us from doing our quest? Think carefully on your answer, because it depends on how I'm going to react. And you better pray that I'm in a calm and reasonable mood. So I expect a good answer."
The security guard looked confused, but, more importantly, also a little frightened. That might be because Jakob was looking at him, his blue eyes sparking with lightning and a bit of static shot from his fingers as he tapped them on the desk.
The man couldn't hand Jakob a keycard fast enough. "Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you."
Jakob nodded. "Thank you, good sir."
The security guard stuttered his next question. "M-may I s-see the bolt?"
Andromeda slung off the backpack and opened it, showing the Master Bolt.
"Oh." The guard's voice sounded small. "Well, go right up ahead. Have a good day."
And so they did, as soon as the elevator doors closed, Jakob slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600.
Andromeda reached over and pressed it.
"Normally you don't push the big red button." Jakob remarked, getting a shrug from the Daughter of Poseidon.
And so they waited, and waited.
Muzak played. "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."
"They should get better elevator music." Jakob grumbled.
Finally, ding. The doors slid open. They stepped out and Andromeda almost had a heart attack while Jakob blinked as he stared at Olympus for the first time in his life.
They was standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. Below them was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane. In front of them, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky. Their eyes followed the stairway to its end, it really was here and it was beautiful beyond words.
From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces - a city of mansions - all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes. You could make out an open-air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new, and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must've looked twenty-five hundred years ago or something.
You'd think something like this, a mountain palace anchored to the Empire State Building was impossible. But here it was…
"Hmm, not bad. I'll give the Olympians that." Jakob nodded.
"Doesn't Odin have a palace?" Andromeda asked as they started making their way up the steps.
"No." Jakob snorted. "Asgard looks more like a village, with the Great Wall built around it to keep out the Giants, which is ironic because it was built by a Giant in disguise."
They walked through Olympus, passing some giggling wood nymphs who threw olives at them from their garden.
Hawkers in the market offered to sell them ambrosia-on-a-stick, and a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece, as seen on Hephaestus-TV. The nine muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered - satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers who must've been minor gods and goddesses. Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war.
In fact, everybody seemed in a festive mood. Several of them turned to watch the demigods pass, and whispered to themselves.
They climbed the main road, toward the big palace at the peak. It was a reverse copy of the palace in the Underworld.
There, everything had been black and bronze. Here, everything glittered white and silver.
Jakob realized Hades must've built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn't welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he'd built his own Olympus underground.
Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.
Room really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose up to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations.
Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left. They could already tell who they were, and they made no motion or anything, no doubt awaiting the demigods to come forward themselves.
The gods were in giant human form, as Hades had been, but they could barely look at them without feeling a tingle, as if their body were starting to burn.
Jakob looked at Zeus, the King of the Gods, for the first time. He seemed intimidating and stern, like an Ancient Greek statue. He wore a dark blue pinstriped suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard (which kind of looked a bit stereotypical), marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes rainy grey.
As he and Andromeda got closer to the god, the air crackled and smelled of ozone. It felt enriching, like the air was humming with power.
The god sitting next to him was his brother, without a doubt, but he was dressed very differently. He seemed like some regular beachgoer, someone who would just go out and enjoy the scenery the ocean gave. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black, a family trait it seemed. His face was set in a brood that made him seem like a rebel. But his eyes, sea green just like Andromeda's, were surrounded by sun-crinkles like he smiled a lot, too.
His throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swiveling kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.
The gods weren't moving or speaking, but there was tension in the air, as if they'd just finished an argument.
Andromeda and Jakob soon came to a stop, with Jakob crossing his arms and only giving a small nod of greeting to the two Olympians while Andromeda knelt at Poseidon's throne. "Father." she said.
She glanced at Jakob with a raised eyebrow and he shot her a look. "Hey, not Greek. I'm not bowing or kissing their ass. I'm on thin ice enough as it is just by being here."
Poseidon chuckled. "Bold of him."
Zeus scoffed. "Just as disrespectful as his father."
Jakob just raised his eyebrows at Zeus.
"But nevertheless, he is right. An Aesir walking these graceful halls..." Zeus shook his head.
"Oh will you stop?" Poseidon rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed with his brother. "He's went out of his way to retrieve your possession and return it to you. You should at least be a little grateful. Has he not proven he isn't aligned with his own kind anymore?"
Zeus shot Poseidon a look. "You're only defending him because your daughter has befriended him."
"Let us hear them out, brother." Poseidon said, not denying or even confirming Zeus' words.
Zeus grumbled some more. "I shall listen," he decided. "Then I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast these children down from Olympus."
'Oh, so no pressure,' Jakob thought sarcastically. What kind of offer was that.
"Andromeda." Poseidon said. "Look at me."
She did so, but saw the god's face who sired her to be blank, unreadable. Andromeda got the feeling that Poseidon didn't know what to think of her. Like if he was happy or not to have her as his daughter..
"Address Lord Zeus." Poseidon instructed. "Tell him your story."
So she told Zeus everything, just as it had happened with Jakob putting his own input at times. Andromeda took out the metal cylinder, which began sparking in the Sky God's presence, and laid it at his feet.
There was a long silence, broken only by the crackle of the hearth fire.
Zeus opened his palm. The lightning bolt flew into it.
As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity, until he was holding what looked more like the classic thunderbolt, a twenty-foot javelin of arcing, hissing energy that would make your hair stand on end.
"I sense they tell the truth," Zeus muttered. "But that Ares would do such a thing... it is most unlike him."
"He is proud and impulsive," Poseidon said. "It runs in the family."
"Aren't all Gods like that?" Jakob asked pointedly.
Zeus glared at him while Poseidon smirked a little.
"Lord?" Andromeda asked.
They both said, "Yes?"
Jakob snorted in amusement. Thankfully, the Gods didn't pay too much attention to that.
Andromeda turned her gaze to the gods, "Ares didn't act alone. Someone else - something else - came up with the idea."
She described her dreams, and the feeling she and Jakob had on the beach, that momentary breath of evil that had seemed to stop the world, and made Ares back off from killing them.
"In the dreams," Andromeda said, "the voice told me to bring the bolt to the Underworld. Ares hinted that he'd been having dreams, too. I think he was being used, just as I was, to start a war."
"You are accusing Hades, after all?" Zeus asked.
"No," Jakob said. "From the description, and then when we were on the edge of Tartarus itself, it was something powerful and evil, something which is stirring down there, something ancient. I have no doubt that It was Kron-"
"Do not speak that name in these halls, boy," Zeus interrupted, his voice sterner than before.
'Of course. Leave it to Zeus to deny his old man's return.' Jakob thought with an eyeroll.
Poseidon and Zeus turned to one another. They had a quick, intense discussion in Ancient Greek. But the preteens caught one word they were certain of.
Father.
Poseidon made some kind of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off, just as he had Jakob. Poseidon tried to argue. Zeus held up his hand angrily. "We will speak of this no more," Zeus said. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal."
He rose and looked at the demigods. His expression softened just a fraction of a degree. "You have done me a service, young ones. Few heroes could have accomplished as much." He said.
"We had help, sir," Andromeda added. "Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase -"
"To show you my thanks, I shall spare your lives."
'Suppose that's as good as anything else.' Jakob thought with a roll of his eyes.
The king told Andromeda and Jakob, "I do not trust you, Andromeda Jackson, Jakob Thorsson. I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live, daughter of Poseidon."
"Um... thank you, sir." Andromeda blinked, unsure what to even say other than that.
"And you..." Zeus turned his stare onto Jakob who stared back unflinchingly and without fear. "It's only because of your actions that I do not destroy you here and now, Aesir. I assume you will continue to interact with the demigods of Camp Half-Blood?"
"Make no mistake, Zeus. I have not a tool for Olympus to use at it's beck and call. I am not loyal to Olympus just as I am not loyal to Asgard, to Odin or Thor. My friends are where my loyalty lies." Jakob said firmly, staring the King of Olympus down. "When my friends have need of me, I will come. For them, and no one else. I do not care if you don't trust me, or if you don't believe my words. I'm not here to impress anyone."
"And what if Odin himself comes here looking for you?" Zeus challenged with narrowed eyes. "He would cause a war."
"If that day ever comes... and I know it will, I will deal with my family." Jakob said strongly.
Zeus grunted, sounding unconvinced. "We will be watching you, boy."
Thunder shook the palace. With a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus was gone.
"What a drama queen." Jakob shook his head.
Poseidon chuckled at that. "He's always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theatre."
"Sir," Andromeda said, "what was in that pit?"
Poseidon regarded him. "Have you not guessed?"
"Like Jakob said before; Kronos," Andromeda stated. "The king of the Titans."
Even in the throne room of Olympus, far away from Tartarus, the name Kronos darkened the room, made the hearth fire seem not quite so warm.
Poseidon gripped his trident.
"In the First War, children, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos. Zeus cast Kronos' remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus. The Titan army was scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna destroyed, their monstrous allies driven to the farthest corners of the earth. And yet Titans cannot die, any more than we gods can. Whatever is left of Kronos is still alive in some hideous way, still conscious in his eternal pain, still hungering for power."
"And over the centuries he's been healing, reforming." Jakob stated knowingly. "Trying to come back and rule again."
Poseidon shook his head. "From time to time, over the aeons, Kronos has stirred. He enters men's nightmares and breathes evil thoughts. He wakens restless monsters from the depths. But to suggest he could rise from the pit is another thing."
Andromeda quickly said, "That's what he intends, Father. That's what he said."
Poseidon was silent for a long time.
"Lord Zeus has closed discussion on this matter. He will not allow talk of Kronos. You have completed your quest, children. That is all you need to do."
"But-" Andromeda stopped herself, seeing that arguing would do no good. "As ... as you wish, Father."
A faint smile played on the god's lips. "Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?"
"No... sir."
"And that's my cue to leave." Jakob said, lightly patting Andromeda on the shoulder. "You two need to have a chat. I can't say I know a father/child moment when I see it... given my own father, so I'm going to wait by the elevator. But don't keep me waiting, Andie. I doubt Zeus will tolerate my presence here any longer."
Andromeda smiled. "I'll see you there, then."
Jakob nodded and left the throne room to let Andromeda speak with her father.
Well... that went as well as expected, I suppose. Least Jakob didn't get blasted off Olympus by Zeus, but he still didn't win any points with him nor does Jakob really care or had intended that.
Harem: Silena Beauregard, Thalia Grace, Katie Gardner, Annabeth Chase, Andromeda Jackson (Female Percy), Bianca Di Angelo, Zoe Nightshade, Thrúd, Piper McLean, Hylla, Freya, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Skadi.
Yeah, I've added Aphrodite to the harem. Windstorm16 actually helped come up with an idea to bring her in, even though Jakob doesn't have the best opinion of her... but that's the same for Artemis and she's in the hare,
Just don't go asking or demanding Hera to be in the harem, she's WAY too much of a vindictive bitch for Jakob's tastes. always caring about having the 'perfect' family.