Drowning.
That was a word Percy felt would aptly describe how he felt about the day he was having. Granted, he wasn't physically drowning, that would be ridiculous, but mentally…. Well, yeah, he was six feet under, and no one told him not to breathe.
He was in his thirties, had lived and fought through two divine wars, been a barista in a massive city, and yet the idea of a prophecy was enough to drag him under like a riptide. He should've been passed all this. He thought he was.
From Nyx to the Justice League, they all knew and positioned him in Raven's path, and he now understood why it had to be him out of everyone. Percy had lived the girl's journey already, and both parties were putting their bets on him to help her navigate it properly as well.
But what the fuck was properly anyways, and why did life always have to need a prophecy?
Percy lucked out with Luke gaining his final moments of clarity. He couldn't bet on the demon of hatred and evil to suddenly get a soft spot mid end of the world. Especially not the Demon Lord or whatever he was of Hate and Evil. Yet, both parties expected him to find a solution with the young girl.
So that begged a few questions….
What did Nyx want from Raven? The fourteen-year-old was the central pawn in the end of days by her father's hand. Yet, what stopped Nyx from handling The Demon herself and nullifying any prophecy from happening? Instead, she dangled Percy before his eyes as bait. To what end? Was this what led him to be 'bathed in blood' as Nyx said? Was he to walk into Hell and carve his way to a happy ending? She had seen him try in Tartarus and almost succeed at it too.
Yet, Fate was a fickle mistress. If Raven was damned to destroy the world, where in the ink did it say he would be able to fix that? What did Nyx think he could do against the Weavers of Destiny? Did the goddess want the end to happen? Did she want the destruction, and he was merely a bodyguard for the daughter? He'd like to think not, but what could he do to oppose her will? Nyx had made it clear years ago, back in the House of Night, that he only lived for her ends, for her will.
This was all part of her puzzle, her design. He was the beginning, the middle, and the end of it all. Yet, he didn't know the first thing about what he needed to do to make a difference for anyone.
He was caught in a riptide, powerless, and at the mercy of the Night who swept him out from the safety of land and deeper into her schemes. The irony wasn't lost on the son of Poseidon.
On the other hand of the equation, there was the Justice League. They were the on-paper good guys. They were the heroes out to protect everyone, and with Superman at the head of the cavalry, they were a force even Zeus played nice with.
If Clark wanted to save the Earth, and Raven was a ticking doomsday clock, what would they want to happen in the final seconds? "Be there for her" as Clark put it was lousy advice for dealing with the idea of an end-days scenario. Neither Gaia or Kronos went down because Percy was "there for them." No, there had been bloodshed.
Yet, that part of him that Percy buried beneath the depths of his heart, in a sea so black and deep no light would ever reach it, liked Clark's idea. He preferred it in comparison to being Nyx's thrall. So, if their wishes went against Nyx's was that where the blood came from that she promised? Would he have to face down the League, face down Superman?
Percy didn't want to think about it. His mind was overreacting, that was all. He just needed to breathe. Nyx wouldn't have put him in their path like this if she expected him to fight them. No, she wanted him to be a shepherd and a guide to Raven and the kids.
He could do that.
If somehow that was all she wanted from him, and he was overthinking everything else about her plotting, he would thank her. He could embrace that life, being Chiron to the next generation. It easily beat the alternatives.
Yet, life was cruel and fragile. It was so easy to break apart like glass, cutting everything as it fell apart.
However, as much as his clouded mind tumbled over the various questions that sprouted during and after his interview with Clark, he kept his emotions simmering lest he provoke the empath. He did not want her to worry about his drama and trauma. Consequently, Percy wasn't the reason for the growing hurricane-level storm outside. Someone else was fueling that monstrosity of a storm, and he knew who. But did he want to know why his father was so angered?
Percy knew he needed to see what was up, but as the day transitioned and he stood before Starfire, watching her amazement by his ability to bend the storm water to his will he felt himself catch a breath. But it was painful and raw. The glass of life that ripped his throat and heart open made the hell of Tartarus a stubbed toe in comparison, and he had died down there, if only for a moment. It also didn't help that he needed another dose of Phlegethon lest his condition get worse.
But why did he show her that? Why did he not just leave it at bending the rain away from her? Why did he not just turn and jump off the roof like he wanted to from the start and swim away from her bright green eyes and awed smile?
His father needed him, and he stood on that roof lost in memories, praying they would be as fleeting as tears in the rain. They weren't.
So, he had to put his foot down and willed himself away from the woman who had reached into his heart and mind. He jumped from the top of the Titan's Tower trusting in the sea to catch him without a second thought.
What a relief it was to join the mass of the ocean.
Beneath the waves, he could breathe.
In the depths of his father's stormy seas, he wasn't drowning anymore. He knew exactly where he stood, or rather swam, in the world, with an accuracy that would make satellites jealous. And in his mind, his plague of thoughts, cleared as they were replaced by the rumbling call of his father, like a horn echoing through distant mountains yet diluted by the distortion of the sea.
Percy willingly listened and gave in to the summoning. He blasted off at speeds that would make torpedoes look like snails. If Starfire had thought capable of following him over the edge of the roof, she'd be out of luck now that he was beneath the waves and easily ten miles out in less than a minute.
The ocean was his second home, only coming up short of his mother's house. Yet, it was a very close second as the saltwater soothed the subtle aches and pains of mortal aging, relieving that stress in the knees and the pain in the lower back. It swirled about him on its own like a masseur, and before Percy knew it, he felt the presence of his father's divinity manifest.
Poseidon wore an eccentric Hawaiian shirt. Palm leaves painted like sunsets littered a blue button-up with only the lowest four buttons done, leaving much of his father's upper chest exposed to the world. He wore brown leather sandals that looked fresh off the shelf with just as new khaki cargo shorts. Yet, instead of a fishing rod that he had seen the god of the seas wield, his symbol of power was on full display. The three golden glinting prongs of the trident were pointed upwards to the blackened storm above.
Under the direct presence of the god, the waves swelled, excited and large. They were far larger than what was natural. The same could be said for the storm above. The rain smashed against the ocean as if trying to pound the colossal waves flat, and in the black of the clouds, hidden in that pulsing darkness, lighting crashed into the sea in brilliant displays as if showing off for their god.
"Father," Percy bowed his head.
"Son," Poseidon reached out with his free hand, gripping the demigod's shoulder and breaking him from his submission. "I wish I was hailing you under better circumstances."
Percy forced a smile. His father was great in many ways, but he was just a god at the end of the day. It was not surprising he'd summon Percy for a means to an end. "What is it you need of me? And this won't summon any of the other Atlanteans will it?"
"They will see this storm and take it as an omen, I'm sure, but the only ones that can do something are too far away to react fast enough." His father sighed as he then pointed to the surface, "Follow me, will you? Zeus wants to witness this conversation."
Percy rolled his eyes but nodded as the two ascended to the surface of the water. The waves stilled around them in a twenty-yard radius, becoming calm as a windless day. Even the rain faded away, creating an eye of the storm in a perfect column above and below. Yet, just beyond the edge, the storm and sea were unrestrained in their grandeur of fury.
"The Olympian Council was surprised to see you move to the other side of the coast, son. Especially after the visitation of the resident heroes of the planet approached you. We were sure you would not make moves to join their effort after all your efforts to remain grounded in mortality." Poseidon paused, waiting for Percy to explain.
He just shrugged, "It is my life. How does Zeus' paranoia fit into today?"
Thunder rumbled, and not from any of the chaotic lighting. No, this was one much louder, much heavier, and lasting much longer than any roll of thunder would naturally. It was a warning from the King of Gods.
Percy ignored it.
"Ahem, well, we spoke, the council, that is," Poseidon began, moving on from his son's provoking nature. "Artemis and Apollo surveyed this new city, the locals, the heroes here, and naturally reported back to the rest of us. Athena then drew her conclusions as usual, and my brother did not like everything he heard."
Percy knew where this was going. After everything he learned today, from seeing Trigon in person to hearing the premise of the prophecy, Percy could only groan. "Right, let me cut you off. This is about Raven, the half-demon, isn't it?"
Another low groan of thunder echoed throughout the storm, louder than any of its partners. Poseidon nervously glanced above at the storm before slowly nodding to Percy. "It does, son."
"Everyone has stakes on her, but nobody is sharing much. All I've gotten is an evil father and a doomsday prophecy, so what is it that the council wants me to do without telling me why?"
His father readjusted his grip on the trident, his eyes darted to the gap in the storm above, and he licked his lips. "That is where we arrive at a problem, Percy." The demigod rolled his eyes. There was always a problem, a complication to make life interesting. "Some of the council, most of the council, believes in a proactive measure here. We wou—"
"Kill her?" Percy raised a brow at his father. "You want me to cut the head of the problem before it's a problem."
Poseidon winced, "Yes. That is the majority's wish."
"And you came to me because I'm already established next to her to do this, right?"
"There is no demigod like you, son." Percy knew his father meant those words, just the context soured them like a bad apple. "If she is truly the daughter of Trigon, there are few demigods capable of fighting her, much less beating her even if she is young."
"Why doesn't Zeus do this himself, then? We both know he'd risk the ancient laws for this. He did it before with Bianca and Nico back in the 40s trying to prevent a prophecy back then as well."
Another roll of thunder, but Percy didn't give it a second thought. Zeus wouldn't strike him down. No, they just made it clear they needed him. Plus, as much as Percy hated to admit it, Nyx would not allow Zeus to even hit him with a static shock from rubbing his socks on the carpet.
"Yes, that is a question. A great one even that Hermes posed as well. And of course, Athena had her two cents about demonic prophecies and occultism. She believes that the girl must be felled by a blade forged, blessed, and possessed by humankind."
"So, no divine smiting?" Percy summarized the bottom line. Nyx hadn't mentioned any blade, so he probably wouldn't be needing it.
Poseidon shook his head, "No. We must stay our hand."
"Naturally you want me to find this blade and kill her, then? Prevent the end of the world and all that?" Percy prodded.
"That is what the council wants, son."
Percy nodded, as he scratched his forehead, thinking over just how much more annoying things had become. It of course had to be him, because who else did the Fates like to put over a barrel?
"And if I told you that the Justice League already has me playing bodyguard for the girl? Protecting her life?"
The thunder that followed was much more. Percy was pretty sure Zeus just dropped more lighting in that single moment than the US army dropped drone strikes in the last year. The threat was laced in the ringing of Percy's ears as he winced. It was enough to remind Percy that Zeus only played nice when it was convenient for him.
"Percy, this is the end of the world that we are talking about. You fought twice already to stop it. I hate to force you on this path, but a third time is coming," his father said. "Her birth is proof enough. If what Athena has gleamed of the prophecy around her is true, then on her sixteenth birthday, Trigon will walk these lands and bring forth destruction that would be better used for a restarting point of all humanity."
It aligned with what Clark had said as well.
"Sweet sixteens am I right?" Percy scoffed, storing away the fact the gods would rather let the end of the world happen than combat Trigon. "Sure loved mine."
"I'm serious, son. This is a request from Olympus, call it a quest if you must. Find the blade. Cull the demons before the world ends."
"So the council wants, but what are your thoughts on this matter, father? Do you really expect me to kill an innocent girl? Because she is innocent, regardless of who her parent is."
His father's eyes glanced nervously to the sky before he met his sons. Even if he was a god, the eyes remained a window to the soul, and his father's were dark like the depths of the sea. There was no cheer or content to be found. There was only coldness and a lack of light, a lack of hope for a better answer.
"It is not a matter of my will, son."
"So do you disagree with the plan?"
Poseidon did not answer. Instead, there was a blinding flash of light, and there Zeus hovered above the calm waters, black business suit and all. His long and curly white hair and beard blew violently in the storm winds.
Father and son both turned to look up to the King of Olympus, who glared down at the two with a chorus of thunder that was so loud Percy could no longer hear it, but he felt it. Boy did he feel it. The tremors in his bones rattled around like wind chimes in a storm.
Before Tartarus Percy would've hesitated. Yet, now, after swearing away his soul to a deranged and possessive woman, Percy smirked up at the thunder god.
"This is not a matter of debate, Perseus," Zeus muttered, his whispers far louder than the storm around them. They could probably hear the god back at the Tower. "Slay the half-breed unless you want what's left of your family in the ground."
That was crossing a line.
Percy narrowed his eyes. His fist clenched at his waist as his gut twisted and burned.
He was not his father, yet the sea answered to his beck and call as if he was, for the Lord of the Seas offered no resistance to Percy's usurpation of the entire Pacific Ocean.
Even the hurricane around them shifted. No longer did it move towards the coast, but it was still in place, retracting even, onto the center of the storm, onto Zeus. The waves around them, once pushing with the winds, began to twist and twirl. The water sped up as a vortex began to open beneath the three's feet.
"What did you say?" Percy growled. He could take the King and drown him for eternity. Nobody would stop him either, for Nyx, who valued him too much, especially if half the bullshit about her wanting him for eternity was true, would firmly protect him if it meant his acceptance of her. They'd kill him, together. "You threaten my family and think I'll just roll over like a dog?"
"Careful, child. I value your prowess, but I will not weigh it against the greater life of this world."
Percy sneered at the god on his high horse. The burning sensation in his gut was spreading, yet he would endure for as long as Zeus antagonized.
"Tell him to send another demigod to do his work, darling," Nyx appeared in his mind. He could even feel that phantom sensation of her frigid hand on his lower back. Somehow, it seemed to reduce that burning sensation of overusing his divine gifts. "Then you can strike them down. Let them see for themselves that the girl is off-limits. It's the only way these gods will understand."
"She's under my protection, Zeus," Percy declared, rising to meet the god, eye to eye. "Raven is my ward."
"You forget your place, demigod."
"You forget who kept you in yours."
Zeus sneered. Lighting struck downwards towards Percy.
Three prongs intercepted it.
Poseidon's trident sent the bolt off into the distant horizon. The metal tips glowed hot as rainfall turned to white puffs of steam just touching them. "Try it again, brother, and I'll hide the girl myself."
"You both are foolish to permit her life. Apollo has seen the future already. As long as that girl breathes this reality is damned. She will succumb to her father, Perseus. Your efforts to prevent this are futile, for she is a demon. It is her nature to excite sin and chaos. Kill her now before your attachments grow too strong to overcome," Zeus ordered. "Your loyalty would damn us, child."
"Let me try, first. Before we consign her to death for being alive," Percy tried to reason. "Give me a year or so. If things remain bleak, then I will find whatever blade or power I need to set things right."
"That isn't your choice to make, love," Nyx whispered in his ear, her breath was like Arctic winds on his skin. "We need her alive."
We? Not just you?
She did not answer.
Zeus shook his head in denial. "A year is already too much time, too much risk."
"We have till she's sixteen," Poseidon added. "This is Father all over again, brother. Give my son a chance as you did then."
Percy nodded, quickly piggybacking on his father's comparison. "Look, Zeus, you didn't blast me that night when Thalia surrendered the burden to me. Nor did you smite me any month after. You clearly had some level of faith in me back then to do the impossible, have some now. After all I've done, you don't think I am powerless now, do you?"
They both knew the answer. All of those who were familiar with today's Greek and Roman pantheon whispered Percy's name with reverence. He may not be a fan of it, but he did earn his honors at the end of the day.
Zeus turned his nose away, his eyes glancing at the whirlpool of water below him and the eye of the storm above him. He hissed, cursing Chaos under his breath before he leveled his gaze on father and son.
"A year it is." He pointed the Master Bolt at Percy. Small stray bolts sporadically discharged collecting in Zeus' beard. "Then you will obey, and if you cannot, then you will need more than the Pacific to deal with me."
Percy knew what came next and closed his eyes as the world flashed around him. When he opened them again, the King of the Gods was gone. The demigod looked over at his father, surrendering control of the sea back to him along with the storm above.
"Thanks for, y'know, letting me take it."
Poseidon nodded. He looked older than he did when the conversation first started. His hair had greyed much and the once casual wear was now light leather armor. It warmed Percy's heart to know his father was so willing to fight for him. Most demigods didn't have parents like that.
"You remain the same boy you were twenty years ago. I do not know why they feel the need to threaten your mother and sister. They act as if that will ever temper the sea inside of you, but all it does is fuel the storm."
Percy shrugged, letting himself fall beneath the sea and away from Zeus's ever-present ear. "I'm not killing her," he told his father. "I cannot."
Poseidon gave him a small, tired smile of a man who had made more than his fair share of regrets. "I knew you'd oppose this. His requests anger me too. For him to have it placed upon you…. Well, the storm was the safest outlet for my feelings on the matter."
Safest…. Sometimes he forgot the scope of just who his dad was. The scope of what he could do on a whim or in a foul mood at its safest was hurricane level. Yet, even then, he and eleven other Olympians would rather let Trigon's wrath pass before they directly fought it. Would it be better for everyone if he tried to handle things now?
How far were the three parties willing to let things go for their own ends?
"The others do not matter," Nyx whispered, her voice circling his head, taunting him even in his father's domain. "There is only my plan. It is the only way the stars will remain to shine on planets like yours."
"Dad?" Percy asked hesitantly. "What if… what if there was something else that prevented me from killing her? Besides the rights and wrongs of the situation. What if it boiled down to the simple fact I could not do it, what would happen?"
Poseidon frowned. He contemplated the thought for a moment, brows furrowed as he stared out into the distant sea. "Then Olympus would send another to do it, or as many as they needed to get it done. She is a superior threat if used against us."
"And if I still stood in the way?"
The sea god's eyes narrowed as he turned back to his son. His darkened gaze traveled over the demigod as if seeing him for the first time, evaluating him under a different light. "Then I pray there is a reason worthy of the bloodshed."