Chapter Text
The doors of the throne room groaned dramatically as they opened in front of Percy. Poseidon had disappeared from his side and presumably now sat inside on this throne waiting.
Brace yourself. Thanks, dad that’s super helpful, Percy thought, not caring if Poseidon heard or not. He was tired of that advice.
Nevertheless, Percy walked to the middle of the array of thrones with steeled shoulders and a raised chin. He refused to show weakness in front of these gods. The entire Olympian and minor god council were assembled, including Hades, Percy noticed with a start.
“So you finally deign to present yourself,” Zeus boomed and lightning crackled in arcs along the back of his throne.
“Stopped hiding behind your daddy’s skirts?” Ares brayed. Percy didn’t bother looking toward him which made the palpable aura of wrath intensify from where Ares sulked.
I only just found out I’m going to be a god. I didn’t know what to do. It was a struggle to even get out of bed this morning.All things that were true but that he would never say out loud.
“I’m here now,” Percy said, hoping his eyes didn’t betray the pit he had dug himself into the past week. Or hoping that if they did, that the gods chalked it up to his domains.
“Yes, yes, fine Peter’s here now,” Dionysus said flippantly from where he lounged on his throne. “But where’s the party. I got a party when I arrived here.”
“You had already ascended,” Zeus said tersely, cutting stormy eyes towards his errant son. “And besides, you threw that party yourself.”
“Oh yes, that’s right,” Dionysus mused aloud. “I could throw one now if only you’d—”
“No.” Zeus stopped Dionysus in his tracks, sending the god into a visible pout.
Percy found himself steadied by the familiar banter from Mr. D and silently thanked the god for drawing some attention away from himself. However, it didn’t last long before Zeus turned his gaze back on Percy.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Zeus asked. Percy wasn’t sure exactly what Zeus was implying with his tone but it didn’t sound good. Was he on trial, yet again, for something out of his control?
“Didn’t you hear? I’m becoming one of you soon,” Percy snarked, only barely restraining himself and not well at that.
“And that’s exactly what we need - some miserable new god walking around having mental breakdowns and causing trouble,” Zeus griped.
Percy narrowed his eyes at him. “I didn’t choose this.”
“No? But maybe you could have and we wouldn’t be in the situation right now.”
“You’re still mad about that?” Percy asked incredulously. Was that what had put a stick up his ass?
Thunder rumbled through the throne room.
“Mad? Mad? About you choosing to blatantly disrespect me and my generous offer, only to waltz in here years later to be rewarded for your insolence?” Zeus’s voice grew louder with each word and he leaned forward in his chair, gripping the arms.
“Rewarded?” Percy cut in before Zeus’ tirade could go any further. “You think this is a reward to me?”
“And now you spit on the gift of immortality itself!” Zeus boomed. For a moment, Percy was reminded of Gabe yelling at him, of the spit that coated his face when Gabe got too close to him.
“Not everything is about you!” Percy yelled, balling his fists at his sides and glaring at the king of the gods.
“Now, let’s chill out yeah?” Apollo said, loud but calm, and he seemed to cut through the tension with his voice.
Apollo turned to look at Zeus. “Father, Perseus has just gotten a shock, no matter how,” here Apollo shot Percy a warning glance, “how wonderful a shock it may be. Let’s give him some time to get used to it.”
“I thought that’s what Poseidon’s little stalling tactic was about,” Athena said dryly.
“Mortals need more time to adjust to something like this than just a few hours,” Artemis said, coming to Percy’s defense.
“He’s not a mortal though, he’s a god,” Ares grunted, still appearing sulky from being ignored earlier.
“Not yet~” Dionysus sang out tauntingly from his throne and took a gulp from his can of Diet Coke. “He still needs to burn through that pesky mortal shell of his. It makes a big difference, believe me.”
“While your…compassion,” Athena’s lips curled. “Is to be admired Dionysus, I am more concerned with the blatant lack of control the boy exhibited around our children under your watch.”
“This kind of thing has a process to it, dear sister,” Dionysus said, not looking at all concerned at the accusation.
“I’m not sure I like that walking bag of misery over there being around my kids,” Ares said, really in top form today.
I wouldn’t trust you around any kids, Ares, Percy thought spitefully.
“Are misery and poisons Percy’s only domains?” Hermes interjected, before turning sympathetic blue eyes on Percy. “I find it hard to believe that’s all he embodies.”
A well of gratitude towards Hermes broke through the turbulence inside him. This thought had been rattling around his head since Percy had come to his realization about himself.
“No,” Poseidon said firmly. Percy turned to look at his dad, this time without anger or disdain. “He’s too much my son to not be a part of some of my realm.”
Poseidon looked proudly down at Percy, his eyes the same shade of green as Percy’s own but the feeling in them suddenly reminded Percy of his mom.
“He has dominion over sudden storms and the violent undertow,” Poseidon revealed. “Which I think is apt, don’t you brother?”
Zeus didn’t look impressed but Percy suddenly felt relief crash down on him. While he didn’t like the sound of “violent”, undertows were close enough to riptides for Percy to feel fondness for it. And storms, well, Percy had always been at home in storms.
“So you claim him over his chthonic ties?” Zeus asked.
Chthonic ties? Percy felt a shudder go down his spine. Aside from that alarming mention, Percy suddenly realized that there were more politics going on in this exchange than he had thought.
As if reading his mind (because he likely did, the jerk), his father looked at him and nodded slightly, before turning back to Zeus.
“I claim nothing more than what is appropriate,” Poseidon countered. “He is mine and his domains reflect that.”
Mine. Percy felt his simmering rage boil up again at the word. He wasn’t a toy to be fought over.
Zeus snorted. “Did you give him those domains to ensure that or did he get them on his own?”
Poseidon said nothing and simply glared at Zeus. Did his dad really give them to him? To keep him from solely belonging to the underworld? Or were his own ties to the sea enough? The previous certainty he had gained from learning of those domains was yanked out from under him.
“I still say we should toss him into Tartarus and be done with it,” Zeus said and turned the force of his glare to Percy.
“What?” Percy exclaimed, shocked, and felt like every inch of his body was buzzing with nervous energy.
“Don’t you dare!” Poseidon yelled and his trident appeared clenched in one hand. Zeus didn’t even flinch.
“After all, you gained these powers down there didn’t you?” Zeus said, placing a mocking hand on his chin and affecting a thoughtful tone. “By torturing a primordial goddess?”
Ice ran down Percy’s spine.
“That doesn’t mean I belong down there!” Percy cried out and stepped forward as if he were going to make a run on Zeus’ throne. “She tried to kill me!”
Percy turned his eyes on the rest of the council, seeking sympathetic faces. His gaze landed on Athena.
“She tried to kill Annabeth!”
Athena’s steely gray eyes betrayed nothing though Percy thought he saw her jaw clench.
“I was down there because of you!” Percy pointed out accusingly, not at one in particular but at all of them. They were all responsible for this.
“Don’t blame us for your actions,” Zeus said, lips curling derisively.
“His own actions they may be,” Hades spoke up for the first time. “But misery and poisons are not exclusive to the underworld.”
“You’re defending him?” Zeus snorted again, more disdainful than the last.
“As annoying as our nephew may be, he has done quite a lot for us over the past few years,” Hades intoned the words with careful weight, the way he might for a soul of the underworld come to be judged.
“Nephew.” Zeus acted like the word was ridiculous. “Like that matters. That brat hasn’t called me Uncle once.”
“Well, he calls me Uncle,” Hades retorted with a smug smile stretched across his face.
“What? You prefer him then too?” Zeus said accusingly, directing his attention back at Percy.
“Well, no wonder when you debate if you should kill me or throw me into the Pit at any given moment!” Percy cried out just as accusingly.
“Watch your mouth!” Zeus commanded.
Make me, was just at the tip of his tongue when Apollo mercifully intervened again.
“We’ve talked a lot about Percy’s ties to the sea and the underworld but what about to us?” Apollo asked, posing the question to the entire council.
“What about us?” Nike chimed in. “We’re not missing anything.”
Percy knew kidnapping the goddess of victory would come back to haunt him someday.
“Are you saying the sea isn’t enough?” Triton asked defensively, baring his shark teeth.
Not helping bro, Percy thought, exasperated.
“Don’t be prideful,” Apollo dismissed the both of them. Well, that was ironic.
“I agree with Hermes,” Apollo continued. “Percy is not restricted to just those few domains.
“You know of more,” Athena asked leaning forward, curiously naked on her face. The air seemed to pause waiting for the next bombshell to drop.
“Spit it out, Apollo,” Zeus said, leaning back in his chair like he was tired of the proceedings that were entirely his fault.
Apollo tensed but didn’t rise to the provocation. “Loyalty.”
“Loyalty,” Athena said slowly, feeling the words out in her mouth.
“Loyalty.” Apollo nodded in confirmation.
A dozen different conversations broke out all at once, the air more frazzled at this realization than at his other domains. Only one voice reached Percy’s ears through the racket.
“Loyalty,” Hera said thoughtfully, her brown eyes soft as she looked at him. “That should prove interesting.”
Hera, perplexingly enough, was one of the few that Percy wasn’t angry at in the room. Perhaps it had to do with the slight aura of misery he could pick up coming from her at her words.
Percy averted his gaze, uncomfortable with the vulnerability he could now sense from her. His eyes seemed to be drawn right to Aphrodite, who was just sitting there with an anticipatory gleam in her eyes and a small smile on her face. She winked at him, of all things, and that more than the arguing or the insults spurred his ire to boil over.
“Would you all just shut up for once?” Percy had hardly finished speaking before the room fell deathly silent.
“There’s nothing that can be done for this!” Percy spat out. “I know it, you know it! What my domains are, what I do for the rest of eternity? The Fates will decide that just like they have everything else in my gods damned life!”
“There’s nothing that can be done!” Percy cried out, feeling traitorous tears prick behind his eyes. “I can’t do anything about this! I can’t fix it, I can’t deny it anymore.”
“So just stop it already!” Percy paused at a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see that the hand belonged to Apollo, whose face was grave in stark contrast to the tears shimmering in his eyes.
“Enough, Percy,” Apollo said, squeezing his hand tighter. “Enough. Reign it in.”
Percy was about to ask what exactly he was supposed to reign in when he noticed a familiar pull at his gut. Only instead of water, his powers over misery had responded. The entire room filled with prideful, stubborn, inhuman gods looked like they were about to spiral into depression.
Percy stared wide-eyed, tears finally falling from his eyes to cascade down his face. What he once would have worried was a sign of weakness suddenly seemed insignificant in the face of the sight before him. He had impacted the gods, the gods, with his power.
“Well,” Zeus cleared his throat and visibly regained his bearings. “That was certainly…interesting.”
Interesting. Percy was so tired of that word.
“Your new powers are clearly getting the better of you,” Zeus said, and he idly rubbed at his beard, seemingly contemplating something. “Else I wouldn’t be so lenient.”
Percy wasn’t the only one to stare incredulously at Zeus at this uncharacteristic mercy.
“You won’t be cast to one realm in particular, yet,” Zeus continued. “Especially not while we don’t know if you have any other domains. But you need to go somewhere else to get control over yourself. I won’t have you wreaking havoc on the mortal realm uncontrolled.”
Ah, Percy thought, so that was it. The uncertainty of it all was getting to Zeus. He didn’t know any more than Percy what the fates had planned for him and didn’t want to make any hasty mistakes.
The cynical side of Percy simply thought that his display was enough to make Zeus realize that Percy’s mere existence would be a punishment for himself. All Zeus had to do was sit back and watch Percy eventually implode.
“It’s settled then,” Poseidon said into the quiet room. “I will take Percy with me to my realm until he learns to control his powers.”
Percy glared dully at the floor but said nothing at the decision.
“Agreed,” Zeus said, waving a dismissive hand and leaning back on his throne. “Take him out of my sight.”
“Nice to see you too, Uncle,” Percy said, sarcastically, and let his father put an arm around his shoulder to take them from the throne room.
Before they left, Percy met Hestia’s eyes where she was seated at the hearth, and she nodded at him with sympathy in her gaze. However, Percy’s eyes were drawn to where Pandora’s pithos was clearly visible through the flames beside her.
Percy had never wanted to pry that jar open so badly in his life.