After the war, Percy tended to have bouts of apathy. Long periods of time when he no longer cared about anyone or anything. The gods, the earth, his friend, and family. Anything he felt for them just tended to disappear when leaving nothing but an empty shell in its place. Those were the days when he didn't move from his bed, and all the air with a five-mile radius felt unbearably thick. Like it wasn't supposed to be filling their lungs at all. It felt wrong.
Those were the days that Poseidon felt his domains shake and tremble. He knew, he knew what his son was becoming, and it broke his immortal heart to know the pain that he would endure. It felt wrong not to be able to tell him what was happening, The Fates had forbidden him from doing so, and everyday he cursed their names more and more. It was days like these when he could tell that his son was become than something less that human. He was becoming something so godly that the universe itself was rocked on the days when Perseus Jackson no longer cared.
Still though, there was always a nagging feeling that something was off about his son. He was always acutely aware of his children's life force, he knew how they ebbed and flowed through out their lives, always responding to whatever situation they were in. Burning brightly when they were overjoyed and dim as the faintest star in the sky when experiencing an unimaginable amount of despair. He noticed it all. But Perseus was different, his life force had always been constant. Constantly burning as big and as bright as the sun. It was as if he had supposed to be eternal, and his soul, his very essence knew that and never waivered at any instance. And there were times when it burned bright red, big and angry and unpredictable.
There were times when Poseidon was sure his son would die, then his life force would flash and the situation would turn for the better, and he would breathe out a sigh of relief when his son lived to see another day. In no other words, there were days when his son felt incomplete, like something had been taken from him and Poseidon could never understand what had been taken.
Today, was one of those days when Perseus Jackson felt incomplete, and as he watched, Poseidon Epoptes could not help but fear that what the future held for his son.
Consciousness seeped into Wanda's body like venom, oozing into her body one limb at a time and then slowly moving the fog from her brain. Her eyes opened to the bright lights of the infirmary and without even an ounce of second thought, she used her powers to shut off the light.
"Well, I'm glad to finally see you awake." A voice said to the right of her. She had felt Vison's presence when she had woken up, but she hadn't particularly cared to acknowledge him at that moment.
"How long have I been out?" She asked as she sat up. Wincing as she felt sore muscles finally begin to move again. The synthezoid responded only a second after she asked the question.
"A week. You experienced a power surge that knocked out the power in the entire building. Tony only managed to repair is two days ago. What happened Wanda? The scans we did of showed that your brain experienced exceptional levels of activity unlike anything we've seen before."
The images of her vision flashed in front her eyes, and then she felt the pull in her heart. It was urging her somewhere, pulling her to someone and she couldn't understand for the life of her where the feeling was coming from. It felt familiar and foreign at the same time.
"I had a Vision, and I think something terrible is about to happen."
Wanda found herself standing in front of the Avengers. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark sat to the left and right of her. Bruce Banner stood as far away from her as possible, she could still feel the anger radiating off of him. Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton, her new mentors, sat close to the doors, they were trained spies after all so she didn't expect anything less from them. Sam Wilson and James Rhodes, sat by each other, having a conversation in hushed whispers that he didn't bother to listen in on. Finally, Thor stood over by the window with his arms folded tight against his chest.
"I-" She started, suddenly feeling like a child again. At only 18, she realized how much of a difference there was between her and them. There experience was so much different than her own. But she pushed that insecurity down and filled her voice with the power that she knew she possessed. Natasha and Clint looked at her with soft eyes, and then Wanda let herself speak.
"I had a vision." Her Sokovian accent filled the silence easily. "The images were dark, so I couldn't see much, but what I felt from them was unlike anything that I have ever felt before. It was powerful, ancient, and evil. I think that something is coming, something far more powerful than anything this world has ever seen, and I don't think we are prepared to face it."
For a few moments there was more silence, and then Wanda felt the wall of questions wash over her like a tidal wave. Sadly, she couldn't answer any of them herself, so she let herself sink under the tidal waves of curiosity.
"I don't know." She said quietly, but they didn't seem to understand.
"I don't know." She repeated, her voice rising slightly, and yet they all kept shouting and asking questions. They kept asking more and more questions, asking each other questions, or arguing, or asking her questions.
"I DON'T KNOW!" She yelled as her powers extended out from her. It slammed into each other the Avengers and pinned them to their chairs. She was surprised when the sprinklers started to pour down onto the entire team, and water soaked into everything. She quickly used her powers to stop it before releasing her hold on the avengers.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly.
"It's okay Wanda." Clint said to her as things began to calm down. "We're all just surprised. Ultron did a lot of damage and we're all trying to deal with that. Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"I think I need to find someone."
She said simply.
"There's this tugging in my heart and it doesn't hurt, but it aches. And, its like those days before, when Pietro would go out to find us food, and he didn't come back when he was supposed to and I would get so worried about him."
Clint nodded, sadness suddenly washing over him, Wanda's sadness.
"But it's also different." She said, "It felt like I'd known the person in my vision for my entire life, but I can't see their face and I don't know their name, but it's like I know that they need me, and I don't know why."
The team went silent. No one knew what to say to comfort the girl in front of them, but it was Tony Stark that broke the silence.
"Well Little Witch," The man of iron said as he stood to his feet. "Let's find your friend."
"You left your side open."
Percy said as he pointed out the flaw in the other demigod's form.
"I have trained with Achilles himself." Nico Di Angelo said in response.
"Still doesn't change the fact that you left your side open. Besides, I was there with you. We got the exact same experience."
Nico sent him a glare, but Percy responded with his trademark smile before raising his sword to challenge Nico once more. He braced himself as the son of Hades charged him and the two of them locked swords.
"You've changed Perce." Nico said in a strained voice. "You and Annabeth broke up, you're always in the water or training so we hardly ever see you, and your powers are insane. Your have more control over them than any of Poseidon's other children have. Believe me, I've spoken to both Theseus and Bellerophon, they say they didn't have nearly as much control as you then they were your age. Dude, you're all over the place."
Percy pushed the younger demigod back with a grunt and kept his guard up.
"Annabeth and I are fine Nico; we've been friends for years and she's still my best friend. We're just not in a relationship anymore. And, yeah, Ill give you the training thing, but I've just been feeling really worked up recently. And Theseus and Bellerophon, don't count, they've been dead for centuries, the gods influence over the world have made them more powerful, so by extension so have demigods."
Nico lowered his sword and narrowed his eyes at Percy.
"Whatever you say Percy." He said and dropped his sword into the shadows. "I've got to go. My father needs me to help with some rowdy souls. I'll see you later."
With a wave, Nico disappeared into the shadows of the training arena.
"See ya later then." He said to himself.
He capped his sword and took a deep breath. A few days ago, he had started feeling out of place in his own body. There was always the nagging feeling that something was wrong, or that something could go wrong at any possible moment. Then then there was the weird ache in his heart. It was a strange pull, quite unlike the feeling he got when he was using his powers, and it made him feel like he was missing something. Something important.
