Chapter Thirty

Artemis tossed and turned in her bed. She sighed and stared at the ceiling. True to what she had told Percy earlier, she was tired, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she just saw Poseidon's dead body just lying there.

Truth be told, it scared her. All her life, she knew, she was immortal, undying. She never had to contemplate death nor fading. She was an Olympian, she was practically guaranteed to be remembered forever. But Poseidon, someone just as immortal, and one more remembered, was dead. And if he could die, so could she. Her bubble of safety had just been popped by a damn sniper rifle.

And the worst part was it didn't make sense.

She sat up, the blanket falling down to her lap. She sighed and got out of the bed and walked out of the room. She walked down the hallway and into the throne hall. Mephistopheles was standing by the thrones, ever in his place. He nodded. "My Lady." He greeted.

"Mephistopheles." She greeted back. "Is Percy awake?"

"I have not seen him since you two got back."

"Hm. Thank you." She started to make her way to the other doorway when Mephistopheles stopped her.

"If you're going up to see him, can you give him this? It arrived here earlier, his name is on it. And do be careful with it, I don't trust it at all." He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. He held it out.

Artemis approached him and carefully took it. It was a plain white envelope with the words 'Perseus Jackson' written in cursive. Other than that, it was blank. "Do you know who it is from?"

Mephistopheles shook his head. "One of the reasons I do not trust it."

"Okay, thank you." She walked out of the room, through the dining room, and up the stairs. She reached the top and carefully opened Percy's door, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep. She peeked in. Percy was laying in his bed, asleep, drool leaking down the side of his face, pooling on his pillow. She wrinkled her nose and stepped in.

She approached the nightstand and placed the envelope on it, next to two golden drachma coins. She walked around the bed and slipped into the covers.

She fell asleep pretty quickly.

LINE BREAK

Percy stirred. He let out a couple of grunts as he shifted. He felt the blanket become tighter and found himself confused. He opened his eyes and turned around to find himself met with the back of Artemis. He let out a breath and sat up. Artemis shifted, before opening her eyes and turning around.

"Morning, Goddess." Percy said.

"How can you tell?" She mumbled tiredly.

"I can't."

"Oh." She sat up. "There's a letter for you." She gestured in the direction of the nightstand. "Mephistopheles said he does not trust it."

Percy reached over and picked up the envelope. He tore it open and pulled out the folded piece of paper inside. He unfolded it and stared at it. His eyes glanced over the page as he nodded. He looked up at Artemis. "I can't read this."

"What?"

He held it up. "It's cursive." He handed it to her. "I have dyslexia, Artemis. I can barely read print. Cursive just looks like a bunch of loops."

"Do you want me to read it to you?"

"Please?"

She smiled and started. "Dear Perseus Jackson. You are hereby cordially invited to the Auction of Souls. This is an honor not many receive, and as such, should be treated with the highest respect. Please dress appropriately. Failure to do so could result in disintegration. To participate, simply hold the letter out, and repeat this phrase out loud. 'We hope to see you soon'." She handed it back to him.

"It's an auction for souls? What the hell is appropriate for that?"

Artemis shrugged. "A suit maybe? A white one? Symbolizes the purity of the soul."

"If you really want to go into symbolism, what about a black one, to represent the worst souls, the ones that reside down here?"

Artemis shrugged. "At the end of the day, it is just fabric. I am sure you will pick something that does not result in your disintegration."

Percy sighed. "Guess I'm supposed to be a fashion designer now."

Artemis chuckled. "Do not worry, I will help you."

LINE BREAK

Artemis wiped a mite of dust off Percy's white suit jacket. "Please try to come back in a not disintegrated form."

Percy smiled. "I'll try my best, but no promises." He reached into his jacket and pulled out the letter. He unfolded it and held it out with one hand. 'I am a king, act like one', he thought, and stood up straight, chin raised. He took in a breath and said aloud, "We hope to see you soon."

The letter started to glow before a beam of light shot out from the back. A loud buzzing, like fluorescent lighting, began to fill the room. A white rift opened in the middle of the room, before expanding to the size of a doorway. The buzzing continued. Percy stepped forward, and entered.

He emerged and looked around as he felt a small weight appear in his jacket pocket—the letter. The room he was in was massive, he could barely see the other size. It made Olympus's throne room look like a closet. And not a big one.

The room was in the shape of an upside down cone, getting smaller towards the bottom. Along the walls were little pods, like the one he was standing in. It reminded him of the senate room in those Star Wars movies he had seen on TV when he was younger. In the center of the room was a pillar, where a body floated, coated in blue light.

There was a man next to Percy. He was a whole foot taller than the King of Hell, who already stood at six feet. He was bald, with a bushy white beard that came down to the middle of his chest. He wore white robes, and seemed to shine with a faint golden light. He had a name tag stuck to his robe that read, "Hi, my name is YAHWEH!" With the name written in messy handwriting.

The name seemed familiar. He was sure he had heard it somewhere before, but he wasn't sure where.

"Welcome Perseus!" He said. His voice was buttery smooth, and reminded him of every good thing in his life. The scent of petrichor before a thunderstorm, the taste of a pepperoni pizza from the pizzeria down the street from Gabe's old apartment, the sweets his mom used to bring home from Sweet On America, the feeling of standing on top of a skyscraper and seeing New York sprawled below him, the way Artemis's eyes shined like a full moon on a starless night. A feeling of nostalgia, for everything he had loved, past, present, and maybe, maybe even future.

And yet, something threw him off. His name. Only his enemies called him Perseus. It was a very important distinction that had helped him live as long as he had. Friends, even most of the Gods, called him Percy. And Yaweh did not.

More information, that's what he needed. "Where am I?" He asked.

Yahweh chuckled. "The Auction House of Souls! I'm sure you've wondered how it's decided where a certain soul goes, well, this is it. We bid on a soul, and whoever wins, gets the soul!"

Percy had more questions than answers now. And all the answers were to questions that he didn't ask. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but he was so confused, he didn't even know what to ask.

Eventually, he settled on "With what money?" He really hoped it wasn't Pain, like Hell's currency.

"Whatever we want!" God said. "Favors, rocks, virgins, furniture-"

"What?"

"Furniture?"

"No, the virg—Nevermind."

"Perseus, maybe a demonstration will clear things up. Do you recognize that feller down there, in the blue light?"

Percy looked to the center of the room. In the light was a new person. This one looked like a walrus trying to pose as a human. He was fat, old, and bald, except for the three hairs that were combed over his scalp. Percy recognized him. His old stepdad, Gabe Ugliano. The guy who smelled so bad, he covered up Percy's delicious Big Three scent. "Yeah, I know him."

"Good. Good." Yahweh turned to the center and raised his hand. "I bid three bookshelves."

"Three bookshelves!" A loud voice said. "Do I hear a virgin?"

No one took the bait. A loud gavel rang out. "Sold. Gabriel Ugliano, to Yaweh for three bookshelves!"

"There. Now he is yours to do with as you please down there in Hell. Consider it a housewarming gift."

Percy did not want Gabe down there with him. He hadn't thought about the guy in years, and now he was going to have a chance to see him everytime he left the castle. Just great. He looked out across the room, scanning it. There were hundreds of pods, about half of them empty. The other half had either one or two Gods in it. Some sat down, most stood, a few floated a couple feet above the pod, which must have been annoying for the Gods sitting behind them. "So… I'm guessing each one is a God from a different pantheon? There are a couple I don't recognize."

Yahweh nodded. "Indeed. Everything deity or pantheon mortals have ever believed in, and will ever believe in, has a place here. For example, over there is Cthulhu. Shrunken down, of course, he could never fit in one of these seats." He pointed to a humanoid who seemed like a cross between a dragon and an octopus. His skin was green, and his eyes a fiery red. "And over there is Jikous, The Rhosh God of Doors." Yahweh said, pointing at another God who just looked like an average skater teen. "He's one of the future Gods."

"How is it decided which God of a pantheon comes here?"

"Well, usually they are either the sole God, like me or Allah, or they are the creator in that religion, or the most worshiped."

"Which one is Jikous?"

"Most worshiped."

"So who's the representative of the Greek pantheon?"

Yahweh pointed to their left. "Chaos." Sitting in the pod two pods over was a God who seemed to shift every second. It was always small changes. One second she had blue eyes, the next green. One second she had short hair, next it was longer than a foot. One second she was a woman, next he was a man. One second, they wore a dress, the next a three piece suit. After a few seconds, Percy understood. It was literal chaos. The deity looked over at Percy, and put their hand to their forehead, before bringing it forward, a salute of sorts. Percy reciprocated.

"So why am I here? I highly doubt I'm here to discuss Jikous."

"So perceptive, I have no idea why everyone thinks you're stupid." Percy frowned at that. "You're right, and I bet you can guess why I've called you here."

"I don't know who you are, so no, I don't think I can."

"Come on, Perseus. You killed my son."

"I've killed a couple of sons."

"Another of my sons visited you a while ago, carrying a message from me. His name was Gabriel."

"Oh. I know now. The Revelation. You want me to go through with it."

"Indeed. It's very important that you do."

"You want to wipe out the Earth. You want to commit genocide against the human race! And you expect me to go along with it. Besides, you can't possibly think it's going to happen, not with Jikous over there, proving that humanity perseveres long enough to create new Gods."

"When did I imply you mortals created him? Because let me get the record straight, he is a creation of the new creatures I will make in your stead. Think of it this way, Perseus. You mortals are flawed. To start over-"

"Flawed?" Percy scoffed. "It's said that you created humanity in your image. Maybe we aren't flawed, maybe we are perfect recreations of a flawed God. Maybe, you're fucked up, and we're fucked up because we are exactly what you made us to be."

Yahweh narrowed his eyes. "You should watch your tone. I am God! I am perfect! I am not 'fucked up' as you so eloquently put it."

"I'm just thinking out loud here, it only makes sense. After all, you're the one wanting to wipe out the existence of eight billion lives. That's a fucked up thing to want."

"When a forest fire ravages a forest, it is a chance for regrowth, to grow stronger than before. Secondary succession is a natural part of life."

"Oh, fuck off. Michael gave that same reasoning, I guess he got it from you. Eight billion lives, like it's fucking nothing. Although, what else should I expect from a vain and jealous God."

"This is no way to speak to your creator."

Percy scoffed. "I'm in a room full of Gods. You are no more my creator than the Flying Spaghetti Monster over there."

"I'd really rather you didn't bring me into this." The Flying Spaghetti Monster said from across the room. His voice sounded 'pasta-y'? It was strange.

"Maybe you need some motivation to do what you're supposed to. I wonder what you would do if Artemis was in trouble."

"How would Artemis being in trouble incentivise me to commit genocide? You'll kill her if I don't?I don't buy it. Cause, let's face it. If I were to bet on the two of you, I'd feel pretty damn comfortable betting on my wife."

"I don't think you understand just how–"

"No. I'm not doing it, end of story. I don't care how you try to spin it, how you try to convince me nor force me. I'm not doing it." Percy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the letter that had brought him there, before ripping it in one smooth motion.

A bright blinding light consumed his vision, and in a second, he was back in his throne room. He whirled around and saw Artemis in her throne. Mephistopheles was next

"How did it go?" Artemis asked.

"Fine." Percy said, walking to his throne and sitting down.

"What happened?"

"Nothing much. Met God, kind of a dick. Wants me to start the Revelation. I told him no." He sighed. "It was weird though. I thought he would give more pushback. Like, he did, but I would've figured he would have pulled out all the stops to try and convince me."

"So, what was the auction of souls?"

"Oh, apparently a bunch of Gods bid on dead people to decide where they go."

"Interesting. So you saw a bunch of Gods there?"

Percy nodded, before frowning. "Although, that was weird too. It seemed like a bunch were missing. They had all these like, pod things, and only half of them had a God in them. Something is off, I feel it."

"Are you sure?"

"You don't live as long as I have without noticing something is wrong." He knit his brows. "What if… What if God is planning something, doing something. And this… this was all a distraction?" He sighed. "I don't know, maybe I'm talking out of my ass."

"No, I think there is merit to your idea. You said something was off, and I trust your instincts."

"I just, I wish there was a way we could find out, you know. Like, if only we could delve… Wait." He turned to his Royal Advisor. "Mephistopheles."

"Yes, My Lord?"

"That first day I was here, there was a demon that Lucifer killed. He was fat, really hairy."

"Ah yes, Scoria, a brilliant inventor, however, quite foolish. What about… oh, I see."

"Would you care to explain?" Artemis asked.

Percy turned back to her. "There was a demon who met with Lucifer on my first day here. He said the throne should belong to him. His reasoning? He claimed he had dug into the mind of God. Could read his thoughts. If God really is planning something, this could be how we find out. And if he isn't, at least we'd know."

"Hmm."

He turned back to Mephistopheles. "Do you have any idea how he did this? If it's even something we can replicate?"

Mephistopheles stroked his red triangular goatee. "I would assume he would have some notes in his workshop. I will admit, I did not exactly explore the place when I left his corpse there."

"Where is his workshop?" Artemis asked.

"At the base of Mount Tchort, you will find a doorway. It can be hard to find. I could take you, if you'd like?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. We could use a guide." He looked at Artemis for confirmation.

She nodded. "Sounds good."

Percy rubbed his hands together. "Let's go delve into the mind of God, then."