PJatO || Zercy || PJatO || Zercy || Change in Leadership || Zercy || PJatO || Zercy || PJatO
Title: Change in Leadership – Polympians Event 2024
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: m/m, falling in love, courting
Main Pairing: Zeus/Percy
Percy Jackson Character: Perseus Jackson
Godly Character: Zeus
Polympians Prompt: Percy accepts godhood
Summary: After the Giant War, Percy accepted godhood, to change Olympus, and Zeus. Hera gets punished for her actions during the war. And Percy takes the empty spot on the Olympian council.
Change in Leadership
Polympians Event 2024
When all was said and done and the Giant War was won, Percy knew something had to change. He'd though, naively, that he would be able to change things, after the Titan War. And it hadn't. Sure, the gods now claimed their demigodly children earlier… to still use them like pawns in their petty wars. And they still failed to keep all their promises, like setting Calypso free.
Forcing the gods to make promises wasn't going to change anything. He wouldn't be able to change anything from the outside. Change only happened on the inside. And so he decided to claim what had been offered to him before. Godhood. Because even in one lifetime of pestering the gods, he would not be able to change enough. Godhood meant being on the inside, and having the time.
And one of the first things he pushed for was a punishment for Hera. Zeus had wanted to punish Apollo for what had happened, like he was responsible for the prophecies or something, who knew what that guy was thinking. Hera, on the other hand, had actively worked against the gods' wishes – which, on its own, wouldn't bother Percy so much, but she had also actively worked against them all. Stealing Jason and Percy and memory-wiping them, rendering them useless and vulnerable for too long. Her intentions, of making Greeks and Romans work together, might have been the right impulse, but the way she went about it was revolting, impractical and wasted time.
Not to mention the personal hurt feelings he had about having months of his life stolen and nearly dying multiple times on his way to New Rome, going on a quest without his memories and also being forced to lose his Achilles curse because of that woman. Yes, this was personal.
After presenting his arguments to the council, he could sway enough people. Because the gods were petty, the gods did not like to be manipulated – and that was what Hera had done. So she was stripped of her godhood and powers and sent to the mortal world, to earn it back. Alone. There was a sick sense of vindication and glee that Percy felt at that, because it wasn't that different from how she had stripped him of everything and sent him to the Romans. A punishment fitting the crime.
With Hera on her little mortal vacation, there was a vacant spot on the council. Honestly, Percy had expected Hades to take it – the Fates knew the god deserved it – but with a cryptic smile, Hades had shook his head and declined, saying there was a reason he stayed away from Olympus. All the drama, he told Percy. He also told Percy that he should take the seat, because he'd actually do something with it, instead of squabbling over petty family feuds.
That hadn't been as surprising as it should have been though. He'd seen what Hades was capable of and where his stand was, in all of this. So Percy had simply returned that cryptic smile and obliged.
And that was how Percy Jackson became the god of rain and member of the Olympian council. Which still sounded and felt so surreal to Percy, even after three months. Olympus was so overwhelming, beautiful but strange. And having to put up with the gods was exhausting. Sure, it wasn't all bad, he hung out a lot with Apollo, played cards with Hermes, learned all the juiciest gossip from Aphrodite. He was getting to know the gods on a personal level, and as equals. It was good. He… liked it. He liked being here, liked hanging out with most of them, liked his duties.
"Perseus," Zeus' voice was an annoyed grumble.
Smiling a little, Percy turned toward Zeus. Over the past months, Percy had actually learned to read Zeus pretty well and distinguish between the various grunts and glares. This one, it was annoyed – but not at Percy. At something that Percy was supposed to solve. So Percy remained seated at the edge of the giant pool that Olympus had, his feet dangling in the water, regarding the king. Waiting. Because part of his little 'Olympus has to change' project was to change the king.
Once Zeus realized Percy wasn't just going to come running, he grunted again, more annoyed this time, and crossed his arms over his chest. "The… nymphs are fighting, again."
"How's that my problem?" Percy raised an eyebrow, unimpressed and uninterested.
"Demeter is egging on the dryads, Ares just wants them all to fight, and one of them actually picked a personal fight over Aphrodite about… make-up?" Zeus looked so uncomfortable. "They keep yelling for me like they are children. I am the king of Olympus, I'm not dealing with their petty squabbles I have more important business to attend."
"Oh, and I don't?" Percy now raised his other eyebrow too. "Not my circus, not my monkeys."
"But they like you," Zeus unfolded his arms and gestured in agitation. "You can… deal with them. They listen to you! You are a member of the Olympian council, you will-"
"Oh, no," Percy interrupted him, shaking his head. "I'm not a demigod you can smite anymore, I am not going to take that tone from you, I am a member of the Olympian council, as you just pointed out, and I demand some respect too, from my king."
Zeus actually growled at that – always a sign that his patience was wearing thin, not that that bothered Percy all that much, he'd always lacked self-preservation, according to… everybody who ever met him. Percy pushed off the edge of the pool and dove into the water, swimming to the other end of the pool without resurfacing once, then turning and pushing off the wall. Only when he was in front of Zeus again did he emerge, hoping that was enough time to cool Zeus' temper.
"Join me," Percy offered after a moment.
"...What," Zeus stared at him incredulously. "There are three Olympians, fighting, right now-"
"And they'll get bored by it in no time," Percy shrugged. "If there's one thing I learned since moving here it's that you guys have an attention-span that is flat-out worse than mine. Aphrodite is gonna drop it once she gets horny, which consequently will also make Ares drop it because getting into Aphy's panties is more fun than egging on any fight, at which point Demeter and the dryads can just go back to whatever they were doing before this escalated. Now, join me."
"You are insolent and insubordinate," Zeus muttered beneath his breath.
Despite the muttering, he still went to climb into the pool. Percy smirked victoriously. The gods were all about manipulation – it was just about being more sneaky than what Hera had done by forcing the gods' hands during the war. Percy, despite what most his old teachers would claim, was actually a quick study. When it came to the important things in life. He'd learned to adapt to Olympus and godhood in his own way and he thought he was doing pretty well.
"I am the king of Olympus," Zeus huffed slightly. "I have responsibilities, I don't have time to… swim in the pool with you on a whim, while other gods are fighting."
"Again," Percy sighed. "It will resolve itself. Okay, here's a compromise: You stay in this pool with me for twenty minutes. And after that, I come check on your squabbling gods and take care of it in case it's still going on. Besides, you are the king. You get to do what you want. Swim with me."
He took Zeus' hands and then swam backward, pulling the king with him. Part of changing Zeus meant making him ease up and maybe take that stick out of his ass. So, Percy tried to actually get to know Zeus – which was harder than with the other gods – and tried to get the guy to relax. Coincidentally, he was kind of actually having fun during all of this. Which, unexpected.
The two drifted in the water for what felt like eternity but was only about ten minutes. Percy could visibly see how Zeus relaxed. Not necessarily open and soft, but… there was something there, something mesmerizing that Percy knew was dangerous, for himself. They drifted closer.
"The twenty minutes are up," Zeus cleared his throat, heading out.
Heaving a sigh, Percy climbed out after Zeus, following him to where the commotion supposedly was. There was nothing there. Peace, quiet and some frolicking dryads. Percy grinned and hip-checked Zeus, who grunted and stumbled a little, glaring at him.
"See. The king of Olympus takes twenty minutes self-care time and Olympus has, in fact, not crumbled into pieces," Percy's grin turned more teasing. "You are welcome."
"You… didn't even do anything this time, it resolved itself."
"Ye—ep. And you didn't have to deal with it and instead had a nice swim. You're welcome."
/break\
So the major flaw in Percy's plan was that he was basically Beauty-and-the-Beast-ing Zeus. Trying to make him more approachable, kinder, more… human. Which, was the good part. The bad part was where he was putting himself into the position of Belle, who oh so famously fell in love with the Beast. And that was the major flaw. He had not accounted for that to happen, in no way could he have predicted that he could develop actual feelings for Zeus. A god, yes, that was to be expected, now that he was a god himself, but the king of gods?
But with every time he hung out with Zeus, getting closer to him and learning more about him, Percy grew more attached. He couldn't even pinpoint when exactly he had fallen in love with Zeus, but it was roughly six months into his stay on Olympus that he realized, when he looked at Zeus and just seeing the king laugh and have a good time with Dionysus at a party made Percy smile. And oh no, he was happy just to see Zeus happy, he was having serious… feelings.
For a couple weeks, he fully hid it out, managed to avoid Zeus with everything else going on, but then he started to hear that Zeus was reverting back to how things used to be. Multiple gods had approached Percy and told him to 'get it together' and go deal with Zeus because apparently, he was the only one capable of doing something. Which was startling to hear too. The others had caught on with what he was doing, and that it was working. Okay. That was what he had to do, then.
"Zeus," Percy grunted, glowering just a little. "Stop terrorizing the muses, they are annoyed."
"I'm not terrorizing, I am simply requesting them to do their work," Zeus glared at him, and it was the hard glare, the serious one, the one Percy hadn't seen in months. "What do you care."
Oh. Even Zeus had caught on with the part where Percy had been avoiding him. Flushing just a little in embarrassment, Percy went to sit next to the king, motioning for the muses to leave. They did with no reluctance. Zeus looked like a petulant child, causing Percy to roll his eyes and reached out to rest a hand on Zeus', giving it an ever so gentle squeeze, startling the god.
"So, I like you," Percy whispered. "And I didn't… deal with it, on account of your history of being, well, you. But… Things are different. I'm not a demigod anymore, I'm a god too. And I know what I'm signing up for. But you would have to… make a genuine effort. Can you do that?"
He didn't even question if Zeus liked him back, he knew. Zeus nodded sharply and leaned in, eager. Percy grinned against the king's lips as they kissed for the first time. He could handle Zeus.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: Somehow, accepting godhood really made me want to see Percy with Zeus. Also, I... think I have projected my current hyperfixation on Teen Wolf onto writing this fic because I gave them SUCH a Sterek dynamic (- the grumpy leader who kinda sucks at that until the snarky teen starts helping him be better), I'm not sorry xD"