Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy was terrified, he didn't want to sleep. Sleeping meant nightmares. Nightmares of what he’d done…in…the pit. Sleeping meant reliving that horrid moment. 

He didn't want to. He was scared, scared of himself. He thought he had everything under control. He thought his powers weren't a big deal. Sure he blew up a volcano once, but that was it. He was sure he wouldn't lose control of his powers again.

But he did, and he’d happily tortured a goddess. He laughed, he smiled, gleamed at her suffering. 

Poison…Poison wasn’t part of his father’s domain…then why could he control it? He shouldn’t have been able to! He didn't…

He chuckled bitterly. He’d done the impossible again. But this time, it actually affected him. Because no one should have been able to control things that weren’t in their powers. Nor should they have been able to force a deity’s domain against them. 

He was scared. If he lost control again…what would he do? What could he do? Did the gods know about what he did? They would surely kill him if they did. If his father saw what he’d done, surely he’d think of him as a monster.

He doesn't even know anymore. He’s confused. He remembers very well, what happened with Akhlys, and he really really, wished he didn't. Poseidon was the god of the seas, oceans or whatever, and definitely not of…poisons. Poisons were not water, liquid sure, but water? Big no. He was the son of Poseidon, so what was with that stunt he did down there? And he was sure something in his gut cracked, like a glass ball that fell, and shattered into a million pieces piercing at his skin. 

And the terrified look on Annabeth’s face…He’s been with her for years, and not once has she ever looked so terrified. They’ve faced countless battles and quests together, and yet the first time she’s actually actually terrified, it’s by his hands. He thought he was a monster, torturing a goddess with their own domain, making her beg for mercy…but he really did want to see how much misery Misery could take…Who knows what she was thinking at that moment? 

Sometimes, he feels like he’s been possessed, if Tartarus didn't already make him go insane, his thoughts sure would’ve.

Poison is a liquid, and you were able to control it, so what else is a liquid? B—

Shut up, dont finish that sentence. He thought, he didn't need more problems on his plate, is Gaia controlling his brain? Theres no way he’d actually be able to think about all this. In all his Seaweed Brain-ness. He frowned, he’d thought that ambrosia, and some water would heal him, but his body still ached, his skin itched, maybe from all those blisters he got down there, maybe it was the death mist(he still didn't know how that worked) His fingers were sore, most likely from all the killing he’d done. 

He’s never been afraid of his powers, or himself, he’s never done anything to be afraid. Sure he could summon big waves, was excellent with swords, did some other stuff, nothing was too bad. He didn’t understand why people looked so scared of him.

You exploded an entire volcano when you were 15, almost killing yourself in the process. You faced Kronos, and killed probably as many monsters as Hercules at this point. His mind whispered to him. When would it shut up? He groaned, he was so tired of everything, and guess what? Gaia is still causing havoc, and probably about to destroy camp-half blood, and camp Jupiter soon. They definitely need to hurry up, because apparently, the almighty gods, couldn’t help to save the world they lived in. 

He thinks back to when he asked his mom, his amazing, wonderful mom, Sally—oh no, she wasn’t informed of anything, sure he sent a message to her a while ago, but he was never sure if she received it, his mother who did everything she could to protect him, risking her life and freedom, and being the wonderful son he is—goes missing for half a year, and then goes missing again. Probably scaring her to death. He’ll really have to visit her after all this is over, that is, if he survives. 

Anyways, he remembers asking his mother why she named him “Perseus”, after all, you dont really go around to find anyone named after famous greek heroes, in fact, other than the actual greek gods and heroes, he’s the only person he knows that’s named after one. Awkward, doesn't help that he hates formalities, and Perseus sounds too formal for his liking. Of course every monster decides to call him that anyways. His mother told him that Perseus was one of the few or maybe only greek heroes that got a happy ending, and was hoping he’d somehow get his luck. Ironically, his life has been anything but lucky.

He’s never liked all the attention he’s getting. When he was younger, he’d destroyed schools, and people looked at him like he was some insane kid, then he grew up, and found out his dad is apparently, a god, and one of the big three, then people start looking at him weird again. Then he goes on some quests, and then finds out he might be part of a big world destroying prophecy, go on some more quests, find out the Titan king is rising, and someone’s volunteering to host him. Go into war, and then afterwards, of course, people start looking at him weird again. Because they fear you And people’ll tell exaggerated stories of him at the campfire. He left every time they told stories, he was tired of protesting that he didn't actually do all that, and it’s real awkward when you exaggerate a story, and the person’s right there.

“He’s so modest! Always denying everything!” They’d say, he’s not modest, he’s just…telling the truth. He had lots of help during all his quests, and it’s not like he took down Kronos by himself, Luke technically killed him…by killing himself, he’s pretty sure he was hardly the hero there. Some campers started looking at him as if he was some sort of god, he felt really uncomfortable sometimes with all the staring. He just wants to live a normal mortal life, with his girlfriend, and go to collage, and grow up together—is that really such a difficult thing to ask for? 

He would go take a swim to keep his mind busy, but it’s odd, he’s never wanted to be in the ocean so badly before, maybe he just really wants to after Tartarus—there was no water down there, only fire water, that he did not want to take a dip in, misery water, and forget-your-memories water, that he definitely didn't want to take a dip in—Lethe, Bob…Damasen, who sacrificed themselves so that he and Annabeth could leave Tartarus. He’s suddenly angry, angry that life could be so unfair, angry that he couldn't be better to save them. So many others have died because of him—

Somethings cant be avoided, bloodshed cant be avoided when you’re a demigod, on dangerous missions.

He blinks, definitely wasn’t expecting his mind to help him at all after all those remarks about Ahklys. However, this voice sounded softer, comforting, unlike the other one that was harsher, and cold. Yep, its official, he’s going crazy. He sighed.

Chapter Text

Annabeth, was confused, and terrified, which bothered her, as a daughter of Athena, she usually knew everything. Tartarus didn't count, that place was crazy, like Alice in Wonderland, somethings made zero sense. She felt that if she’d stayed any longer, her brain would’ve exploded from how odd that place was. 

Now, why was she terrified? She didn’t want to admit it, but the issue was her boyfriend—Percy. Sure, she’d always known that he could be scary, especially in battle. But he almost never was, he was always just a chill, goofy, troublemaker. Who also downplayed everything he did.

“Oh yeah, I totally didn't fight the titan lord, and aided in killing him!”

“I totally didn't blow up a entire volcano by causing an earthquake and making people think I died because it was really bad!!”

Stupid Seaweed Brain, he’s so irritating sometimes, for what reason? She’ll be talking to some other campers of what he’s done, and he’ll come right over, “Annabeth! You’re exaggerating!” And say a bunch of other stuff. He’s the only one who thinks he cant do something, and then somehow end up doing it anyways. But sometimes, he should’ve just not thought about it in the first place. Poison, what was he thinking?! She could understand that they were desperate, half dead, and was about to be fully dead by the hands of an old, depressed goddess, but still, he should not have been able to do that.

She remembered, too clearly—everything. Ahklys’ screams for mercy, her gagging on her own poison, and Percy—His face, that was not the seaweed brain she knew. She tried, very hard, to try and keep her voice confident and firm, to prevent her face from showing fear clearly in the entirety of Tartarus, if the monsters didn't know you were scared, and if you acted like you knew what you were doing, you probably had a higher chance to survive by thinking of some random crazy plan. Percy stayed by her side, he was the one that looked terrified, they were in hell. Is it ironic that the first time she showed her fear in Tartarus, was because of Percy, when all he’s done was try and calm her down?

He was down on one knee, his clothes were covered in dirt, blood, and grime, small holes splattered on it. She’d thought he’d died, they were covered in death mist, it wasn't hard to imagine, he looked pale, his sea green eyes were dim, as if he’d given up. She’d tried to keep Ahklys’ attention off of him, trying the trick he used earlier to compliment her. But she paid no attention to her. She saw him choking, coughing, she looked at him terrified, they’ve gone so far, she couldn't lose him, not now.

And then he smiled, about to die painfully by the hands of a goddess, he smiled. The poison stopped coming towards him. And then. It shot towards the goddess. Annabeth has never been more confused than she was in that moment. Evil goddess, that controls poison, because it’s her domain, suddenly stops torturing this demigod, that was fighting her. And her poison, flies back at her?! She remembers standing there, shocked, but then, the goddess starts coughing, gagging, as if she ate something and it didn't go down her throat properly.

And if that wasn’t already confusing enough for her already too confused brain. The goddess starts crying. And then she coughs even more. And begs for mercy, from Percy. The Percy that always gave mercy, because he hated seeing anyone in pain. The Percy who’d hesitated to kill Polyphemus, just because he was crying. There he was, choking a goddess with her own domain. She looked at him, and froze. His eyes were no longer sea green—they were the same color as the poison, a dark, muddy green, that promised pain and suffering, glowing in the dark. Despite being covered in death mist, his skin shimmered, as if he’d been sprinkled with glitter. Then, she caught sight of his smile, too full of teeth, which she could’ve sworn were pointed like knifes, it didn't fit on his face, it didn't fit on her Seaweed Brain’s face. His words were harsh, cold, sharp like daggers. When he spoke to her.

Had it be taken out of context, you would’ve thought he was the villain, and Ahklys was the unfortunate victim. She wanted to cry, she was scared, terrified, at her own boyfriend. But yet, at the same time, Ahklys had betrayed them, and planned on torturing them to death with poison. He was giving her a taste of her own medicine. But she knew it was wrong. Despite how much she thought Ahklys deserved it.

She had barely been able to choke out her words. “P-percy…Percy stop!” She had prayed. She looked him in his eyes. Hoping that he’d stop. Because it terrified her, he terrified her. He didn't bulge, still staring at the goddess’ suffering with glee. “Perseus!” She screamed, she knew that he didn't like being referred to by his full name, but if it meant she could get his attention, and get her seaweed brain back, then she didn't care. He stopped for a moment, looking at her, and she saw his expression soften, before becoming a mix of worry, relief, and terror. His hands fell. And Ahklys coughed out again. 

“Leave!” He had yelled, and for some odd reason, she had wanted to run away too, if she did, she felt like everything would be solved—

She was taken out of her thoughts as he (tried) to walk towards her. He looked terrible, he looked tired, his eyes returned to sea green again. His teeth were normal. He held on to her. 

“Percy…some things…please—try not to do that again.” She had wanted to say that he never do it again, but she understood he was trying to protect them. As much as she wanted to deny it, he’d protected them, it would be unwise to tell him to never do it again, if they’d gotten into a similar situation—or worse.

“Yeah…yeah…okay…” He muttered. She hugged him. She was so relived he was alright. All they had to do, was figure out a couple more things, and hopefully, find the doors of death, and come out alive.

Then, they’d gotten out, and collapsed. Tired, starving, almost dead. They’d collapsed when the elevator dinged, hoping their friends would come get them. She had no energy left, and Percy looked drained.

Now she was on the Argo II. She couldn't fall asleep, she looked at the stars, and sighed. 

”Bob says hello.” Percy had said earlier, he sat next to her, holding her close. Of course, Bob and Damasen who sacrificed themselves so they could leave. Even though they had wanted to see the sun and stars for so long. They sat there for a while, then decided to go to sleep. Since they’d need energy to fight. She had left her room, because she felt cramped. She heard noises from Percy’s room.

She got up, and headed for Percy’s room. She wanted to talk, alone, if he was indeed awake.

Chapter Text

Percy really did not want to leave Annabeth’s side after everything that’s happened, but they’d suggested that for their next destination, he had to. She’d gone with Piper and Jason to find out some information on where to go, and hopefully a bit of Gaia’s plans.

Then they’d came back, Annabeth and Piper were both fine, but Jason had a bad wound and was still bleeding. Then he’d found out Jason got stabbed, by a Celestial Bronze sword. He’d felt real bad about not being able to help them, and just sitting on the Argo II worrying about himself the whole time.

 Then they had to find Nike, no, not the clothing brand, Nike the goddess of victory, and they had to beat her, the goddess of victory. 

You’re pretty good at going against immortals beings, why are you so scared? His mind told him. He didn't want to think about Ahklys it, so he pushed the thought away. 

“Hey, Percy,” Leo said, throwing him out of his thoughts. “remember that statue of Nike in the museum? The one that was all in pieces?”

“Yeah?”

“Didn’t it used to stand here, at the Temple of Zeus? Feel free to tell me I’m wrong. I’d love to be wrong.”

Percy’s hand went to his pocket. He slipped out his pen, Riptide. “You’re right. So if Nike was anywhere…this would be a good spot.”

Frank scanned their surroundings. “I don’t see anything.”

“What if we promoted, like, Adidas shoes?” He said jokingly. “Would that make Nike mad enough to show up?”

Leo laughed nervously, Percy nearly frowned. Sure he just came back from hell a while ago, but he doesn't understand why everyone’s so wary of him.

“Yeah, I bet that would totally be against her sponsorship deal. THOSE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL SHOES OF THE OLYMPICS! YOU WILL DIE NOW!” 

Hazel rolled her eyes. “You’re both impossible.”

Percy smiled, at least someone shared the same weird humor as him. 

Then suddenly, behind Leo, a thunderous voice shook the ruins. “YOU WILL DIE NOW!!” 

Percy jumped, and saw his friends did too. 

Towering over Leo in a golden chariot, with a spear aimed at his heart, was the goddess Nike.

Percy looked at Nike, she had a chariot with two white horses. He saw Nike’s glittering sleeveless dress, and guilt filled him as he remembered Calypso, but he was also angry at her for cursing Annabeth. Nike had dark hair in braids, and her head was circled with a gilded laurel wreath.

Her eyes were wide, and she looked crazy with that expression. Leo stared at her, in many different emotions. And then he looked at her wings, every feather was golden, it looked beautiful, but his eyes were starting to hurt, they were way too bright. 

Leo broke the silence. “Lady,” he said, “could you fold your flappers, please? You’re giving me a sunburn.” Percy scoffed at how he was talking to the goddess, but he couldn’t be talking with his lack of manners to immortal beings. 

“What?” Nike’s head jerked like a startled chicken’s. “Oh…my brilliant plumage. Very well. I suppose you can’t die in glory if you are blinded and burned.”

Another weird, crazy, goddess, who wants them to die, how fun! As if he hasn’t met enough of them already.

He was confused on what he should do, should he say something, fight her or…?

Leo glanced at Frank, then at Hazel, then at him. Frank just stood there, and Hazel was having trouble with Arion. Everyone stood in silence again.

“So!” Leo suddenly said, pointing his index fingers at Nike. “I didn’t get the briefing, and I’m pretty sure the information wasn’t covered in Frank’s pamphlet. Could you tell me what’s going on here?”

Nike glared at them, and he was starting to feel uncomfortable. 

“We must have victory!” the goddess shrieked. “The contest must be decided! You have come here to determine the winner, yes?” 

He had no idea what she was talking about, and he had no idea what to say.

Frank cleared his throat. “Are you Nike or Victoria?” 

And then she clutched her head, and started groaning. Her form flickered and she kinda split into two, the two forms looking very different. 

She started screaming about victory and games or something along with the other form. Percy didn't pay attention.

“Nike,” Hazel said, stepping forward slowly, “you’re confused, like all the gods. The Greeks and Romans are on the verge of war. It’s causing your two aspects to clash.

“I know that!” The goddess shook her spear, the tip rubber-banding into two points. “I cannot abide unresolved conflict! Who is stronger? Who is the winner?”

“Lady, nobody’s the winner,” Leo said. “If that war happens, everybody loses.” Percy nodded.

Her form started to flicker again.

“Silence!” She screamed. “There will be a victor, the rest are losers! There are four of you, no? Excellent! Then we will have teams! Girls verses boys?”

Hazel looked ill “..Uh…no…”

“Shirts versus skins!”

“Definitely no,” said Hazel.

“Greeks versus Romans!” Nike cried. “Yes, of course! Two and two. The last demigod standing wins. The others will die gloriously.” 

Percy sighed, what was with her and ‘dying gloriously’?

“How about…no?” Percy said

“But why not?” Nike said, “The winner will win both glory and honor!” She reached into a basket and a laurel of thick green leaves appeared. 

“We don’t fight each other. We fight the giants. You should help us.” Frank said

“Very well!” She said.

He looked at Leo, both confused. 

“…Does that mean you’ll help us…or…”

”That will be part of the prize! Whoever wins, I shall consider you an ally and aid you! However only one can be the winner! The rest must be destroyed, dead!”

Percy was so tired of this goddess, he uncapped his pen and pointed the the sword at the goddess. “How about we fight you instead?” He suggested.

She laughed. “Foolish! You all will fight each other, to the stadium! You have 5 minutes to prepare, before blood is spilled!”

Percy wanted to object, before she yelled. “Go! Or my Nikai will kill you!”

Percy groaned.

They ran, and Metal ladies chased them, he was running out of breath, but those stupid metal ladies wouldn’t let them stop.

They fell to a stop, and he started wheezing, his lungs were not working well.

“Are the gone?” He asked hopefully.

“Nope, we’re where they want us now.”

“So…got any plans that doesn’t involve going at each other’s throats?” Leo asked.

“I could manipulate the mist, I’m sure Nike would like an obstacle course.”

“We’ve got to get her under control, we need to catch her off guard.” Frank said.

“And how do we do that?” Percy asked. “Bonk her on the head and stuff her in a sack?”

”Actually…you’re not too far off.” Leo smirked at them. 

Chapter Text

They had a plan, don't know how they’ll pull it off, but he’s sure they can. Leo handed them a bunch of things, Leo gave him some grenades, and explained what every button did. Well, most of them.

The sound of trumpets echoed through the stadium. Nike’s chariot appeared on the field, the Nikettes arrayed in front of her with their spears and laurels raised.

“Begin!” the goddess bellowed.

He and Leo sprinted through the archway. Immediately, the field shimmered and became a maze of brick walls and trenches. They ducked behind the nearest wall and ran to the left. Back at the archway, Frank yelled, “Uh, die, Graecus scum!” A poorly aimed arrow sailed over Leo’s head. Percy had to stop himself from laughing, that arrow was aimed as bad as he could.

“More vicious!” Nike yelled. “Kill like you mean it!”

Leo glanced at him, and he took out a bronze grenade. “Die, Romans!” he yelled, and threw the grenade over the wall.
BOOM! He couldn’t see the explosion, but the smell of buttery popcorn filled the air.

“Oh, no!” Hazel wailed. “Popcorn! Our fatal weakness!” Percy had to try really hard not to burst out laughing at the scene.

Frank shot another arrow over their heads. Somewhere behind them, Nike yelled, “Try harder! That popcorn was not fatal!”

Okay, this goddess was getting on his nerves, if they didn’t hurry up with their plan, he’ll probably do something he’ll regret—alot.

“I wish that river was closer. I want to drown her.” He muttered, but as soon as those words left his mouth, he regretted it. Lets not put ‘drowning’ and ‘goddess’ in the same sentence again, thank you. The walls shifted, and they ran towards a Nikai. Leo distracted it, and he appeared behind, and stabbed it with riptide.

“Foul!” the victory goddess cried. The walls shifted and Leo looked at her. “You don’t attack the Nikai unless you wish to die!”

Out of the corner of his eye, maybe fifty feet away, Frank the grizzly bear jumped from the top of a wall and flatten another Nikette. Two Bronze ladies down, two more to go.

“No!” Nike screamed in outrage. “No, no, no! Your lives are forfeit! Nikai, attack!”

Him and Leo leapt behind a wall. He heard more noises behind them. The ground rumbled as another grenade exploded, sending spirals of whipped cream into the sky.

“That’s Hazel’s signal,” Leo said. “They’ve taken down another Nikette.”

“Then theres only one left—“ Percy was cut off by Hazel’s scream.

Leo immediately got up.

”Dude, wait!” He cried

Leo ran towards Hazel, Percy got up too, she was limping away from the crazy metal lady, like really bad, and her left leg was bleeding.

“I’ll help her,” He said. “You stick to the plan. Get Nike’s chariot.”

”But the plan was to eliminate all four Nikettes first!” Leo said, staring at Percy.

“So change the plan and then stick to it!”

“That doesn’t even make sense, but go! Help her!

He rushed to Hazel’s defence. Leo darted towards Nike, yelling, “Hey! I want a participation award!”

“Gah!” The goddess turned her chariot in his direction. “I will destroy you!”

“Good!” Leo yelled. “Losing is way better than winning!”

Saying that to the goddess of victory? Oh she was about to get so mad—

“WHAT?” Guessed it.

Nike threw her mighty spear, but her aim was off. Her weapon skittered into the grass. unfortunately, a new one appeared in her hands.

She urged her horses to a full gallop. The trenches disappeared, leaving a completely open field.

“Hey!” Frank yelled from across the stadium. “I want a participation award, too! Everybody wins!”

He shot a well-aimed arrow that landed in the back of Nike’s chariot and began to burn. Nike ignored it. Her eyes were fixed on Leo.

“..Percy….?” Leo squeaked, Percy heard shuffling. But he was too busy keeping the last crazy metal lady away.

“Percy!” Leo yelled. “Operation Water Balloon!” Percy heard him, but he was a little busy still fighting the crazy metal lady. Then he got hit with the butt of her spear and he fell backwards. He stumbled, the Nikai almost killed him, but Leo suddenly melted her face right off. Caught off guard, Hazel then stabbed it from behind. 

Leo threw another bomb, and a geyser erupted on Nike. Then Hazel fell, so he caught her, but now Leo was alone. 

“YOU!” Nike glared at Leo, who froze in fear. “You dare?”

Leo smiled, it was forced, but he smiled. “I know, right? I’m awesome! Do I win a leaf hat now?”

“You will die!” The goddess raised her spear. Percy held his breath.

“Hold that thought!” Leo dug around in his tool belt. “You haven’t seen my best trick yet. I have a weapon guaranteed to win any contest!”

Nike hesitated. “What weapon? What do you mean?”

“My ultimate zap-o-matic!” He pulled out another one of those Arch-something spheres, the thing he was fixing before they entered the stadium. “How many laurel wreaths have you got? Because I’m gonna win them all.”

Leo fiddled with it, but he looked nervous. “Behold!” Leo clicked something else.. The sphere opened. One side elongated into a gun handle. The other side unfolded into a miniature radar dish made of Celestial bronze mirrors.

Nike frowned. “What is that supposed to be?”

“An Archimedes death ray!” Leo said. “I finally perfected it. Now give me all the prizes.”

“Those things don’t work!” Nike yelled. “They proved it on television! Besides, I’m an immortal goddess. You can’t destroy me!”

“Watch closely,” Leo said. “Are you watching?”

Nike most likely could’ve smited him, or speared him like a cheese wedge, but she only looked curiously. She stared straight into the dish as Leo flipped the switch.

A blazing beam of light flashed, and he looked away too slow, it left him with a blurry, and dot filled vision.

“Gah!” The goddess staggered. She dropped her spear and clutched at her eyes. “I’m blind! I’m blind!”

Leo hit another button on his sphere, then tossed it at the goddess’s feet. 

FOOM! Metal filaments shot upward, wrapping Nike in a bronze net. She wailed, falling sideways as the net constricted, forcing her two forms—Greek and Roman—into a quivering, out-of-focus whole.

“Trickery!” Her doubled voices buzzed like muffled alarm clocks. “Your death ray did not even kill me!”

“I don’t need to kill you,” Leo said. “ I vanquished you just fine.”

“I will simply change form!” she cried. “I will rip apart your silly net! I will destroy you!”

“Yeah, see, you can’t.” Leo said confidently, Percy hoped it was true, they do not need a crazy goddess going even more crazy. “That’s high-quality Celestial bronze netting, and I’m a son of Hephaestus. He’s kind of an expert on catching goddesses in nets.”

“No. Nooooo!” She wailed. 

Leo left her thrashing and cursing, and then turned to his direction. Frank had propped Hazel up and was feeding her ambrosia. The cut on her leg had stopped bleeding, though her jeans were pretty much ruined.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Just too much magic”

“You were awesome, Levesque.” Leo did his best Hazel imitation: “Popcorn! Our fatal weakness!” She smiled wanly. Together the four of them walked over to Nike, who was still writhing and flapping her wings in the net like a golden chicken, an angry, crazy, golden chicken.

“What do we do with her?” He asked.

“Take her aboard the Argo II,” Leo said. “Chuck her in one of the horse stalls.”

Hazel’s eyes widened. “You’re going to keep the goddess of victory in the stable?”

“Why not? Once we sort things out between Greeks and Romans, the gods should go back to their normal selves. Then we can free her and she can…you know…grant us victory.”

“Grant you victory?” the goddess cried. “Never! You will suffer for this outrage! Your blood shall be spilled! One of you here—one of you four—is fated to die battling Gaia!” Yay, there it is again, wow, so excited to fight a possibly world ending war, and die! I totally didn't want to just live a normal life with my girlfriend! 

Leo looked very sick. “How do you know that?”

“I can foresee victories!” Nike yelled. “You will have no success without death! Release me and fight each other! It is better you die here than face what is to come!”

Hazel stuck the point of her spatha under Nike’s chin. “Explain.” Her voice was harder than he’s had ever heard. “Which of us will die? How do we stop it?”

“Ah, child of Pluto! Your magic helped you cheat in this contest, but you cannot cheat destiny. One of you will die. One of you must die!”

“No,” Hazel insisted. “There’s another way. There is always another path.”

“Hecate taught you this?” Nike laughed. Percy wanted to punch her so bad. “You would hope for the physician’s cure, perhaps? But that is impossible. Too much stands in your way: the poison of Pylos, the chained god’s heartbeat in Sparta, the curse of Delos! No, you cannot cheat death.”

Frank knelt. He gathered up the net under Nike’s chin and raised her face to his. “What are you talking about? How do we find this cure?”

“I will not help you,” Nike hissed. “I will curse you with my power, net or no!” She began to mutter in Ancient Greek.

Frank looked up, scowling. “Can she really cast magic through this net?”

“Heck if I know,” Leo said.

Percy grit his teeth, this goddess was causing them so many issues. And he hasn't been having a good week even after getting out of Tartarus, he was expecting to chill a bit after going through literal hell, but no! These unbearable deities just have to piss him off.

“SHUT. UP.” He growled. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it definitely want the goddess actually shutting up, and staring at him wide eyed. Along with his friends. Then she shook her head, and stared at him, as if she’d just noticed who he was. And smiled, unnervingly at him. All her anger seemed to subside.

“Perseus, no? I’ve seen your adventures through Tartarus! And I must say, interesting!” She stared at him, directly.

“How do you—” He began to speak. Annabeth had told him there was no communication down there(except for that Hermes shrine, but it didn't really count.) but she cut him off.

“I am victory! I see every victorious battle that happens, and I have seen many from you. Although one has caught my eye, your encounter with Ahk—“ 

Percy glared at her. Panic filling up. “You, shut up, right now!” He hissed. She did. He could not tell anyone, no one could know except him and Annabeth. No one could know he willingly tortured a goddess.

“Leo, you got duct tape? Tape her mouth shut.” Percy said, voice too cold, he hoped he didn't scare his friends.

Of course they’d be scared, they always were of you. 

“Yeah man, never leave home without it.” Leo joked. Percy sensed saw he was nervous. He really didn't mean to lose his temper on the goddess, she was just…pushing him…

Leo gave him the duct tape, Nike started shrieking and thrashing around. “NO! Don't you dare!—“ Percy made a messy ball of duct tape and shoved it in her mouth, then circled her mouth with duct tape. Percy sighed and handed the duct tape back to Leo.

“Well…its not a laurel wreath,” Frank started “But its a new type of victory circle: the gag of duct tape” 

Leo chuckled, “Zhang, you got style.”

Nike continued thrashing around

”MHMPH!! HMM!” Percy guessed she was saying something like, there needs to be victory, you cant chain me up, go fight to the death and die in glory or something.

”So…” Hazel said nervously. “We got one chained up goddess, now what?”

Frank folded his arms. “We go looking for this physician’s cure…whatever that is. Because personally, I like cheating death.”

Leo grinned, the creepy atmosphere he caused earlier, now dissipating. “Poison in Pylos? A chained god’s heartbeat in Sparta? A curse in Delos? Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun!”

Chapter Text

Piper and Frank left to try and find poison for the quest. He didn’t pay attention to anything, he was busying keeping his eye on a giant, overly red, sea serpent.

“That thing is really red, wonder if it’s cherry flavored…” He muttered.

“Why don’t you swim over and find out?” Annabeth asked.

“How about no.”

“Anyway,” Frank said, “according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we’re looking for in Sparta is my dad…uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them.”

“Oo-kay,” Leo said. “The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we’ve got Victory tied up downstairs, so I guess we can’t talk.”

“On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god’s heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?”

Percy sensed noticed Piper’s concern and worry, she looked sadly at Jason.

“Piper?” Hazel asked.

She stirred. “Sorry, what?”

“I was asking you about the visions,” Hazel prompted. “You told me you’d seen some stuff in your dagger blade?”

“Uh…right.” Piper hesitantly unsheathed Katoptris. 

“I, um…” She stuttered, hesitating. “I don’t see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth and I are exploring some ruins—“

“Ruins!” Leo rubbed his hands. “Now we’re talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?”

“Quiet, Leo,” Annabeth scolded. “Piper, do you think it was Sparta?”

“Maybe,” Piper said. “Anyway…suddenly we’re in this dark place like a cave. We’re staring at this bronze warrior statue. In the vision I touch the statue’s face and flames start swirling around us. That’s all I saw.”

“Flames.” Frank scowled. “I don’t like that vision.”

“Me neither.” Percy said, still keeping an eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves. “If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo.”

Annabeth looked at him like, ‘Are you serious?’

“I love you too, man.” 

“You know what I mean. You’re immune—“

You exploded a volcano while in it. And didn't die from the heat.

”If Piper saw the two of us going after the statue, then that’s who should go. We’ll be all right. There’s always a way to survive.”

“Not always,” Hazel warned.

Considering how she apparently actually died, then came back to life, her observation sort of killed the mood.

Frank held out the vial of poison “What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison.”

“Store it securely in the hold,” Annabeth said. “For now, that’s all we can do. Once we figure out this chained god situation, we’ll head to the island of Delos.”

“The curse of Delos,” Hazel remembered. “That sounds fun.”

“Hopefully Apollo will be there,” Annabeth said. “Delos was his home island. He’s the god of medicine. He should be able to advise us.”

Off the port bow, the cherry-flavored sea serpent spewed steam.

“Yeah, it’s definitely checking us out,” Percy decided. “Maybe we should take to the air for a while.”

He felt calmer closer to the sea, but he shouldn't risk his friends and the argo just because he wanted to chill down here.

“Airborne it is!” Leo said. “Festus, do the honors!”

The ship’s engine hummed. The oars lifted, expanding into aerial blades with a loud sound like 100 umbrellas opening at once, and the Argo II rose into the sky.

“We should reach Sparta by morning,” Leo announced. “And remember to come by the mess hall tonight, folks, ’cause Chef Leo is making his famous three-alarm tofu tacos!”

Annabeth visited Percy’s cabin. 

“Hey Wise Girl.”

“Percy…” Percy not Seaweed Brain, she was here to talk about something serious. “When we were down in the pit…you know, with Ahklys—“ She hesitated, she knew how much he hated talking about that.

“It’s alright, you can continue, I cant hide away from it forever, can I?” He muttered.

She nodded. “Percy, when you—after I called for you to stop, you yelled for her to leave…” She looked at him to make sure he was following along. He nodded. “…well, it felt like Piper’s charmspeak, I had wanted to leave as well, and, well, you told me of what happened with Nike, so, I have a conclusion, you just might not like it too much.”

“It’s alright, it cant be worse than…the poison accident…”

She sighed. “Well, you remember when we traveled through the Sea of Monsters?” Percy nodded, not understanding where this was going. She seemed to notice his confusion, so she just bluntly stated: “Sirens.” 

“What?—” He asked dumbly.  

“They sing songs, and make their listeners do what they want. They show you your greatest desires and—well, when you told Ahklys to leave, I wanted to as well, I felt that if I did, I would feel safe—which was all i wanted down there in the pit, that and to get out.”

“But—“ 

“You always seemed to have some good convincing skills, you convinced Ethan, even though he was pretty persistent due to the unfairness, to not continue going against us. Piper thought, before she knew she was a demigod, that she just was good at making people do what she wanted.” Annabeth continued.

”But I’m just Poseidon’s son, and isn't he just oceans and sea or something? Sirens are from the sea but like, it doesn't make sense that I would—that I could do that.”

“You shouldn’t be able to control Poison, but you did.”

”That was in the pit! Maybe…it was just uhm…pit exclusive abilities…?” 

“Okay, well you couldn’t just be able to shut up a crazy goddess twice. So theres something going on. That’s my speculation at least, I’m not sure if it’s correct, unless we get proof.” 

Percy stared at her quietly. 

“You’re often regarded as the strongest demigod—“

”What?! But, what about like, Hercules or something? Sure he’s like a douche but didn’t he kill 99.9% of the greek monsters or something?”

”—You were already able to do a lot of things, like control large bodies of water, create earthquakes—”

”That was once! And I nearly died, I don't think that counts, also maybe it was already about to erupt or something—“ 

“—and create storms, hurricanes, it wouldn't be too crazy if you had some more—“ 

“Annabeth, stop!” He yelled blushing, he’s never liked it when people talk about things he does, Percy this, Percy that, it’s already embarrassing hearing that everywhere at camp after the titan war. Annabeth stared at him, her eyes blank, like she was in a trance. “…Annabeth…?” 

She blinked, once, twice, then shook her head. “…There it is, again.” She sighed. “Look Percy, I’m not saying it’s completely true, it’s just a guess. The best guess I’ve got. As for the Poison…” She trailed off. 

“Well, I’m still figuring it out. But we can figure it out together.” She smiled. She sat on his bed next to him. 

“Yeah.” He kissed her on the cheek.

Chapter Text

When Piper told him about her dream, the ship’s toilets exploded. He definitely didn't mean for that to happen, but he had other things to worry about, like how he and Annabeth were gonna be separated again.

“No way are you two going down there alone,” Percy said.

Leo ran down the hall waving a wrench. “Man, did you have to destroy the plumbing?”

Percy ignored him. Water ran down the gangway. The hull rumbled as more pipes burst and sinks overflowed.

Percy hadn’t meant to cause so much damage, but he could not leave Annabeth again. Piper seemed to shrink at his expression, he tried softening his expression but he really was getting annoyed. “We’ll be all right,” Annabeth reassured him. “Piper foresaw the two of us going down there, so that’s what needs to happen.”

He’s unintentionally glared at Piper “And this Mimas dude? I’m guessing he’s a giant?”

“Probably,” she said. “Porphyrion called him our brother.”

“And a bronze statue surrounded by fire,” He said. “And those…other things you mentioned…”
“Makhai,” Piper said. “I think the word means battles in Greek, but I don’t know how that applies, exactly.”

“That’s my point!” He groaned. “We don’t know what’s down there. I’m going with you.”

“No.” Annabeth put her hand on his arm. “If the giants want our blood, the last thing we need is a boy and a girl going down there together. Remember? They want one of each for their big sacrifice.”

“Then I’ll get Jason,” He said. “And the two of us—“

“Seaweed Brain, are you implying that two boys can handle this better than two girls?”

“No. I mean…no. But—“

Annabeth kissed him. “We’ll be back before you know it.” He wished it was true, Annabeth was the only one who knew everything that happened, so she was the only one he could talk to.

Piper followed Annabeth upstairs, looking at the floor, Percy looked down, realizing it would probably flood with water soon. He sighed.

The next day, a violent storm suddenly started knocking their ship around, the ship was tilting so violently, he was so glad he couldn’t get seasick, he couldn’t imagine how Hazel felt right now. He could barely hear anything over the rocking ship, his screaming friends, and the roaring wind.

Cutting through the roar of the wind, Nike screamed from the stables: “YOU CAN DO BETTER, STORM! GIVE ME A HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT!”

Considering he was the only one with any water abilities, he was the only one doing anything, his friends were probably trying to do something, but failing, and sliding around the floor. 

His hands were held out, he focused on the water, and crashed large waves into the other large waves, it would’ve been funny, if it wasn't so annoying. Suddenly Jason appeared next to him. He nodded at him. Jason looked at him kind of shocked, probably because he was soaking wet, and he almost never was. But he had to concentrate to keep everything dry, and he certainly didn’t have enough energy to try and do 3 things at once.

He yelled in Jason’s ear: “SOMETHING DOWN THERE IS CAUSING THE STORM, WE NEED TO STOP IT.” 

And then he pointed over the side. 

Jason asked something, but Percy couldnt hear a thing, so he grinned and tapped his ears, hoping to get the message through. He made a gesture with his hand of diving overboard. Then he tapped Jason on the chest. Jason looked happy, and said something, and then shouted something else, but Percy of course couldn’t hear him. So he shrugged. He pushed another massive wave away from the ship and jumped overboard.

Percy swam further down, then stopping to wait for Jason. Who swam down next to him a minute later. 

“Hey.” He said.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked.

Percy pointed into the void. “Wait for it.”

Three seconds later, a shaft of green light swept through the darkness like a spotlight, then disappeared.

“Something’s down there,” He said, “stirring up this storm.” He turned and sized up Jason’s tornado. “Nice outfit. Can you hold it together if we go deeper?”

“I have no idea how I’m doing this,” Jason said.

“Okay,” He said. “Well, just don’t get knocked unconscious.”

“Shut up, Jackson.”

Percy grinned. “Let’s see what’s down there.”

They sank deeper, but thanks to his water abilities, he could see just fine. Every so often the green searchlight shot upward. Percy swam straight towards it. At last, soft white luminous patches, like schools of jellyfish, floated before his eyes. As he approached the seafloor, he saw that the patches were glowing fields of algae surrounding the ruins of a palace. Silt swirled through empty courtyards with abalone floors. Barnacle-covered Greek columns marched into the gloom. In the centre of the complex rose a citadel larger than Grand Central Station, its walls encrusted with pearls, its domed golden roof cracked open like an egg. 

“Atlantis?” Jason asked.

“That’s a myth,” He said.

“Uh…don’t we deal in myths?”

“No, I mean it’s a made-up myth. Not, like, an actual true myth.”

“So this is why Annabeth is the brains of the operation, then?”

“Shut up, Grace.”

They floated through the broken dome and down into shadows.

“This place seems familiar.” he said. “Almost like I’ve been here—“ The green spotlight flashed directly below them, almost blinding him, he lost focus and dropped like a stone, touching down on the smooth marble floor. When his vision cleared, he saw that they weren’t alone.
Standing before them was a twenty-foot-tall woman in a flowing green dress, cinched at the waist with a belt of abalone shells. Her skin was as luminous white as the fields of algae. Her hair swayed and glowed like jellyfish tendrils.
Her face was beautiful but unearthly—her eyes too bright, her features too delicate, her smile too cold. 

Her hands rested on a disc of polished green metal about six feet in diameter, sitting on a bronze tripod. The woman turned the metal disc like a steering wheel. A shaft of green light shot upward, churning the water, shaking the walls of the old palace. Shards from the domed ceiling broke and tumbled down in slow motion.

“You’re making the storm,” Jason said.

“Indeed I am.” The woman’s voice was melodic—yet it had a strange resonance. Jason looked like he was about to explode or something.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Percy said. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

The woman turned towards him. “Why, I am your sister, Perseus Jackson. And I wanted to meet you before you die.”

Jason’s face was blank, thinking of what to say probably.

So a creepy twenty-foot-tall lady with jellyfish hair was in front of them. She was creepy so Percy had wanted to fight her, however…she’d called him brother—that made him hesitate, and stare at her in confusion.

“Percy, do you know this…individual?”

Percy shook his head. “Doesn’t look like my mom, so I’m gonna guess we’re related on the godly side. You a daughter of Poseidon, Miss…uh…?”

The pale lady raked her fingernails against the metal disc, making a screeching sound like a tortured whale. “No one knows me,” she sighed. “Why would I assume my own brother would recognize me? I am Kymopoleia!”

Percy and Jason exchanged looks.

“So…” Percy said. “We’re going to call you Kym. And you’d be a, hmm, Nereid, then? Minor goddess?”

“Minor?”

“By which,” Jason said quickly, “he means under the drinking age! Because obviously you’re so young and beautiful.”

He flashed Jason a look: Nice save.
The goddess turned her full attention to Jason. She pointed her index finger and traced his outline in the water.

“Jason Grace,” said the goddess. “Son of Jupiter.”

“Yeah. I’m a friend of Percy’s.”

Kym’s narrowed. “So it’s true…these times make for strange friends and unexpected enemies. The Romans never worshipped me. To them, I was a nameless fear—a sign of Neptune’s greatest wrath. They never worshipped Kymopoleia, the goddess of violent sea storms!”

She spun her disc. Another beam of green light flashed upward, churning the water and making the ruins rumble.

“Uh, yeah,” Percy said. “The Romans aren’t big on navies. They had, like, one rowboat. Which I sank. Speaking of violent storms, you’re doing a first-rate job upstairs.”

“Thank you,” said Kym.

“Thing is, our ship is caught in it, and it’s kind of being ripped apart. I’m sure you didn’t mean to—“

“Oh, yes, I did.”

He sighed, another crazy goddess who wanted them dead or something yay! 

“You did.” Percy grimaced. “Well…that sucks. I don’t suppose you’d cut it out, then, if we asked nicely?”

“No,” the goddess agreed. “Even now, the ship is close to sinking. I’m rather amazed it’s held together this long. Excellent workmanship.”

Sparks flew from Jason’s arms into the tornado.

“So…Kym…” he said, “what could we do to make you change your mind and let our ship go?” Kym gave him a creepy alien smile. “Son of Jupiter, do you know where you are?”

Jason looked like he wanted to answer something else, but he said “You mean these ruins. An ancient palace?”

“Indeed,” Kym said. “The original palace of my father, Poseidon.”

Percy snapped his fingers, which sounded like a muffled explosion. “That’s why I recognized it. Dad’s new crib in the Atlantic is kind of like this.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Kym said. “I am never invited to see my parents. I can only wander the ruins of their old domains. They find my presence…disruptive.”

She spun her wheel again. The entire back wall of the building collapsed, sending a cloud of silt and algae through the chamber. The debris flew away from Jason’s face, but he had to swat them away.

“Disruptive?” Jason said. “You?”

“My father does not welcome me in his court,” Kym said. “He restricts my powers. This storm above? I haven’t had this much fun in ages, yet it is only a small taste of what I can do!” Fun, keep it that way, we don't need the argo to get torn apart any more.

“A little goes a long way,” Percy said. “Anyway, to Jason’s question about changing your mind—“

“My father even married me off,” Kym said, “without my permission. He gave me away like a trophy to Briares, a Hundred-Handed One, as a reward for supporting the gods in the war with Kronos aeons ago.”

His face brightened. “Hey, I know Briares. He’s a friend of mine! I freed him from Alcatraz.”

“Yes, I know.” Kym’s eyes glinted coldly at him. “I hate my husband. I was not at all pleased to have him back.”

“Oh. So…is Briares around?” Percy asked hopefully.

Kym’s laugh sounded like dolphin chatter.

“He’s off at Mount Olympus in New York, shoring up the gods’ defences. Not that it will matter. My point, dear brother, is that Poseidon has never treated me fairly. I like to come here, to his old palace, because it pleases me to see his works in ruins. Someday soon his new palace will look like this one, and the seas will rage unchecked.”

Percy looked at Jason. “This is the part where she tells us she’s working for Gaia.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “And the Earth Mother promised her a better deal once the gods are destroyed, blah, blah, blah.” He turned to Kym. “You understand that Gaia won’t keep her promises, right? She’s using you, just like she’s using the giants.”

“I am touched by your concern,” said the goddess. “The Olympian gods, on the other hand, have never used me, eh?”

Percy spread his hands. “At least the Olympians are trying. After the last Titan war, they started paying more attention to the other gods. A lot of them have cabins now at Camp Half-Blood: Hecate, Hades, Hebe, Hypnos…uh, and probably some that don’t begin with H, too. We give them offerings at every meal, cool banners, special recognition in the end-of-summer programme—“

“And do I get such offerings?” Kym asked.
‘Well…no. We didn’t know you existed. But theres too many gods and goddesses so—“

“Then save your words, brother.” Rude, much? Kym’s jellyfish-tentacle hair floated towards him, as if anxious to paralyze new prey. “I have heard so much about the great Perseus Jackson. The giants are quite obsessed with capturing you. I must say…I don’t see what the fuss is about.”

“Thanks, sis. But, if you’re going to try to kill me, I gotta warn you it’s been tried before. I’ve faced a lot of goddesses recently—Nike, Akhlys…even Nyx herself. Compared to them, you’re not scaring me. Also, you laugh like a dolphin.”

Jason got his sword ready.

“Oh, I won’t kill you,” Kym said. “My part of the bargain was simply to get your attention. Someone else is here, though, who very much wants to kill you.” Yay! I cant wait to die! 

Above them, at the edge of the broken roof, a dark shape appeared—a figure even taller than Kymopoleia.

“The son of Neptune,” boomed a deep voice.

The giant floated down. Clouds of dark viscous fluid—poison, perhaps—curled from his blue skin. His green breastplate was fashioned to resemble a cluster of open hungry mouths. In his hands were the weapons of a retiarius—a trident and a weighted net. Percy sighed.

“Polybotes,” Jason said, “the anti- Poseidon.”

The giant shook his dreadlocks. A dozen serpents swam free—(bleh)each one lime green with a frilled crown around its head. Basilisks. 

“Indeed, son of Rome,” the giant said. “But, if you’ll excuse me, my immediate business is with Perseus Jackson. I tracked him all the way across Tartarus. Now, here in his father’s ruins, I mean to crush him once and for all.”

Percy groaned. Someone give him a break.

Chapter Text

Jason hated basilisks. The little scum-suckers loved to burrow under the temples in New Rome. Back when Jason was a centurion, his cohort always got the unpopular chore of clearing out their nests.
A basilisk didn’t look like much—just an arm-length serpent with yellow eyes and a white frill collar—but it moved fast and could kill anything it touched.

Jason had never faced more than two at a time. Now a dozen were swimming around the giant’s legs. The only good thing: underwater, basilisks wouldn’t be able to breathe fire, but that didn’t make them any less deadly.

Two of the serpents shot towards Percy. He sliced them in half. The other ten swirled around him, just out of blade’s reach. They writhed back and forth in a hypnotic pattern, looking for an opening. One bite, one touch was all it would take.

“Hey!” Jason yelled. “How about some love over here?”

The snakes ignored him. So did the giant, who stood back and watched with a smug smile, apparently happy for his pets to
do the killing.

“Kymopoleia.” Jason tried his best to pronounce her name right. “You have to stop this.”

She regarded him with her glowing white eyes. “Why would I do that? The Earth Mother has promised me unrestricted power. Could you make me a better offer?”

He sensed the possibility of an opening—room to negotiate. But what did he have that a storm goddess would want? The basilisks closed in on Percy. He blasted them away with currents of water, but they just kept circling.

“Hey, basilisks!” Jason yelled.

Still no reaction. He could charge in and help, but even together he and Percy couldn’t possibly fight off ten basilisks at once. He needed a better solution.
He glanced up. A thunderstorm raged above, but they were hundreds of feet down. He couldn’t possibly summon lightning at the bottom of the sea, could he? Even if he could, water conducted electricity a little too well. He might fry Percy.

But he couldn’t think of a better option. He thrust up his sword. Immediately the blade glowed red-hot.

A diffuse cloud of yellow light billowed through the depths, like someone had poured liquid neon into the water. The light hit Jason’s sword and sprayed outwards in ten separate tendrils, zapping the basilisks.
Their eyes went dark. Their frills disintegrated. All ten serpents turned belly-up and floated dead in the water.

“Next time,” Jason said, “look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Polybotes’s smile curdled. “Are you so anxious to die, Roman?”

Percy raised his sword. He hurled himself at the giant, but Polybotes swept his hand through the water, leaving an arc of black oily poison. Percy charged straight into it faster than Jason could yell, Dude, what are you thinking?

He watched as Percy’s eyes widened, Jason assumed he acted before thinking, and now, he was probably gonna die from poison, and Jason couldn’t do anything about it. Percy choked a bit, and coughed a bit, but nope, the poison just suddenly flew away from him, and Jason swore he saw Percy’s eyes turn the same color as the poison for a moment.

Percy appeared out of the poison, now grinning at the giant with a smile full of teeth, which looked unusual. Due to his bad eyesight, Jason couldn't really tell, nor could he care too much about it.

Jason had to think of something—quick, a better offer…—

“Kym!” He yelled. “Is this really what you want?”

The storm goddess looked rather bored, idly spinning her metal disc. “Unlimited power? Why not?”

”But is it any fun?” He asked. “So you destroy our ship. You destroy the entire coastline of the world. Once Gaia wipes out human civilization, who’s left to fear you? You’ll still be unknown.”

Polybotes turned towards him, blocking Percy’s attack. “You are a pest, son of Jupiter. You will be crushed!”

Jason tried to summon more lightning. Nothing happened. If he ever met his dad, he’d have to petition for an increased daily allowance of bolts.

Percy managed to avoid the prongs of the trident again, but the giant swung the other end around and smacked him in the chest. Percy flew back, stunned and in pain, he hissed. Polybotes came in for the kill. But before the trident killed him, his eyes snapped open, now glowing bright gold. Jason was pretty sure he wasn't going insane. And sure his vision was blurry when looking further, but there was no mistaking Percy’s usual sea green eyes for golden ones. 

Jason’s mouth flew open, because then the giant froze, like right before Percy. Who glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, that Giant would’ve already died. The Giant instantly unfroze, looking at Percy in confusion and anger.

”Actually, Jason Grace,” Kym said suddenly, studying her fingernails, breaking Jason out of his shock, “now that you mention it, I do enjoy being feared by mortals. I am not feared enough.”

“I can help with that!” Jason said quickly, Percy swam around, dodging another swipe of the trident, Percy blasted the trident away with a current of water, then jabbed Polybotes in the eyes.

“AUGH!” The giant staggered.

He flew to Kym’s side. “You know gods depend on mortals. The more we honor you, the more powerful you get.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been honored!” She ignored Polybotes, who was now trying to get to Jason, also trying to swat Percy away, so he could get to Jason. However, since the water was Percy’s element, he just kept coming back. 

”Hey, hey, hey, aren't I your target?” Percy said. Jason shot him a grateful smile, he was keeping Polybotes away, while he persuaded Kym, hoping that he’d be able to hold Polybotes off for long enough that Jason could strike a deal with Kym and kill Polybotes probably.

“I can change that,” he promised Kym. “I will personally arrange a shrine for you on Temple Hill in New Rome. Your first ever Roman shrine! I’ll raise one at Camp Half-Blood as well, right on the shore of Long Island Sound. Imagine, being honored—“

“And feared.”

“—and feared by both Greeks and Romans. You’ll be famous!”

“STOP TALKING!” Polybotes swung his trident like a baseball bat, and Percy blocked it with Riptide. 

“You’re nothing but a tool for the giants. They’ll cast you aside as soon as they’re through destroying the mortals. Then no demigods, no shrines, no fear, no respect.” Jason said, hoping he’s sound convincing enough for a goddess.

“LIES!” Polybotes yelled. “Kymopoleia, when Gaia rules, you will rage and storm without restraint!”

“Will there be mortals to terrorize?” Kym asked.

“Well…no.”

“Ships to destroy? Demigods to cower in awe?”

“Um…”

While Polybotes was now busy convincing Kym, he seemed to forget Percy, and probably thought he was less important than a maybe goddess-demigod combo that could kill him, so Percy slowly swam away. Catching his breath…or water…or whatever a son of Poseidon did underwater.

“Help us,” Jason urged. “Together, a goddess and a demigod can kill a giant.”

“No!” Polybotes suddenly looked very nervous. “No, that’s a terrible idea. Gaia will be most displeased!”

“If Gaia wakes,” Jason said. “The mighty Kymopoleia can help us make sure that never happens. Then all demigods will honour you big-time!”

“Will they cower?” Kym asked.

“Tons of cowering! Plus your name in the summer programme. A custom-designed banner. A cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Two shrines. I’ll even throw in a Kymopoleia action figure.”

“No!” Polybotes wailed. “Not merchandising rights!”

Kymopoleia turned on the giant. “I’m afraid that deal beats what Gaia has offered.”

“Unacceptable!” the giant bellowed. “You cannot trust this vile Roman!”

“If I don’t honour the bargain,” Jason said, “Kym can always kill me. With Gaia, she has no guarantee at all.”

“That,” Kym said, “is difficult to argue with.”

As Polybotes struggled to answer, Jason charged forward and stabbed his javelin in the giant’s gut. Kym lifted her bronze disc from its pedestal. “Say goodbye, Polybotes.”
She spun the disc at the giant’s neck. Turned out, the rim was sharp.
Polybotes found it difficult to say another word, since he no longer had a head.

“Poison is a nasty habit.” Kymopoleia waved her hand and the murky clouds dissipated. “Secondhand poison can kill a person, you know.”

Jason wasn’t too fond of firsthand poison either, but he decided not to mention that.
Percy swam over, and coughed a bit. “Ugh. Thanks man, if he attacked me any more, I would’ve been skewered demigod.”

Jason exhaled with relief. “You had me worried there, man.”

Percy blinked, “Dont worry, I’m fine. But did you…promise Kym an action figure?”

The goddess loomed over them. “Indeed he did. And I expect him to deliver.”

“I will,” Jason said. “When we win this war, I’m going to make sure all the gods get recognized.”

He put a hand on Percy’s shoulder. “My friend here started that process last summer. He made the Olympians promise to pay you guys more attention.”

”And a couple more, they didn’t fulfill them all even though it was so simple.” Percy muttered

Kym sniffed. “We know what an Olympian promise is worth.”

“Which is why I’m going to finish the job.” Jason didn’t know where these words were coming from, but the idea felt absolutely right. “I’ll make sure none of the gods are forgotten at either camp. Maybe they’ll get temples, or cabins, or at least shrines—“

“Or collectible trading cards,” Kym suggested.

“Sure.” Jason smiled. “I’ll go back and forth between the camps until the job is done.”

Percy whistled. “You’re talking about dozens of gods.”

“Hundreds,” Kym corrected.

“Well, then,” Jason said, “it might take a while. But you’ll be first on the list, Kymopoleia…the storm goddess who beheaded a giant and saved our quest.”

Kym stroked her jellyfish hair. “That will do nicely.” She regarded Percy. “Though I am still sorry I won’t see you die.”

“I get that comment a lot,” Percy said. “Now about our ship—“

“Still in one piece,” said the goddess. “Not in very good shape, but you should be able to make it to Delos.”

Percy sighed in relief.

“Thank you,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” Percy said. “And, really, your husband Briares is a good dude. You should give him a chance.”

The goddess picked up her bronze disc. “Don’t push your luck, brother. Briares has fifty faces; all of them are ugly. He’s got a hundred hands, and he’s still all thumbs around the house.”

“Okay sis,” Percy said, hands up. “Not pushing my luck.”

“I will be watching your progress. Polybotes was not boasting when he warned that your blood would awaken the Earth Mother. The giants are very confident of this.”

“My blood, personally? Wow I’m honored.” Percy said sarcastically.

Kym’s smile was even creepier than usual. “I am not an Oracle. But I heard what the seer Phineas told you in the city of Portland. You will face a sacrifice that you may not be able to make, and it will cost you the world. You have yet to face your fatal flaw, my brother. Look around. All works of gods and men eventually turn to ruins. Would it not be easier to flee into the depths with that girlfriend of yours?”

“Juno offered me a choice like that, back when I found Camp Jupiter. I’ll give you the same answer. I don’t run when my friends need me.”

Kym turned up her palms. “And there is your flaw: being unable to step away. I will retreat to the depths and watch this battle unfold. You should know that the forces of the ocean are also at war. Your friend Hazel Levesque made quite an impression on the merpeople and on their mentors, Aphros and Bythos.”

“The fish pony dudes Percy muttered. “They didn’t want to meet me.”

“Even now they are waging war for your sake,” Kym said, “trying to keep Gaia’s allies away from Long Island. Whether or not they will survive…that remains to be seen. As for you, Jason Grace, your path will be no easier than your friend’s. You will be tricked. You will face unbearable sorrow.”

Jason tried to keep from sparking. He wasn’t sure Percy’s heart could take the shock. “Kym, you said you’re not an Oracle? They should give you the job. You’re definitely depressing enough.”

The goddess let loose her dolphin laugh. “You amuse me, son of Jupiter. I hope you live to defeat Gaia

“Thanks,” he said. “Any pointers on defeating a goddess who can’t be defeated?”

Kymopoleia tilted her head. “Oh, but you know the answer. You are a child of the sky, with storms in your blood. A primordial god has been defeated once before. You know of whom I speak.”

Jason’s insides started swirling faster than the ventus. “Ouranos, the first god of the sky. But that means—“

“Yes.” Kym’s alien features took on an expression that almost resembled sympathy. “Let us hope it does not come to that. If Gaia does wake…well, your task will not be easy. But, if you win, remember your promise, Pontifex.”

Jason took a moment to process her words. “I’m not a priest.”
“No?” Kym’s white eyes gleamed. “By the way, your ventus servant says he wishes to be freed. Since he has helped you, he hopes you will let him go when you reach the surface. He promises he will not bother you a third time.”

“A third time?”

Kym paused, as if listening. “He says he joined the storm above to take revenge on you, but had he known how strong you’ve become since the Grand Canyon he never would’ve approached your ship.”

“The Grand Canyon…” Jason recalled that day on the Skywalk, when one of his jerk classmates turned out to be a wind spirit.

”Dylan? Are you kidding me? I’m breathing Dylan?”

“Yes,” Kym said. “That seems to be his name.”
Jason shuddered, gross. “I’ll let him go as soon as I reach the surface. No worries.”

“Farewell, then,” said the goddess. “And may the Fates smile upon you…assuming the Fates survive.”

How cheery.

Chapter Text

“Thanks, man,” Percy said. “You saved my life, if I had to fight him any longer...”

“Hey, that’s what we do for our friends.” But he seemed uncertain, something confused him.

“But, uh, the Jupiter guy saving the Poseidon guy at the bottom of the ocean…maybe we can keep the details to ourselves? Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Jason grinned. “You got it. But uh, well, I was watching you guys fight, and he summoned some poison, but it moved away from you, as if bending to your will, what was that?”

Percy froze, he’d forgotten about that. He controlled poison, again, and in front of someone else. Jason looked at him expecting an answer.

“Oh…I just controlled the water around it, and pushed it away…” he chuckled slightly, hoping to remove any suspicions. 

Jason looked at him. “Percy, man, look, you and Annabeth have both gone to…the pit…And we can all tell something isnt the same about you two. I think something happened yesterday, and she started trusting Piper more. Piper told me that Annabeth started talking to her about the pit, didn't tell me what happened. Maybe you should talk to someone else too.”

”I…I’m fine…”

“You don't look fine. You look guilty right now. Percy, you can trust me. We’re friends, right?” 

Percy hesitated, he really wanted to keep what happened with Ahklys a secret with Annabeth. He didn't want anyone else getting terrified of him. 

“I—Swear…swear you wont tell anyone else about it, unless they already know about it…It’s…”

”I swear upon the River Styx I will not tell anyone else your secret unless they know already.” Jason said firmly

”Jason—you didnt have to swear on Styx I just—“

”Percy, I swore to show that I’m being fully serious right now.”

Percy sighed. “Okay…fine…I—“

Jason looked at him patiently. 

“When we were down there, we met a goddess. Her name was Ahklys.”

”Goddess of…?” 

“Poison, and Misery. We had to find her to survive. She had to turn us into…ghost like things, half dead-ish, so we could move around undetected.”

Jason nodded.

”After that. She betrayed us. Started trying to kill us for offerings to the Night, capital N. Well, me and Annabeth were losing, she was a goddess, and we were already drained of energy, so…”

Jason’s eyes widened. “But you didn't die, so…”

Percy took a deep breath. “Something inside me cracked—and then suddenly, I did something I should’ve never been able to do, probably something no one should be able to.”

“Poison?” Jason guessed.

Percy nodded. “I controlled her poison…”

”But it’s not too big of a deal, right? You did it to save yourselves?”

”The problem is well I—I…I controlled her poison, and I was just so tired, so angry…I tortured her with it. She was Misery, she was sobbing, crying, being in…misery…so I choked her with her own poison and tears…and I—I enjoyed it…I’d thought…’I wanted to see just how much misery Misery could take’…” Percy choked out.

Jason froze. Percy wanted to cry. Was Jason also going to think that he was a monster now? Only monsters liked seeing others suffer didn't they? Oh gods, what had Annabeth told Piper?—

“Hey, Percy, man, its alright.” Jason looked at him sincerely. 

“Y-you…you don't think I’m—“

”I can understand you. You were put under a lot of pressure right? The people at Camp…Camp Half-Blood, they talked of you as if you were a god,” Percy grimaced, he didn’t want to be compared to a god, they’re arrogant, selfish… “…in a good way, along the talks of you, were the things you did. You’ve been forced to do a lot of things, errands for the gods…a war…”

Jason shook his head. “I’m not saying what you did was right, but it wasn't completely your fault man, you probably had years of built up anger and frustration, it just snapped at that moment.” 

“…Thanks, Jason…” 

“As I said earlier, thats what we do for our friends.” 

They swam up, getting ready to go back and check on their friends, before Jason suddenly paused.

”Hey man, you alright?”

”…Do your eyes change color according to anything?” 

“Whats that got to do with anything?” 

“…Just answer the question…”

Percy shrugged. “Yeah, I think they change depending on what body of water I’m close to.” He paused. “…Annabeth and I are figuring out the whole poison thingy and some other things…she said my eyes changed color to the same as the poison…so it could also change according to what I’m…controlling…”

Jason’s eyes widened in realization. 

“Hey, man, whats wrong? You’re worrying me…”

”Percy…Your eyes, they turned golden for a moment and the only golden liquid I know is…” Jason trailed off, Percy wasn’t stupid. Ichor, he didn’t say. 

“We should get back to our friends—they need to know we’re alright.” Percy said, his voice shaking, now he understood why he got a rush of power fighting Polybotes, how he felt like he could do anything—because he could, he’d just controlled divine blood, if he could do that…what were his limits?

Jason hesitated, but didn't say anything, and obliged.

Chapter Text

Percy, Annabeth and Piper walked through the sewers following Kekrops and his snake men. Percy was terrified, because that was the giants’ goal, him, and Annabeth’s blood to water the stones and complete the ceremony to wake Gaia. But he felt safe with Annabeth, and sometimes, that’s all that mattered to him. He could sense Annabeth’s worry, so he held her hand as they walked through the sewers.

He hadn’t found the time to talk to Annabeth about his…new found ability. He didn’t want to worry her. He didn’t want to worry himself. He swore to himself he wouldn’t use it again. Blood…blood was not something to be controlled. Yet when he did, he did it unconsciously, how could he make sure he wouldn’t use that power again? 

Percy saw in the sewers, dark tunnels. The snake men led them through an iron storm grate at the docks, straight into their underground lair, which smelled of rotting fish, mould and snakeskin. He gagged. Percy saw Piper stop a couple times, or hesitate, he couldn’t blame her, these sewers were not a good place nor atmosphere to sing about easy life, summertime, and whatever else she was singing about.

“I don’t like this place,” Annabeth murmured. “Reminds me of when I was underneath Rome.” Kekrops hissed with laughter. “Our domain is much older. Much, much older.”

Annabeth squeezed Percy’s hand with worry, he squeezed hers back with reassurance. He felt bad for Piper, she was alone, her boyfriend Jason wasn’t with them.

Piper’s voice echoed through the tunnels. As they travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear her. Soon they had dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering. He sensed that Piper was worried, uneasy, he shot her a thankful, sincere smile. She was the reason they could pass through undetected. He hoped he could make her feel better, if Annabeth wasn’t here, he wouldn’t be feeling too well either.

They passed through stone chambers littered with bones. They climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep their footing. At one point, they passed a warm cave the size of a gymnasium filled with snake eggs. More and more snake people joined their procession. Slithering behind Piper, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.

Percy thought he heard his own heartbeat echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went. Then he realized the persistent boom ba-boom was all around them, resonating through the stone and the air.

I wake. A woman’s voice, Percy froze.

Annabeth froze as well next to him “Oh, that’s not good.”

“It’s like Tartarus,” Percy said, his voice edgy. “You remember…his heartbeat. When he appeared—“

Annabeth shot him a look, she was still scared. So he didn’t say anymore of it.

“Sorry.” 

The voice of Gaia spoke again, louder: At last.

Piper’s singing wavered, Percy sensed her fear, yet, she somehow made her voice even stronger. He admired her dedication. Finally they reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo. Kekrops faced the demigods. “Beyond this camouflage is the Acropolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear.”

“Wait.” Piper turned to address the crowd of gemini. “There is only death above. You will be safer in the tunnels. Hurry back. Forget you saw us. Protect yourselves.”

The fear in her voice channelled perfectly with her charmspeak. How he knew that, he wasn’t sure. The snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.

“Kekrops,” Piper said, “you’re planning to betray us as soon as you step through that goo.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I will alert the giants. They will destroy you.” Then he hissed. “Why did I tell you that?” 

“Listen to the heartbeat of Gaia,” Piper urged. “You can sense her rage, can’t you?”

Kekrops wavered. The end of his staff glowed dimly. “I can, yes. She is angry.”

“She’ll destroy everything,” Piper said. “She’ll reduce the Acropolis to a smoking crater. Athens—your city—will be utterly destroyed, your people along with it. You believe me, don’t you?” “I—I do.”

“Whatever hatred you have for humans, for demigods, for Athena, we are the only chance to stop Gaia. So you will not betray us. For your own sake, and your people, you will scout the territory and make sure the way is clear. You will say nothing to the giants. Then you will return.”

“That is…what I’ll do.” Kekrops disappeared through the membrane of goo.

Annabeth shook her head in amazement. “Piper, that was incredible.” Percy nodded.

“We’ll see if it works.” Piper sat down on the cool stone floor. Percy and Annabeth squatted next to her. Percy handed her a canteen of water. 

”Thanks.” Percy nodded. “You think the charm will last?” Percy kept wondering the whole time if he should’ve helped her with his own…supposed charmspeak abilities that Annabeth speculated he had.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “If Kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no.”

The heartbeat of Gaia echoed through the floor. It made him uncomfortable, he sighed.

“Do you guys ever think about your families?” Piper asked.

His gaze became unfocused. Reminded of his wonderful mother who was probably worried sick for him. “My mom…I—I haven’t even seen her since Hera made me disappear. I called her from Alaska. I gave Coach Hedge some letters to deliver to her. I…’ His voice broke. “She’s all I’ve got. Her and my stepdad, Paul.”

“And Tyson,” Annabeth reminded him. “And Grover. And—“ You.

“Yeah, of course,” He said. “Thanks. I feel better.”

Piper laughed, “What about you, Annabeth?”

“My dad…my stepmom and stepbrothers.” She turned the drakon-bone blade in her lap. “After all I’ve been through in the past year, it seems stupid that I resented them for so long. And my dad’s relatives…I haven’t thought about them in years. I have an uncle and cousin in Boston.”

Percy was shocked. “You, with the Yankees cap? You’ve got family in Red Sox country?”

Annabeth smiled weakly. “I never see them. My dad and my uncle don’t get along. Some old rivalry. I don’t know. It’s stupid what keeps people apart.”

At the top of the tunnel, the green membrane rippled. Piper grabbed her sword and rose, taking a stance. But Percy sensed no hostility, so he sat there.

Kekrops emerged alone. Piper sheathed her weapon.

“The way is clear,” he said. “But hurry. The ceremony is almost complete.”

Pushing through a curtain of mucus was as gross as Percy thought. Fortunately, none of the gunk stuck to him, but he still felt like throwing up.

Him, Annabeth and Piper found themselves in a cool, damp pit that seemed to be the basement level of a temple. All around them, uneven ground stretched into darkness under a low ceiling of stone. Directly above their heads, a rectangular gap was open to the sky. Thankfully, no monsters. The camouflage membrane had closed behind them and blended into the ground. Piper pressed her hand against it. The area seemed to be solid rock. They wouldn’t be leaving the way they’d come.

Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground—a jagged crow’s-foot shape as long as a human body. The area was lumpy and white, like stone scar tissue. “This is the place,” she said. “Percy, these are the trident marks of Poseidon.”

Hesitantly, Percy touched the scars. “He must’ve been using his extra-extra-large trident.”

“This is where he struck the earth,” Annabeth said, “where he made a saltwater spring appear when he had the contest with my mom to sponsor Athens.”

“So this is where the rivalry started,” Percy said.

“Yeah.”

Percy pulled Annabeth close and kissed her…a short kiss, he gave her a kiss, telling her it’d be alright, they’d get through this.

Percy pulled away, Annabeth looked like a fish gasping for air. “The rivalry ends here,” Percy smiled. “I love you, Wise Girl.” Annabeth made a little sigh, Percy glanced at Piper. “Sorry, I had to do that, that was probably a bit awkward.”

Piper grinned. “How could a daughter of Aphrodite not approve? You’re a great boyfriend.” He blushed a little.

Annabeth made another grunt-whimper. “Uh…anyway. We’re beneath the Erechtheion. It’s a temple to both Athena and Poseidon. The Parthenon should be diagonally to the southeast of here. We’ll need to sneak around the perimeter and disable as many siege weapons as we can, make an approach path for the Argo II.”

“It’s broad daylight,” Piper said. “How will we go unnoticed?”

Annabeth scanned the sky. “That’s why I made a plan with Frank and Hazel. Hopefully…ah. Look.”

A bee zipped overhead. Dozens more followed. They swarmed around a column, then hovered over the opening of the pit.

“Say hi to Frank, everybody,” Annabeth said.

Piper waved. The cloud of bees zipped away. But Percy was too confused to wave.

“How does that even work?” He said. “Like…one bee is a finger? Two bees are his eyes?”

“I don’t know,” Annabeth admitted. “But he’s our go-between. As soon as he gives Hazel the word, she will—“

“Gah!” Percy yelped.

Annabeth clamped her hand over his mouth.

Suddenly each of them had turned into a hulking, six-armed Earthborn.

“Hazel’s Mist.” Piper’s voice sounded deep and gravelly. She looked down and made a face.

He grimaced, “Wow, Annabeth…I’m really glad I kissed you before you changed.”

“Thanks a lot,” she said. “We should get going. I’ll move clockwise around the perimeter. Piper, you move counterclockwise. Percy, you scout the middle—“

“Wait,” He said. .We’re walking right into the whole blood-spilling sacrifice trap we’ve been warned about, and you want to split up even more?”

“We’ll cover more ground that way,” Annabeth said, she gave him a look, trust me. “We have to hurry. That chanting…”

Percy hadn’t noticed it until then, but now he heard it: an ominous drone in the distance, like a hundred forklifts idling. He looked at the ground and noticed bits of gravel trembling, skittering southeast, as if pulled towards the Parthenon.

“Right,” Piper said. “We’ll meet up at the giant’s throne.”

Monsters were everywhere—hundreds of ogres, Earthborn and Cyclopes milling through the ruins—but most of them were gathered at the Parthenon, watching the ceremony in progress. He was getting kinda terrified, this many monsters were wish Gaia—no way they could take them all. He shuffled around, attempting to not look suspicious.

They hadn’t realized, and when they did, it was too late, Periboia appeared and swooped Annabeth up by the neck like she was a feral cat. Enceladus wrapped Percy in his massive fist. They both struggled helplessly. Their captors displayed them to the cheering horde of monsters, then turned to face King Porphyrion, who sat in his makeshift throne, his white eyes gleaming with malice.

“Right on time!” the giant king bellowed. “The blood of Olympus to raise the Earth Mother!” 

Chapter Text

Piper watched in horror as the giant king rose to his full height—almost as tall as the temple columns. His face looked just as Piper remembered—green as bile, with a twisted sneer, his seaweed-coloured hair braided with swords and axes taken from dead demigods. He loomed over the captives, watching them wriggle. “They arrived just as you foresaw, Enceladus! Well done!”

Piper’s old enemy bowed his head, braided bones clattering in his dreadlocks. “It was simple, my king.”

The flame designs gleamed on his armour. His spear burned with purplish fire. He only needed one hand to hold his captive. Despite all of Percy Jackson’s power, despite everything he had survived, in the end he was helpless against the sheer strength of the giant—and the inevitability of the prophecy.

“I knew these two would lead the assault,” Enceladus continued. “I understand how they think. Athena and Poseidon…they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has undone them!”

Over the roar of the crowd, Piper could barely hear herself think, but she replayed Enceladus’s words: these two would lead the assault. Her heart raced. The giants had expected Percy and Annabeth. They didn’t expect her. For once, being Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite, the one nobody took seriously, might play to her advantage.

Annabeth tried to say something, but the giantess Periboia shook her by the neck. “Shut up! None of your silver-tongued trickery!” Percy glared at Periboia, he struggled harder. The princess drew a hunting knife as long as Piper’s sword. “Let me do the honours, Father!”

“Wait, Daughter.” The king stepped back. “The sacrifice must be done properly. Thoon, destroyer of the Fates, come forward!”

The wizened grey giant shuffled into sight, holding an oversized meat cleaver. He fixed his milky eyes on Annabeth. Percy shouted. At the other end of the Acropolis, a hundred yards away, a geyser of water shot into the sky.

King Porphyrion laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that, son of Poseidon. The earth is too powerful here. Even your father wouldn’t be able to summon more than a salty spring. But never fear. The only liquid we require from you is your blood!” That was exactly the reason to fear.

Piper scanned the sky desperately. Where was the Argo II? Thoon knelt and touched the blade of his cleaver reverently against the earth.

“Mother Gaia…”His voice was impossibly deep, shaking the ruins, making the metal scaffold resonate under Piper’s feet. “In ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favour. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress!”

Without thinking, Piper leaped from the scaffolding. She sailed over the heads of the Cyclopes and ogres, landed in the centre of the courtyard and pushed her way into the circle of giants. As Thoon rose to use his cleaver, Piper slashed upward with her sword. She took off Thoon’s hand at the wrist. The old giant wailed. The cleaver and severed hand lay in the dust at Piper’s feet. She felt her Mist disguise burn away until she was just Piper again—one girl in the midst of an army of giants, her jagged bronze blade like a toothpick compared to their massive weapons.

“WHAT IS THIS?” Porphyrion thundered. “How dare this weak, useless creature interrupt?” Piper followed her gut. She attacked.
Piper’s advantages: she was small, she was quick, and she was absolutely insane. She drew her knife Katoptris and threw it at Enceladus, hoping she wouldn’t hit Percy by accident. She veered aside without witnessing the results, but, judging from the giant’s painful howl, she’d aimed well. Several giants ran at her at once. Piper dodged between their legs and let them bash their heads together. She wove through the crowd, jabbing her sword into dragon-scale feet at every opportunity and yelling, “RUN! RUN AWAY!” to sow confusion.

“NO! STOP HER!” Porphyrion shouted. “KILL HER!”

A spear almost impaled her. Piper swerved and kept running. It’s just like capture the flag, she told herself. Only the enemy team is all thirty feet tall. A huge sword sliced across her path. Compared to her sparring practice with Hazel, the strike was ridiculously slow. Piper leaped over the blade and zigzagged towards Annabeth, who was still kicking and writhing in Periboia’s grip. Piper had to free her friend. Unfortunately, the giantess seemed to anticipate her plan.

“I think not, demigod!” Periboia yelled. “This one bleeds!”

The giantess raised her knife.

Piper screamed in charmspeak: “MISS!”

At the same time, Annabeth kicked up with her legs to make herself a smaller target.

Periboia’s knife passed beneath Annabeth’s legs and stabbed the giantess’s own palm. “OWWW!”

Periboia dropped Annabeth—alive, but not unscathed. The dagger had sliced a nasty gash across the back of her thigh. As Annabeth rolled away, her blood soaked into the earth.

The blood of Olympus, Piper thought with dread. Closeby, Percy screamed, “ANNABETH!” His voice was so full of worry, pain and anger Piper froze. He still struggled, but then he growled an inhumane growl, his eyes raging with anger.

But she couldn’t do anything about that at this moment, she had to help Annabeth, and pray no other demigod’s blood spills into the earth.

Piper lunged at the giantess. Her jagged blade suddenly felt ice cold in her hands. The surprised giantess glanced down as the sword of the Boread pierced her gut. Frost spread across her bronze breastplate.

Piper yanked out her sword. The giantess toppled backwards—steaming white and frozen solid. Periboia hit the ground with a thud.

“My daughter!” King Porphyrion levelled his spear and charged. But Percy had other ideas. Enceladus had dropped him, he was frozen, and staring at his fist, with ichor streaming out of it—the shape of a bite mark. Had Percy seriously bitten a giant?

Piper’s knife was also embedded in his forehead, ichor streaming into his eyes. Percy had no weapon—perhaps his sword had been confiscated or lost in the fighting—but he didn’t let that stop him. As the giant king ran towards Piper, Percy grabbed the tip of Porphyrion’s spear and forced it down into the ground. The giant’s own momentum lifted him off his feet in an unintentional pole-vault manoeuvre and he flipped over onto his back.

Meanwhile Annabeth dragged herself across the ground. Piper ran to her side. She stood over her friend, sweeping her blade back and forth to keep the giants at bay. Cold blue steam now wreathed her blade.

“Who wants to be the next Popsicle?” she yelled, channelling anger into her charmspeak. “Who wants to go back to Tartarus?”

That seemed to hit a nerve. The giants shuffled uneasily, glancing at the frozen body of Periboia. And why shouldn’t Piper intimidate them? Aphrodite was the most ancient Olympian, born of the sea and the blood of Ouranos. She was older than Poseidon or Athena or even Zeus. And Piper was her daughter. More than that, she was a McLean. Her father had come from nothing. Now he was known all over the world. The McLeans didn’t retreat. Like all Cherokee, they knew how to endure suffering, keep their pride and, when necessary, fight back. This was the time to fight back.

Forty feet away, Percy bent over the giant king, trying to yank a sword from the braids of his hair. But Porphyrion wasn’t as stunned as he let on.

“Fools!” Porphyrion backhanded Percy like a pesky fly. He hissed in the air, and then the son of Poseidon flew into a column with a sickening crunch.

Porphyrion rose. “These demigods cannot kill us! They do not have the help of the gods. Remember who you are!”

The giants closed in. A dozen spears were pointed at Piper’s chest. Annabeth struggled to her feet. She retrieved Periboia’s hunting knife, but she could barely stand upright, much less fight. Each time a drop of her blood hit the ground it bubbled, turning from red to gold.

Percy tried to stand, his pointed teeth bared, but he was obviously dazed. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself. Piper’s only choice was to keep the giants focused on her.

“Come on, then!” she yelled. “I’ll destroy you all myself if I have to!”

A metallic smell of storm filled the air. All the hairs on Piper’s arms stood up.

“The thing is,” said a voice from above, “you don’t have to.”

Piper’s heart could’ve floated out of her body. At the top of the nearest colonnade stood Jason, his sword gleaming gold in the sun. Frank stood at his side, his bow ready. Hazel sat astride Arion, who reared and whinnied in challenge. With a deafening blast, a white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason’s body as he leaped, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.

Chapter Text

So much happened at once that only an ADHD demigod could have kept track. Jason fell on King Porphyrion with such force that the giant crumpled to his knees—blasted with lightning and stabbed in the neck with a golden gladius. Frank unleashed a hail of arrows, driving back the giants nearest to Percy. The Argo II rose above the ruins and all the ballistae and catapults fired simultaneously. Leo must have programmed the weapons with surgical precision. A wall of Greek fire roared upward all around the Parthenon. It didn’t touch the interior, but in a flash most of the smaller monsters around it were incinerated.

Leo’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker: “SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY ONE SPANKING HOT WAR MACHINE!”

The giant Enceladus howled in outrage. “Valdez!”

“WHAT’S UP, ENCHILADAS?” Leo’s voice roared back. “NICE DAGGER IN YOUR FOREHEAD.”

“GAH!” The giant pulled Katoptris out of his head. “Monsters: destroy that ship!”

The remaining forces tried their best. A flock of gryphons rose to attack. Festus the figurehead blew flames and chargrilled them out of the sky. A few Earthborn launched a volley of rocks, but from the sides of the hull a dozen Archimedes spheres sprayed out, intercepting the boulders and blasting them to dust.

“PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!” Buford ordered.

Hazel spurred Arion off the colonnade and they leaped into battle. The forty-foot fall would have broken any other horse’s legs, but Arion hit the ground running. Hazel zipped from giant to giant, stinging them with the blade of her spatha. With extremely bad timing, Kekrops and his snake people chose that moment to join the fight. In four or five places around the ruins, the ground turned to green goo and armed gemini burst forth, Kekrops himself in the lead.

“Kill the demigods!” he hissed. “Kill the tricksters!”

Before many of his warriors could follow, Hazel pointed her blade at the nearest tunnel. The ground rumbled. All the gooey membranes popped and the tunnels collapsed, billowing plumes of dust. Kekrops looked around at his army, now reduced to six guys.

“SLITHER AWAY!” he ordered.

Frank’s arrows cut them down as they tried to retreat.

The giantess Periboia had thawed with alarming speed. She tried to grab Annabeth, but, despite her bad leg, Annabeth was holding her own. She stabbed at the giantess with her own hunting knife and led her in a deadly game of tag around the throne.
Percy was back on his feet, Riptide once again in his hands. He still looked dazed. His nose was starting to bleed. But he seemed to be standing his ground against the old giant Thoon, who had somehow reattached his hand and found his meat cleaver.
Piper stood back to back with Jason, fighting every giant who dared to come close. For a moment she felt elated. They were actually winning!

But too soon their element of surprise faded. The giants overcame their confusion. Frank ran out of arrows. He changed into a rhinoceros and leaped into battle, but as fast as he could knock down the giants they got up again. Their wounds seemed to be healing faster. Annabeth lost ground against Periboia. Hazel was knocked out of her saddle at sixty miles an hour. Jason summoned another lightning strike, but this time Porphyrion simply deflected it off the tip of his spear. The giants were bigger, stronger and more numerous. They couldn’t be killed without the help of the gods. And they didn’t seem to be tiring. The six demigods were forced into a defensive ring. Another volley of Earthborn rocks hit the Argo II. This time Leo couldn’t return fire fast enough. Rows of oars were sheared off. The ship shuddered and tilted in the sky. Then Enceladus threw his fiery spear. It pierced the ship’s hull and exploded inside, sending spouts of fire through the oar openings. An ominous black cloud billowed from the deck. The Argo II began to sink.

“Leo!” Jason cried.

Porphyrion laughed. “You demigods have learned nothing. There are no gods to aid you. We need only one more thing from you to make our victory complete.”

The giant king smiled expectantly. He seemed to be looking at Percy Jackson. Piper glanced over. Percy’s nose was bleeding, but his blood wasn't plain red, his blood was a mixture of red and gold, a beautiful amber color, speckled with gold here and there. He seemed unaware that he was bleeding. And Piper was too shocked by the color of his blood to react fast enough. A drop of shimmering blood dripped down his chin. 

“Percy, look out…” Piper tried to say, but for once her voice failed her.

His blood hit the ground between his feet and sizzled like water on a frying pan.The blood of Olympus watered the ancient stones. The Acropolis groaned and shifted as the Earth Mother woke.

Chapter Text

Percy huddled around his friends. He wiped the blood away from his nose. Now terrified, because Gaia was now waking, because he, couldn’t pay attention to his injuries. He should’ve been more cautious considering the fact a demigod’s blood had already spilled into the ground earlier—Annabeth’s. But his mind was clouded with hatred that monsters would dare to harm them again, that he didn’t think properly. Some would argue that he never does. Jason gasped next to him, causing Percy to look up to the sky where Jason was staring.

He looked up as the clouds parted over the Acropolis, and he thought he’d gone insane again, he squinted his eyes, trying to make sure he was seeing, what he was seeing. Instead of blue skies, he saw black space spangled with stars, the palaces of Mount Olympus gleaming silver and gold in the background. And an army of gods charged down from on high.

It was too much to process. And it was probably better for his health that he didn’t see it all. Only later would he be able to remember bits and pieces.
There was Zeus (probably his second least favorite god, he really didn’t know what Zeus’s problem was with him) riding into battle in a golden chariot, a lightning bolt the size of a telephone pole crackling in one hand. Pulling his chariot were four horses made of wind, each constantly shifting from equine to human form, trying to break free. On the underbelly of the Argo II, the glass bay doors split open. The goddess Nike tumbled out, free from her golden net. She spread her glittering wings and soared to Zeus’s side, taking her rightful place as his charioteer.

“MY MIND IS RESTORED!” she roared. “VICTORY TO THE GODS!”

Lets hope she forgives him for shoving tape in her mouth! And that she doesn’t tell the other gods of his actions in Tartarus.

At Zeus’s left flank rode Hera (his least favorite god!), her chariot pulled by enormous peacocks, their rainbow-coloured plumage so bright it gave Jason the spins. Ares bellowed with glee as he thundered down on the back of a fire-breathing horse. His spear glistened red. In the last second, before the gods reached the Parthenon, they seemed to displace themselves, like they’d jumped through hyperspace. The chariots disappeared. Suddenly Percy and his friends were surrounded by the Olympians, now human-sized, tiny next to the giants, but glowing with power.

Jason shouted and charged at Porphyrion. Zeus standing by his side. The others joined in the carnage as well. The fighting ranged all over the Parthenon and spilled across the Acropolis. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annabeth fighting Enceladus. At her side stood a woman with long dark hair and golden armour over her white robes. The goddess thrust her spear at the giant, then brandished her shield with the fearsome bronzed visage of Medusa. Together, Athena and Annabeth drove Enceladus back into the nearest wall of metal scaffolding, which collapsed on top of him.

On the opposite side of the temple, Frank Zhang and the god Ares smashed through an entire phalanx of giants—Ares with his spear and shield, Frank (as an African elephant) with his trunk and feet. The war god laughed and stabbed and disembowelled like a kid destroying piñatas.

Hazel raced through the battle on Arion’s back, disappearing in the Mist whenever a giant came close, then appearing behind him and stabbing him in the back. The goddess Hecate danced in her wake, setting fire to their enemies with two blazing torches. Hades was no where to be seen, but he was helping from the shadows(literally, maybe) but whenever a giant stumbled and fell the ground broke open and the giant was snapped up and swallowed.

Percy battled the giant twins, Otis and Ephialtes, while at his side fought his dad; Poseidon. The twin giants stumbled. Poseidon’s trident morphed into a fire hose, and the god sprayed the giants out of the Parthenon with a high-powered blast in the shape of wild horses.

Piper fenced with the giantess Periboia, sword against sword. Despite the fact that her opponent was five times larger, Piper seemed to be holding her own. The goddess Aphrodite floated around them on a small white cloud, strewing rose petals in the giantess’s eyes and calling encouragement to Piper. “Lovely, my dear. Yes, good. Hit her again!”
Whenever Periboia tried to strike, doves rose up from nowhere and fluttered in the giantess’s face.

As for Leo, he was racing across the deck of the Argo II, shooting ballistae, dropping hammers on the giants’ heads and blowtorching their loincloths. Behind him at the helm, a burly bearded guy in a mechanic’s uniform was tinkering with the controls, furiously trying to keep the ship aloft.

The funniest sight was the giant Thoon, who was getting bludgeoned to death by three old ladies with brass clubs—the Fates, armed for war. A gang of bat-wielding grannies was a scary sight.

Percy looked over at Jason. Staring at both Porphyrion and Zeus. Suddenly, giant used his spear in a whirlwind of swipes, jabs and slashes.

“No throne for you,” Zeus growled. “Not here. Not ever.”

“You cannot stop us!” the giant yelled. “It is done! The Earth Mother is awake!”

In answer, Zeus blasted the throne to rubble. The giant king flew backwards out of the temple and
Jason ran after him, his father at his heels. They backed Porphyrion to the edge of the cliffs, the whole of modern Athens spread out below. Lightning had melted all the weapons in the giant’s hair. Molten Celestial bronze dripped through his dreadlocks like caramel. His skin steamed and blistered.

Porphyrion snarled and raised his spear. “Your cause is lost, Zeus. Even if you defeat me, the Earth Mother shall simply raise me again!”

“Then perhaps,” Zeus said, “you should not die in the embrace of Gaia. Jason, my son…”

Percy looked at Jason’s expression, an expression of awe, and confidence. Then, he charged.

Porphyrion lashed out wildly with his spear, but Jason cut it in half with his gladius. He charged in, jabbing his sword through the giant’s breastplate, then summoned the winds and blasted Porphyrion off the edge of the cliff. As the giant fell, screaming, Zeus pointed his lightning bolt. An arc of pure white heat vaporized Porphyrion in midair. His ashes drifted down in a gentle cloud, dusting the tops of the olive trees on the slopes of the Acropolis.

Zeus turned to Jason. His lightning bolt flickered off, and Zeus clipped the Celestial bronze rod to his belt. The god’s eyes were stormy grey. His salt-and-pepper hair and his beard looked like stratus clouds.

“My son.” Zeus clasped Jason’s shoulder. “There is so much I would like to tell you…”

The god took a heavy breath, “Alas, as king of the gods, I must not show favoritism to my children. When we return to the other Olympians, I will not be able to praise you as much as I would like, or give you as much credit as you deserve.”

“I don’t want praise.”Jason’s voice quavered. “Just a little time together would be nice. I mean, I don’t even know you.”

Zeus’s gaze was as far away as the ozone layer. “I am always with you, Jason. I have watched your progress with pride, but it will never be possible for us to be…” Ah, yes, as usual, the god’s excuses as to why they cant take care of their children!

“From birth, you were destined to be Hera’s—to appease her wrath.—“ You mean because you cant stop cheating on her, that your children have to take the blame? Percy thought.

“—Even your name, Jason, was her choice. You did not ask for this. I did not want it. But when I gave you over to her…I had no idea what a good man you would become. Your journey has shaped you, made you both kind and great. Whatever happens when we return to the Parthenon, know that I do not hold you accountable. You have proven yourself a true hero.”

Percy sensed many emotions from Jason, it was hard to pinpoint what he was feeling exactly. “What do you mean…”whatever happens?”

“The worst is not over,” Zeus warned. “And someone must take the blame for what has happened. Come.”

Chapter Text

Nothing was left of the giants except heaps of ash, a few spears and some burning dreadlocks. The Argo II was still aloft, barely, moored to the top of the Parthenon. Half the ship’s oars were broken off or tangled. Smoke streamed from several large splits in the hull. The sails were peppered with burning holes. Leo looked almost as bad. He stood in the midst of the temple with the other crewmembers, his face covered in soot, his clothes smouldering. The gods fanned out in a semicircle as Zeus approached. None of them seemed particularly joyful about their victory.

Apollo and Artemis stood together in the shadow of a column, as if trying to hide. Hera and Poseidon were having an intense discussion with another goddess in green and gold robes—perhaps Demeter. Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate’s head, but the goddess of magic swatted it away. Hermes sneaked close to Athena, attempting to put his arm around her. Athena turned her aegis shield his way and Hermes scuffled off. The only Olympian who seemed in a good mood was Ares. He laughed and pantomimed gutting an enemy while Frank listened, his expression polite but queasy

“Brethren,” Zeus said, “we are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in this temple, now stands at Camp Half-Blood. It has united our offspring, and thus our own essences.”

“Lord Zeus,” Piper spoke up, “is Reyna okay? Nico and Coach Hedge?”

Jason couldn’t quite believe Piper was asking after Reyna’s health, but it made him glad.

Zeus knitted his cloud-coloured eyebrows. “They succeeded in their mission. As of this moment
they are alive. Whether or not they are okay—“

“There is still work to be done,” Queen Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a
group hug. “But my heroes…you have triumphed over the giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully.”

Percy rolled his eyes.

Zeus turned on his wife. Thunder shook the Acropolis. “Hera, do not dare take credit! You have caused at least as many problems as you’ve fixed!”

The queen of heaven blanched. “Husband, surely you see now—this was the only way.”

“There is never only one way!” Zeus bellowed. “That is why there are three Fates, not one. Is this not so?”

By the ruins of the giant king’s throne, the three old ladies silently bowed their heads in recognition. Jason noticed that the other gods stayed well away from the Fates and their gleaming brass clubs.

“Please, husband.” Hera tried for a smile, but she was so clearly frightened that Jason almost felt sorry for her. “I only did what I—“

“Silence!” Zeus snapped. “You disobeyed my orders. Nevertheless…I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valour of these seven heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom.”

Hera looked like she wanted to argue, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Apollo, however…” Zeus glared into the shadows where the twins were standing. “My son, come here.”

Apollo inched forward like he was walking the plank. He looked so much like a teenage demigod it was unnerving – no more than seventeen, wearing jeans and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, with a bow over his shoulder and a sword at his belt. With his tousled blond hair and blue eyes, he might’ve been Jason’s brother on the mortal side as well as the godly side.
Jason wondered if Apollo had assumed this form to be inconspicuous, or to look pitiable to his father. The fear in Apollo’s face certainly looked real, and also very human. 

The Three Fates gathered around the god, circling him, their withered hands raised. “Twice you have defied me,” Zeus said.
Apollo moistened his lips. “My—my lord—“

“You neglected your duties. You succumbed to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendant Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may yet destroy us all.”

“But—“

“Enough!” Zeus boomed. “We will speak of your punishment later. For now, you will wait on Olympus.”

Zeus flicked his hand, and Apollo turned into a cloud of glitter. The Fates swirled around him, dissolving into air, and the glittery whirlwind shot into the sky.

“What will happen to him?” Jason asked.

The gods stared at him, but Jason didn’t care. Having actually met Zeus, he had a newfound sympathy for Apollo.

“It is not your concern,” Zeus said. “We have other problems to address.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the Parthenon. It didn’t feel right to let the matter go. Jason didn’t see how Apollo deserved to be singled out for punishment.

Someone must take the blame, Zeus had said.

But why?

“Father,” Jason said, “I made a vow to honour all the gods. I promised Kymopoleia that once this war is over none of the gods would be without shrines at the camps.”

Zeus scowled. “That’s fine. But…Kym who?”

Poseidon coughed into his fist. “She’s one of mine.”

“My point,” Jason said, “is that blaming each other isn’t going solve anything. That’s how the Romans and Greeks got divided in the first place.”

The air became dangerously ionized. Jason’s scalp tingled. He realized he was risking his father’s wrath. He might get turned into glitter or blasted off the Acropolis. He’d known his dad for five minutes and made a good impression. Now he was throwing it away.
A good Roman wouldn’t keep talking.

Jason kept talking. “Apollo wasn’t the problem. To punish him for Gaia waking is—“ he wanted to say stupid, but he caught himself. “unwise.”

“Unwise.” Zeus’s voice was almost a whisper. “Before the assembled gods, you would call me unwise.”

Jason’s friends watched on full alert. Percy’s eyes glowed a dangerous dark green, and he looked like he was ready to jump in and fight at his side.

Then Artemis stepped out of the shadows. “Father, this hero has fought long and hard for our cause. His nerves are frayed. We should take that into account.”

Jason started to protest, but Artemis stopped him with a glance. Her expression sent a message so clear she might have been speaking in his mind: Thank you, demigod. But do not press this. I will reason with Zeus when he is calmer.

“Surely, Father,” the goddess continued, “we should attend to our more pressing problems, as you pointed out.”

“Gaia,” Annabeth chimed in, clearly anxious to change the topic. “She’s awake, isn’t she?”

Zeus turned towards her. Around Jason, the air molecules stopped humming. His skull felt like it had just come out of the microwave.

“That is correct,” Zeus said. “The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious.”

“Oh, come on!” Percy groaned. “It was a single drop of blood! How is that able to wake up the entire earth? That’s not fair!”

Athena shouldered her aegis. “Complaining of unfairness is like assigning blame, Percy Jackson. It does no one any good.” She gave Jason an approving glance. “Now you must move quickly. Gaia rises to destroy your camp.”

Poseidon leaned on his trident. “For once, Athena is right.

“For once?” Athena protested.

“Why would Gaia be back at camp?” Leo asked. “Percy’s nosebleed was here.”

“Dude,” Percy said, “first off, you heard Athena—don’t blame my nose. Second, Gaia’s the earth. She can pop up anywhere she wants. Besides, she told us she was going to do this. She said the first thing on her to-do list was destroying our camp. Question is: how do we stop her?”

Frank looked at Zeus. “Um, sir, Your Majesty, can’t you gods just pop over there with us? You’ve got the chariots and the magic powers and whatnot.”

“Yes!” Hazel said. “We defeated the giants together in two seconds. Let’s all go—“

“No,” Zeus said flatly.

“No?” Jason asked. “But, Father—“

Zeus’s eyes sparked with power, and Jason realized he’d pushed his dad as far as he could for today…and maybe for the next few centuries.

“That’s the problem with prophecies,” Zeus growled. “When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Seven to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it had only so many possible outcomes, so many solutions. You seven, the demigods, are destined to defeat Gaia. We, the gods, cannot.”

“I don’t get it,” Piper said. “What’s the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?”

All the gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter. “My dear Piper, don’t you think we’ve been asking ourselves that question for thousands of years? But it is what binds us together, keeps us eternal. We need you mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it’s the truth.”

Frank shuffled uncomfortably, like he missed being an elephant. “So how can we possibly get to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it? It took us months to reach Greece.”

“The winds,” Jason said. “Father, can’t you unleash the winds to send our ship back?”

Zeus glowered. “I could slap you back to Long Island.”

“Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or—“

“No,” Zeus said, “I mean it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved…”

Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanic’s uniform shook his head. “My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won’t sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner.”

Leo straightened his tool belt. “The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship.”

“Dangerous,” warned Hephaestus. “Perhaps fatal.”

The goddess Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. “Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this.” She stared pointedly at Leo.

Jason didn’t like that at all. He remembered Asclepius’s grim expression when the doctor had examined Leo. Oh, my. Oh, I see… Jason knew what they had to do to defeat Gaia. He knew the risks. But he wanted to take those risks himself, not put them on Leo.
Piper will have the physician’s cure, he told himself. She’ll keep us both covered.

“Leo,” Annabeth said, “what is Nike talking about?”

Leo waved off the question. “The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t matter. We
can do this, guys. We have to do this.”

A feeling of dread settled over Jason. Zeus was correct about one thing: the worst was yet to come. When the choice comes, Notus the South Wind had told him, storm or fire, do not despair.

Jason made the choice. “Leo’s right. All aboard for one last trip.”

Chapter Text

So much for a tender farewell. The last Jason saw of his dad, Zeus was a hundred feet tall, holding the Argo II by its prow. He boomed, “HOLD ON!”

Then he tossed the ship up and spiked it overhand like a volleyball. If Jason hadn’t been strapped to the mast with one of Leo’s twenty-point safety harnesses, he would have disintegrated. As it was, his stomach tried to stay behind in Greece and all the air was sucked out of his lungs. The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under Jason’s legs and, with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds.

“Jason!” Leo shouted. “Hurry!”

His fingers felt like melted plastic, but Jason managed to undo the straps. Leo was lashed to the control console, desperately trying to right the ship as they spiralled downward in free fall. The sails were on fire. Festus creaked in alarm. A catapult peeled away and lifted into the air. Centrifugal force sent the shields flying off the railings like metal Frisbees. Wider cracks opened in the deck as Jason staggered towards the hold, using the winds to keep himself anchored. If he couldn’t make it to the others…

Then the hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on the guide rope they’d attached to the mast. Piper, Annabeth and Percy followed, all of them looking disoriented.

“Go!” Leo yelled. “,Go, go, go!”

For once, Leo’s tone was deadly serious. They’d talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Jason’s mind sluggish. Judging from the others’ expressions, they weren’t in much better shape.

Buford the table saved them. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, “LET’S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!”

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away. Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed grey dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Frank grabbed Percy and Annabeth in his front claws, then spread his wings and soared away. Jason held Piper by the waist, ready to fly, but he made the mistake of glancing down. The view was a spinning kaleidoscope of sky, earth, sky, earth. The ground was getting awfully close.

“Leo, you won’t make it!” Jason shouted. “Come with us!”

“No! Get out of here!”

“Leo!” Piper tried. “Please—“

“Save your charmspeak, Pipes! I told you, I’ve got a plan. Now shoo!”

Jason took a last look at the splintering ship.
The Argo II had been their home for so long. Now they were abandoning it for good—and leaving Leo behind. Jason hated it, but he saw the determination in Leo’s eyes. Just like the visit with his father, Zeus, there was no time for a proper goodbye. Jason harnessed the winds, and he and Piper shot into the sky. The ground wasn’t much less chaotic.

As they plummeted, Jason saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills—cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others he couldn’t even name—surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

Giant eagles circled Jason, screeching urgently, as if looking for orders. Frank the grey dragon flew alongside with his passengers.
“Hazel!” Jason yelled. ‘Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don’t merge with the rest of the demigods—“

“On it!” Hazel said. “Go, Frank!”

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth in one claw yelling, “Let’s get ’em!” and Percy in the other claw screaming.

Piper and Jason veered right towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill. Jason’s heart lifted when he saw Nico di Angelo on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his way through a crowd of two-headed men. A few feet away, Reyna sat astride a new pegasus, her sword drawn. She shouted orders at the legion, and the Romans obeyed without question, as if she’d never been away. Jason didn’t see Octavian anywhere. Good. Neither did he see a colossal earth goddess laying waste to the world. Very good. Perhaps Gaia had risen, taken one look at the modern world and decided to go back to sleep. Jason wished they could be that lucky, but he doubted it.
He and Piper landed on the hill, their swords drawn, and a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans.

“About time!” Reyna called. “Glad you could join us!”

With a start, Jason realized she was addressing Piper, not him.

Piper grinned. “We had some giants to kill!”

“Excellent!” Reyna returned the smile. “Help yourself to some barbarians.”

“Why, thank you!”

The two girls launched into battle side by side.

Nico nodded to Jason as if they’d just seen each other five minutes ago, then went back to turning two-headed men into no-headed corpses. “Good timing. Where’s the ship?”

Jason pointed. The Argo II streaked across the sky in a ball of fire, shedding burning chunks of mast, hull and armament. Jason didn’t see how even fireproof Leo could survive in that inferno, but he had to hope.

“Gods,” Nico said. “Is everyone okay?”

“Leo…” Jason’s voice broke. “He said he had a plan.”

The comet disappeared behind the western hills. Jason waited with dread for the sound of an explosion, but he heard nothing over the roar of battle. Nico met his eyes. “He’ll be fine.”

“Sure.”

“But just in case…For Leo.”

“For Leo,” Jason agreed. They charged into the fight. Jason’s anger gave him renewed strength. The Greeks and Romans slowly pushed back the enemies. Wild centaurs toppled. Wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes. More monsters kept appearing—karpoi grain spirits swirling out of the grass, gryphons diving from the sky, lumpy clay humanoids that made Jason think of evil Play-Doh men.

“They’re ghosts with earthen shells!” Nico warned. “Don’t let them hit you!”

Obviously Gaia had kept some surprises in reserve. At one point, Will Solace, the lead camper for Apollo, ran up to Nico and said something in his ear. Over the yelling and clashing of blades, Jason couldn’t hear the words.

“Jason, I have to go!” Nico said.

Jason didn’t really understand, but he nodded, and Will and Nico dashed off into the fray. A moment later, a squad of Hermes campers gathered around Jason for no apparent reason.

Connor Stoll grinned. “What’s up, Grace?”

“I’m good,” Jason said. “You?”

Connor dodged an ogre club and stabbed a grain spirit, which exploded in a cloud of wheat. “Yeah, can’t complain. Nice day for it.”

Reyna yelled, “Eiaculare flammas!” and a wave of flaming arrows arced over the legion’s shield wall, destroying a platoon of ogres. The Roman ranks moved forward, impaling centaurs and trampling wounded ogres under their bronze-tipped boots.
Somewhere downhill, Jason heard Frank Zhang yell in Latin: “Repellere equites!”

A massive herd of centaurs parted in a panic as the legion’s other three cohorts ploughed through in perfect formation, their spears bright with monster blood. Frank marched before them. On the left flank, riding Arion, Hazel beamed with pride.

“Ave, Praetor Zhang!” Reyna called.

“Ave, Praetor Ramírez-Arellano!” Frank said. “Let’s do this. Legion, CLOSE RANKS!”

A cheer went up among the Romans as the five cohorts melded into one massive killing machine. Frank pointed his sword forward and, from the golden eagle standard, tendrils of lightning swept across the enemy, turning several hundred monsters to toast.

“Legion, cuneum formate!” Reyna yelled. “Advance!”

Another cheer on Jason’s right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half- Blood.

“Greeks!” Percy yelled. “Let’s, um, fight stuff!”

They yelled like banshees and charged. Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. They had no organization whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm. Jason was feeling good about the battle, except for two big questions: Where was Leo? And where
was Gaia? Unfortunately, he got the second answer first.
Under his feet, the earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress.
Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into the grass.

AWAKE, a voice boomed all around them.

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upward like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman—her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots.

“Little fools.” Gaia the Earth Mother opened her pure green eyes. “The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.”

As she said it, Jason realized why Gaia hadn’t appeared until now. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting the demigods, holding back the wrath of the earth, but even Athena’s might could only last so long against a primordial goddess. Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over the demigod army.

“Stand fast!” Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. “Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!”

Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and the earth bent towards her—trees tilting, bedrock groaning, soil rippling in waves. Jason rose on the wind, but all around him monsters and demigods alike started to sink into the ground. One of Octavian’s onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill.

“The whole earth is my body,” Gaia boomed. “How would you fight the goddess of—“ FOOOOMP!

In a flash of bronze, Gaia was swept off the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon. Festus, reborn, rose into the sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. As he ascended, the rider on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Leo’s grin was unmistakable.

“Hey guys!” he shouted down. “You coming? The fight is up here!”

Chapter Text

As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified. Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists. Sadly, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods’ disorganization.

Jason put his arms around Piper’s waist. He was about to take off when Percy yelled, “Wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all—“

“No, man,” Jason said. “They need you here. There’s still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy—“

Annabeth glanced around at them, then her eyes stopped at Percy. 

“Percy can help you guys.” She said.

”Beth—what do you mean?…”

”Our talk, you remember it right?” Jason had no idea what they were talking about, but he’d wished they’d hurry up a bit.

”Annabeth, you cant be serious—“

”Trust me, believe in yourself Percy—Help them.” She held his hands. Percy sighed, then nodded. And turned towards Jason.

Frank and Hazel turned to Jason. They raised their arms in the Roman salute, then ran off to regroup the legion.

Jason took Piper and spiralled upward on the wind, along with Percy.

“I’ve got the cure,” Piper murmured like a chant. “It’ll be fine. I’ve got the cure.”

Jason realized she’d lost her sword somehow during the battle, but he doubted it would matter. Against Gaia, a sword would do no good. This was about storm and fire…and a third power, Piper’s charmspeak, which would hold them together. Last winter, Piper had slowed the power of Gaia at the Wolf House, helping to free Hera from a cage of earth. Now she would have an even bigger job. He was doubting why Percy had to join them to help, and he wasn't sure if that would mess up the prophecy. But he and Annabeth knew something the rest of them didn’t.

As they ascended, Jason gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed. Soon they were in the eye of a maelstrom. Lightning burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate. Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth goddess. Gaia kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but the winds kept her aloft. Festus sprayed her with flames, which seemed to force her into solid form. Meanwhile, from Festus’s back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own and hurled insults. “Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!”

His whole body was wreathed in fire. Rain hung in the stormy air, but it only sizzled and steamed around him. Jason zoomed towards them.

Gaia turned into loose white sand, but Jason summoned a squadron of venti who churned around her, constraining her in a cocoon of wind. Gaia fought back. When she wasn’t disintegrating, she lashed out with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that Jason barely deflected. Stoking the storm, containing Gaia, keeping three whole people aloft…Jason had never done anything so difficult. He felt like he was covered in lead weights, trying to swim with only his legs while holding a car over his head. But he had to keep Gaia off the ground.

That was the secret Kym had hinted at when they spoke at the bottom of the sea. Long ago, Ouranos the sky god had been tricked down to the earth by Gaia and the Titans. They’d held him on the ground so he couldn’t escape and, with his powers weakened from being so far from his home territory, they’d been able to cut him apart.
Now Jason, Leo, Piper(and Percy) had to reverse that scenario. They had to keep Gaia away from her source of power—the earth—and weaken her until she could be defeated.

Together they rose. Festus creaked and groaned with the effort, but he continued to gain altitude. Jason still didn’t understand how Leo had managed to remake the dragon. Then he recalled all the hours Leo had spent working inside the hull over the last few weeks. Leo must have been planning this all along and building a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship. He must have known in his gut that the Argo II would eventually fall apart. A ship turning into a dragon…Jason supposed it was no more amazing than the dragon turning into a suitcase back in Quebec.

However it had happened, Jason was elated to see their old friend in action once more.
“YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!” Gaia crumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then re-formed again as human. “I AM ETERNAL!”

“Eternally annoying!” Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher. Jason and Piper rose with them.

“Get me closer,” Piper urged. “I need to be next to her.”

”Me too…i-if I’m doing what Annabeth told me to do—“

”But the flames and the shrapnel—“

“I know.”

Jason moved in until they were right next to Gaia. The winds encased the goddess, keeping her solid, but it was all Jason could do to contain her blasts of sand and soil. Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter.

“FOOLISH CHILDREN!” Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides.

“You are so weary,” Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. “Aeons of pain and disappointment weigh on you.”

“SILENCE!”

The force of Gaia’s anger was so great that Jason momentarily lost control of the wind. He would’ve dropped into free fall, but Festus caught him and Piper in his other huge claw. Piper lost her focus, she was shaking now. Percy looked at her with hope, urging her to continue. She took a breath. “Millennia of sorrow,” she told Gaia. “Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your grandchildren the gods overthrew your beloved children the Titans. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache.”

‘LIES!’ Gaia crumbled into a tornado of soil and grass, but her essence seemed to churn more sluggishly.

If they gained any more altitude, the air would be too thin to breathe. Jason would be too weak to control it. Piper’s talk of exhaustion affected him, too, sapping his strength, making his body feel heavy.

“What you want,” Piper continued, “more than victory, more than revenge…you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals.”

‘YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME PUNY DEMIGOD!’

“You want one thing,” Piper said soothingly, her voice resonating through Jason’s bones. “One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You—want—SLEEP.”

Gaia groaned. She lolled, her eyes drooping. But yet, she would not give in to her tiredness.

Unfortunately, Jason started to black out, too. The wind was dying. The storm dissipated. Dark spots danced in his eyes.

Piper gasped for breath. “She wont give in! My charmspeak won’t—“

”You are so so tired.” A new voice says. Jason blinks, his vision is blurry, he can barely see, but he can see—that the voice was from Percy. And he’s confused, because his eyes are refusing to stay open now.

“You’re not fighting for anything. The giants are dead, we defeated them. Your children are dead.” Percy said, in such a dark, commanding and fierce voice, that Jason couldn’t concentrate, he was busy mourning for children he did not have, feeling hopeless that this fight would lead to nothing.

Percy took a deep breath, and closed his eyes in concentration. “You’re tired. You want to sleep. You have nothing to be awake for, except for sorrow.”

Piper’s eyes started to tear up, and she looked at Percy with wide eyes.

”YOU—I DO NOT—!”

”Staying awake is meaningless.”

”I’LL—KILL YOU—“ but her voice was losing power, she was succumbing.

“Close your eyes…” Percy commanded. He opened his. “…and…SLEEP.” 

Chapter Text

Piper wiped tears away from her eyes. She watched as Gaia’s eyes fluttered close, and her body collapsing. She watched as Leo used his remaining strength to burn her away. And then, she looked at Percy, because, what was that? Charmspeak? No, that wasn’t it, it wasn’t like Charmspeak at all. Charmspeak relied on soft persuasion to make the opponent do what you want. What Percy did…it was alluring, so strong, so fierce, and so so dangerous. When had he learned that? Or, how was that even possible? She wondered. 

She always thought he was just some guy. Just a demigod like the rest of them. The rumors and stories she heard at camp? Must’ve been exaggerating, because when she met Percy, he was just a guy. A soft, Joyful, so deeply in love, teenage boy who made jokes about everything. She was unimpressed by him, compared to Jason, she thought before, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. But now?

Hazel told them how she thought he was a god in disguise when she first saw him. People at camp thought of him as a god, a legend, they talked and believed in him, more than their parents, the gods. They thought he was a god, but, that wasn't far from the truth now, was it? His oddly colored blood, his insane display of powers that no mortal should’ve had. She realized she was lucky she’d never seen Percy’s other side. The waters could be kind, forgiving, and calming, like beaches, soft waves. But the waters could also be cruel, she’d forgotten the ocean’s wrath. Drowning ships, the dark, deep trenches that could swallow everything. The mystery, the storms. Percy was more like his element than anyone else. His eyes showed what emotion he felt, she’d always just seen them as a bright sea green, sometimes darker in battle. But she’d never seen him as anything else. Now, she did.

As she looked at him, she felt fear, and awe, mostly fear. His eyes glowed a dark eerie green, with slitted pupils, he looked crazy, unhinged, insane, and inhuman, his lips were pulled into a manic grin, his teeth on full display, dangerously sharp teeth, like a shark’s. His skin glowed and shined faintly golden. Piper had never felt more terrified in her life.

Suddenly, Percy gasped and panted, as if he’d been drowning(ironic) his posture slanted, and he fell towards Piper. All of his unnatural features returned to normal, his expression softened. Piper felt relieved, because he terrified her earlier. He gritted his teeth, but now, he just looked drained. Perhaps it was from doing something that shouldn’t have been possible for him. The Charmspeak he used. 

“…I…I think I pushed too far—“ 

Percy coughed. Piper helped him sit up. She had no water or anything that could help him. And Jason seemed to be barely keeping awake, whatever Percy did, it was affecting them too. 

“Leo, can you let us down? Percy’s having issues.” 

It seemed Piper was the only one unaffected, or, not affected as much, Leo started looking nauseas. 

“You got it, Beauty Queen!” He tried for a smile, and started to work Festus.

As they descended, she saw that the battle on the ground was close to over. But many were injured. She helped Percy up, and helped him walk over to find the rest of their friends. 

“…It’s…Percy!” Someone shouted relieved.

“Percy? Percy!” She heard a girl’s voice, and recognized it was Annabeth’s.

“Guys, later, Percy’s…He needs to be healed!” Piper yelled.

Annabeth immediately uncapped a bottle of water, and splashed it at Percy, the whole bottle. And Piper’s probably just never seen him with his powers in action that much before, because she instantly got weirded out when the water soaked into his skin like a sponge. Annabeth propped him up. And Piper moved away to help Jason stand up properly. 

“Percy, Percy! I’m sorry, I should’ve known you had no experience with it, are you alright? I’m sorry, please—“ 

“…Hey Beth, it’s alright…I’m fine…” Percy muttered. And some campers instantly looked relieved.

Piper hated to ruin the moment, but she had unanswered questions she wanted answers for. “Could anyone explain what happened?” She looked at Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth looked guilty, Percy just sighed. 

“Get the rest of the seven…I’ll explain, everything. It wasn’t right to keep all these secrets form you guys.” 

Percy had taken a swim at the beach to heal himself better, and after he came out, he looked way better than he had been earlier. 

Piper looked at Annabeth and Percy. “Could we get some answers now?” The others nodded at her. 

Percy fidgeted with some water, avoiding their gazes. He turned towards Annabeth, and whispered something to her, she whispered back and nodded.

”We’e sorry for holding this information away, but we ourselves were confused by it.” Annabeth said. “It started back in…the pit, we fought the goddess Ahklys, goddess of misery and poison…As to why we fought her in the first place…we needed something she had to continue our way out. She betrayed us shortly after, attempting to kill us with poison, and…” she paused. Annabeth looked at Percy, whose head was facing the sand. He looked ashamed. 

“…We were losing…and Percy…controlled her poison…to go against her…and er…” Annabeth looked annoyed. Piper assumed it was because she couldn’t get the words out. 

“Something inside of me broke. I’m guessing it was a limit on my powers, because soon after, I found out I could do more things.” Percy followed up. “…Annabeth suspected something, that I had a power similar to Charmspeak…as Piper, Leo, and Jason saw me do…” Annabeth looked at Percy, they were still holding something back, but Piper decided not to pry.

”But how? Charmspeak is an Aphrodite child thing.” Jason stated.

“Sirens” Percy said, as if that explained everything.

”What?”

“Sirens are from the sea…if the ‘broken’ thing inside was a limit of my powers, then it would mean my abilities could extend to other ocean related things.” 

The others were shocked, but some nodded anyways. Annabeth looked at Percy shocked and she didn’t know why, because didn’t they know what happened and stuff? Anyways, Piper cleared her throat. “I…I have something I want to tell you, Percy, because it seems though you haven’t realized yourself.” And Piper just really wanted to make sure she wasn’t going crazy.

Percy looked at Piper. Annabeth looked at Percy. 

“Percy, earlier…before Gaia woke. Your blood dripped into the ground.”

”It wasn’t my fault!—“

”I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the fact your blood…was…”

Annabeth seemed to catch up to what she was saying, finishing the sentence for her. 

“Your blood was almost golden.”

Chapter Text

Percy froze. Had he heard that right? His. Blood. Golden. Surely he was just hearing things. He just hadn’t recovered yet and just misheard what she said!—

“Oh, yeah, I definitely did see glints of gold. But I’d assumed it was the monster dust.” Jason said.

”T-then are you sure? Maybe you didn’t see it properly, Beth! I’m sure you were just seeing things because of your injuries—“

”Percy.” Annabeth stated firmly. “Its alright, calm down—“

”Calm down? Calm down?! How do YOU expect ME to calm down Annabeth?!” He was losing it. But he was so done. He didn’t mean to yell at her, but his emotions were going haywire during the entire battle. The ocean waves got choppy and violent. The others stared at him shocked. Piper backed away from him. “No. No. You guys must’ve been seeing things! There’s no way—“ he paused. He could see for himself, he had riptide, he couldn’t believe them, they had to be joking! Surely…surely he wasn’t…he couldn’t…! Seeing his loved ones die before him while he stays the same forever…he cant…they must be joking to light up the mood after Gaia!—It just cant be true!…

Percy swiftly took out riptide, uncapping it. He poked his finger on the tip of the sword, enough to get blood out. 

“See, guys? You were just seeing things!—“ He laughed. He didn’t realize how it came out cold and cruel. And then he noticed it, the glimmer of something metallic, the shimmer of gold. He stared at his finger, at his amber colored metallic blood, at his blood that had golden specks in it. Riptide dropped to the floor in a clang. And then he noticed something else. His hands were different. His hands faded to a sea green near his fingers, his nails were a sea green like his fingers…and his nails were longer and pointed. His skin shimmered and had small but flat bumps. That wasn’t normal. That wasn’t human. But was he ever? 

This couldn’t be happening. What was even happening? His blood, the gold—his hands, was he a monster? Only monsters liked seeing others suffer. Ahklys—

“-rcy!” He blinked. Someone was calling him…who was that? 

His thoughts were jumbled. His vision was blurry. His ears rang. He had a headache. Everything hurt. Someone help him—

”Perseus Achilles Jackson! I demand you calm down and listen to me, right now!” Percy stopped, a pang of pain hit him in the head again. But the ringing in his ears stopped. He was taken out of his thoughts and saw Annabeth frantically shaking him.

“An…”

”Deep breaths Percy…you…you need to calm down.” Annabeth said softly.

”Woah dude, your name is Perseus? I did wonder why you were called Percy, I mean I don't think anyone would name their child Percy because it doesn’t mean anything—at least I don't think so. Anyways why don't you go by Perseus? I think it’s pretty cool! If i had a name like that I’d totally want to be called that—“ Piper smacked Leo in the head “Quit your rambling! Ask questions later, Percy looks like he has a migraine right now!”

She wasn’t wrong, Percy had a massive headache. 

“Sorry, Percy, You wouldn’t listen to me!…just like in…,” she paused, and shook her head. “I know that look in your eyes, that,”  Annabeth pointed at his hands. “doesn’t mean anything, you’re still the Percy Jackson I know and love.” 

“B-but look at them! They’re not human, they’re not normal! What? I-I’ve got claws or something? I don’t know whats wrong with me—“

Annabeth slapped him. He stopped talking. “Nothing was ‘normal’ in our life Percy, I don't care about what’s happening to you, and you shouldn’t either because they don't affect you. I don't care if you’re not human. None of us are technically being part god. Stop knocking yourself down! You’re so…ugh! Why does nothing get in that head of yours! Understand I love you and I will no matter what!” she was furious. But Percy knew she wasn’t mad mad at him. 

So he smiled, “You don't call me seaweed brain for no reason do you?” She lightly smacked him arm. And they laughed. 

“Soooo…sorry to break the moment, but you didn’t answer my question. Your full name is Perseus? Like the greek guy who killed Medusa? I honestly thought your name was just Percy.” 

“Yes, Leo, and I’d like to keep it that way, pretend you never heard what Annabeth said.” Percy said.

”Cmon Perce! Why? It’s such a cool name!” Leo protested.

”I have to agree…I mean, being named after a famous mythological hero? And another for your middle name? Thats pretty cool.” 

”Funnily enough, he’s killed Medusa too.” Annabeth said. 

“Come on, not you too!” Frank laughed. Annabeth smirked.

“Percy’s the only one who doesn’t think his name is cool.” Annabeth commented. Percy blushed. 

”It’s embarrassing! They’re famous greek heroes!” He whined.

”You’re probably more famous than them at this point!” Annabeth argued. She laughed when he covered his face with his hands.

“J-Just call me Percy okay? Percy. That’s it.” Percy said. 

“Well, since we got things sorted out, should we go back to camp? Some people might be worried. Or they might need help.” Jason stated.

”Right!” Piper agreed

They headed back to camp, and saw some people working on repairs already. Chiron spotted them, he came over to them. “Zeus has decided to celebrate the victory of the war, you 7 are requested on Olympus for a ceremony, and we will throw a party to celebrate here at camp.” Oh.

Percy nervously fidgeted with his hands. Zeus had a bit of an issue with him. And he wasn’t a big fan of Zeus. Annabeth seemed to notice his nervousness, she put her arm around him in reassurance. He smiled at her. He just hoped the gods didn’t find out about his…new abilities…

Chapter Text

They headed to the Empore State Building, the 7 of them, ready to go to Olympus and meet the gods. Okay, Percy wasn’t ready, he was scared that something would happen. Knowing his luck, Zeus can probably blame something on him again and attempt to smite him. Of course, all of them took a break first, some of them took a nap, showers, or just ate some food, Percy changed his dirty bloody clothes. He wore a hoodie to cover his hands, because he felt really insecure about them. But now, here they were, at the Empire State Building. Surprisingly, the receptionist didn’t question them, he looked at them wide eyed, and let them go to the elevator for the 600th floor. So that just made Percy even more nervous. Because if he didn’t complain and protest the 600th floor being not real, then something was probably serious.

They listened to elevator music for many minutes. Percy sighed. 

“I cant believe we’re going to Olympus! The Olympus! With the gods.” Hazel exclaimed. 

“Eh, it isn’t too big of a deal.” Annabeth said.

”What do you mean? For the Romans it would’ve been a big deal just to meet a god at all, let alone the whole council of olympians?” Jason uttered in shock.

”I don't even want to go up there…last time I did, I’m pretty sure Zeus was planning on how to smite me.” Percy muttered.

”You’ve been on Olympus? Leo asked.

”Yeah, like last year or something, when we fought Kronos.” Percy stated casually.

”Mhm! And I even helped redesign the whole place.” Annabeth declared confidentially. 

“What?!” Annabeth giggled. 

Ding!

Percy gulped, oh, he was not ready for this. As they walked into Olympus, his friends that hadn’t been here before looked around with awe. Which was all of them excluding Annabeth, she wasn’t shocked, she was Olympus’ architect after all. She looked around with pride. And Percy felt happy for her. They followed their way to the throne room. 

His friends gasped. The throne room was huge, with 12 massive thrones, which sat massive gods—the olympians, expecting their arrival.

”At last, the demigods have arrived. Let us proceed onto the ceremony!” Zeus yelled. Always so dramatic.

The awarding ceremony began. Zeus declared that each of them could receive a single wish as long as it is within their powers. Swearing on the styx.

Leo wished for Calypso’s return. And that led Percy to wonder when did he meet her? The gods hesitated, looked at Percy. But then agreed to help Leo free her. They would guild him to her, and make sure they would be protected, but they could not free her themselves.

Frank wished to be relieved of his curse. They agreed. He hugged Hazel. She hugged him back. Joyous for him.

Hazel wished that she could stay alive. Hades told her that Pluto didn’t find any soul that left who shouldn’t have left. So she asked for removal of her curse. They agreed. Her and Frank smiled at each other.

Jason wished for help in his promise to Kym. They agreed. But Percy thought back to Kym’s words “We know what an Olympian promise is worth.” He hoped they would comply with their promise this time. 

Piper didn’t have anything to wish for. 

Annabeth wished for retrieval of Daedalus’ laptop she had lost during her quest. They agreed and she gleamed with joy. Percy smiled at her. She smiled back. 

“Perseus!” Zeus boomed. Percy froze. He hid his sleeved hands behind his back. “We offer you the gift of immortality again! Do you accept?” 

Jason quirked an eyebrow with a look at Percy that said. Again? This happened before? Leo looked at him confused and in awe. Percy guessed the gods didn’t know about his friends’ earlier conversation then. 

“…Erm, I’m sure this was expected so, uhm…Lord…Zeus I politely decline.” Percy said. 

Zeus looked irritated. “You refuse again? It is the gift of immortality or nothing, boy.” 

Percy sighed. “I guess I get nothing then.” 

“Well then, I suppose you are dismissed.” Okay, great! Percy was gonna get out of here as soon as he could. He turned around, about to run when Hera stopped him.

”Surely you haven’t forgotten the display of power our little hero has shown?” Percy shivered. Hera eyed him. And then, he felt the eyes of all the other gods on him. Some eying him warily. His dad showed an expression of fear, not of him, for him. Athena glared at him slightly. He cowered. 

“Hm, yes, it seemed I had forgotten. Perseus…it seems you have yet again passed expectations…this time…”

”The power he displayed was much like charmspeak, against Gaia, he was able to talk her to sleep…Aphrodite?” Athena questioned.

”I have not blessed him, all that he displayed…was of his own power…” Aphrodite answered with a grim smile. 

Percy backed away. He was not liking the atmosphere, he was not liking where this was going. 

“Perseus. You have displayed far too many powers, exceeding limits far too many times. You are too strong for a mortal. And we must do something about you.” 

Poseidon opened his mouth to speak, cut off with a glare from Zeus, to which he glared back. 

“Shall we dispose of him then? Dispose of the danger and be done with all of this?” Ares insisted. 

Annabeth moved closer to Percy, half hugging him from the back. But Percy was pissed now. Apparently helping the gods not once, but twice was not enough to show his loyalties. He was grateful to the gods who believed in him, Hestia, his dad, Hermes, Apollo who was alright, even Artemis! Who hated males! He appreciated that they actually used their brains. But he was absolutely done with the rest that didn’t believe in him at all. Anger filled him, anger he didn’t feel since Tartarus.

“He has taken down many immortals now, it is concerning. Should he turn against us—“ 

“Stop!” Percy screamed. He was so tired of them. And he hadn’t actually expected it to work. Sure it worked on Nike, but that was because she was a single god. He didn’t think it would work on multiple. So he was immediately shocked. 

“YOU DARE TO—“ 

“I SAID STOP!” Percy growled. This time directly at Zeus. To his surprise, Zeus actually did stop. But his hand was still curled around his master bolt—his master bolt that Percy retrieved for him. How ungrateful. Zeus glared at Percy. Percy glared back. And he actually saw an ounce of fear in his eyes.

“Shut up and listen to me.” Percy commanded. They did. They had no choice. His power was too strong for them to resist.

”Athena, you’re the goddess of wisdom! Then where’s the wisdom? Because I don’t hear anything coming out of your stupid godly mouth that’s wise, all I hear, is biased hate.” He spat. 

“You cannot talk to use like that—“ Athena argued.

”Am I wrong? Your biased hate towards Poseidon has led you to be so hateful towards me. What have I done to you gods—other than help participate in YOUR wars, full of children; YOUR CHILDREN—to keep you all on your high and mighty thrones?!” He snarled.

Zeus gripped his master bolt, raising it towards Percy. Audible gasps from his friends were heard. 

“Percy! Percy—stop! Y-you’re gonna get kill—“ Piper frantically tried. Annabeth stopped her. And whispered something. 

”Hm…Do it…” Percy said softly. He glanced at Zeus. 

Zeus looked confused and shocked.

“Percy what are you doin—“

”Do it, high and mighty Zeus. Do it, smite me.” Percy said in a soft, nice voice, acting as if he wasn’t about to almost die. 

Zeus hesitated. He looked towards Poseidon, who just looked at him back, leaning on his throne. He quirked an eyebrow. 

“Posei—“

”Oh, no no no no no no! Don’t look at him, look at me. I’m the disrespectful and oh so dangerous demigod aren’t I? I think he’s quite tired of you, quite tired of me. If I’m really so dangerous. If I’m really so powerful. Then smite me. Don’t vouch for voting. They’re done protecting me. It’ll just happen again. If I’m really such a danger to you. Then kill me. Right here. Right now.” He gave a cruel smile full of teeth. 

Zeus groaned. And Percy knew he knew that he couldn’t smite him. Because he’s been such a help to the gods. He lowered his bolt.

It was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. 

“Awesome! Now that it’s over, we’ll be heading back to camp.” He turned around, and gestured for his friends to follow.

So sudden. So quick. Yet he still had time to react.

”ARES!—“ A god yelled.

”Percy!—“ Hazel yelled

He felt something coming towards him. He reached out. He felt liquid. And he pulled. 

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Gasps were heard all around. Annabeth watched as Ares froze midair after running towards Percy. She watched as Percy held his hand out, she watched as his eyes turned gold. All she could think about was Luke. Percy seemed to come into realization of what was happening. He immediately relaxed his hand, slapping his hand over his mouth. And Ares plopped onto the ground. His golden eyes faded away back to his regular sea green. He backed away. She realized it was his doing. Overpowering a god so easily like that. Her mind forced the scenario of what Percy did to Ahklys upon her. 

“I-I-I…” Percy stuttered. He looked around. Poseidon looked at him in awe. And all the other gods looked at him in shock. Hera and Zeus was more in anger. His previous confidence, his previous anger at the gods all seemed to fade away as quickly as it came. Just like the ocean. He was shaking, she wanted to comfort him, she reached out to him. She tried to grab him. And then—he dissolved into sea breeze and disappeared. Leaving her, and her friends, and even the gods in confusion. But Zeus cleared his throat.

“Perseus has yet again displayed—“

Nope, thats it, now she was done.

”Oh my gods! Zeus are you really that stupid? Are all of you really that stupid?!” She glared, she was tired of not being able to live a normal life, and she was tired of the gods treating her boyfriend like a rabid animal.

”Girl—“

Annabeth groaned. “His fatal flaw is loyalty for—whoever’s sake! Not yours, because I honestly think you guys all suck right now!”

”Personal loyalty—“

”Forget your hate towards Poseidon for a damn moment mother!” She spat the word out. She didn’t want to call this ungrateful woman who hated her amazing boyfriend her mother. “His loyalty lies to camp, to his friends. And the camp, lies loyal to YOU! For what reason? I don’t know, but you better be SO glad camp is loyal to you. Because if they weren’t, you know damn well you would all be dead right now.” 

They grew silent. 

“Loyal to camp, camp is loyal to you. Camp is also loyal to him. If you dared to smite him. Then think about it. With your stupid godly brains. If the gods could care less about the demigod who saved their thrones and won TWO wars for you all, just so you could sit up here and do nothing again. Then what would you care about the rest of them? Carelessly throw aside the strongest, and most helpful demigod, then they’re worth nothing to you either then, right?”

”We would only smite him because he is dangerous—“

”My fatal flaw is Hubris, isn’t that a ‘more likely to betray you’ flaw? I rebuilt Olympus, and I kept thinking. ‘I could do a much better job than these dumb gods, they sat here doing nothing and didn’t help their children, that’s why the war happened in the first place.’ I’m just not as ‘dangerous’ so to say. But look at Luke. He wasn’t dangerous, yet he was still able to cause so much damage, because so many people agreed.” 

“Are you saying we should smite you too?” Zeus glared. 

“I’M SAYING TO USE YOUR STUPID BRAIN! PERCY ISN’T A DANGER TO YOU. AND ANYONE COULD BE A DANGER! STOP. TARGETING. HIM. SPECIFICALLY!” Annabeth screamed with fury. “He showed ‘dangerous’ powers earlier, but you don't stop to think about how Ares was planning on KILLING him?! What are your priorities?!” 

“That’s right. It wasn’t his fault.” Jason agreed.

”Get on Percy’s bad side, you get on our bad side. And as Annabeth said. Camp is loyal to him. I’m sure they’d happily join us to go against you.” Hazel said firmly. 

“Don’t forget you also get your powers from worship and belief, if all of the camps’ demigods stop praying and believing you, your powers would weaken. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.” Annabeth smiled mockingly.

”Father, I believe these demigods are correct. We shall not pry further.” Artemis added.

Athena sighed. “If we wish to keep our positions…it…would be unwise to target the demigods any further unless they have shown true evil intent towards us.” Annabeth smirked. 

“Yep! That’s all right. Now listen to the wisdom goddess, Zeus.”

Zeus glared at her, but she didn’t care. He knew better than to harm her. He couldn't harm her without facing major consequences. 

“Well then. I believe this meeting is truly over. Come on guys, we need to find Percy!” She started to walk away. Her friends followed. She took one last glance at the gods. And smiled. They had to learn their place.

“We’re back at camp…now where do we find Percy?” Frank asked.

”I’m not sure…I don’t even know if he knew where he was going. Because he wasn’t able to just disappear like that before.” Annabeth sighed. And when he just found out a new ability he doesn’t have the best control and could go crazy and probably kill someone. She didn’t say.

“Hey, don’t they say names have power?” Leo questioned.

”Yes? Where are you going with this…?” She asked.

”Isn’t he like…ascending or something like that? What if we called for him?” 

“He’s not a god.” Annabeth stated. 

“…Not yet.” Leo supplied. 

“We’ll probably look stupid calling for him—“

”Might as well try, right? What else can we do?” Jason sighed.

So they did. They shouted his name out multiple times. Even his full name hoping that he pop up to correct them. He did not. 

“So…” Leo said. 

Annabeth sighed. Percy, please be alright. She prayed thought.

Walking back to their cabins, deciding to resort to helping the reconstruction. Percy suddenly popped out in front of them and fell face flat on the ground. He groaned. Despite their confusion still on how the hades he could do that. They couldn’t help but laugh. 

“…Hey guys, you uhm…called…?” Percy asked. He gave his usual smile. Annabeth noticed his teeth. Some which were unusually pointy. 

The others seemed to notice as well. Piper looked at Jason, who nodded. And she whispered something that sounded like oh phew so I’m not insane. 

“Percy, you’re uh…” Annabeth started.

Percy’s smile immediately fell, he glanced around. “Right, sorry forgot about that.” He gave a slight smile. It seemed genuine, but she knew better than to trust him. “So, what did you need me for?” 

“We just wanted to make sure you were alright after…that…” Hazel spoke.

”That was crazy man…they just let you talk to them like that?” Jason inquired. 

“Oh. I was just annoyed. I don’t know why they hate me so much…All I’ve done was help them—“ He rambled.

”They think you would overthrow them, they did it, and before them, it happened as well. They’re paranoid because they know they wouldn’t stand a chance against you if you did change your mind.” She stated.

“Oh…I wouldn't’ know if I could do that.” He said.

Annabeth looked at him. She was seriously gonna question if he was being humble, or if he just had an ego. No way someone was this oblivious. 

Chapter Text

Percy awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He grumbled. 

“Come in…”

His room was surrounded by golden light instantly. He looked up to see the sun god, Apollo giving him a sheepish smile. 

He threw his blanket over his head.

”Hey Percy! Uh, Zeus kinda wants you for something—“

”Tell him I don't want to deal with him.” 

”Come on Percy! You’ll be fine.” 

“No.”

Then suddenly, Apollo grabbed his arm and then flashed him away. 

“Apollo…” He growled.

”It’s important!” The god said.

”What? Do they wanna kill me for the disrespect I showed yesterday?”

Apollo sighed. “Just…follow me.”

So he did, because what choice did he have? He was too tired to protest. He followed Apollo to the throne room. And then he got a headache. Why did he keep getting headaches recently? Anyways he saw the wonderful gods sitting on their stupid thrones in front of him. And Apollo flashed to his throne.

“Perseus.” Zeus said.

”…Yes?”

Zeus groaned. “…As the God of Justice, there was no justice where we provided the other demigods a gift, and you…none.” 

Percy stopped, because had he heard that right? Was Zeus…reflecting on his actions?

”…So we will let you choose a wish if we can provide it.” It seemed to pain Zeus to say those words.

“Swear on the Styx.” Percy said flatly.

“We swear on the Styx.” Zeus grumbled.

”Awesome! Give Hades and Hestia a throne on Olympus.”

”What?”

”…That’s my wish, for them to have a place on the council…they’re also children of Kronos and Rhea aren’t they? I mean you guys are on there already, why aren’t they?”

Zeus glared. But obliged nonetheless. “It shall be granted. You are…dismissed.” 

He grinned, either Zeus finally noticed his worth, or the gods that respected him scolded Zeus, or something else. Didn’t matter, because he was just glad that Zeus was finally listening. 

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END OF “LOST IN THE SEA(OF MY OWN TERRIFYING THOUGHTS)”

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Okkk Hi guys!! Just wanted to say I love y’all and the support I was given when I wrote this fix last year. Okay so, I know some of you do actually enjoy this story, and I felt it could’ve been written better (wayyy better) I’m planning a rewrite with longer chapters hopefully and more of my own spin on the story instead of going mostly off Rick’s. •-•;

Now, I made a Tumblr account a while ago, would be very nice if you guys could talk to me there about things you’d like to see in the rewrite, what I can do better, what I could focus on, or any extras you want in my story. I wanna write but I’m honestly so unmotivated so if you guys could just come send some love and opinions that’d be great 🥹

I’ll start working on the rewrite, but just very lonely tbh so come to my tumblr?? (I lowkey have no idea how it works so uhhhh) but I might even post fanart??? Of my fic????? But like writing, my artsy side is also very not available atm. ;;

But pls anyone who sees this and wants this story updated just come and chat or something, bc when I wrote the story I’d wake up and see your loving comments and feel happy and motivated to write. 

Love ya guys I promise rewrite soon!…

it’ll come out this year at least…..