Chapter Text
Poseidon was as waiting as he had been for quite some time now. He sat and watched from below the sea, anticipating the arrival of that shameless king and his crew. Throughout the last few days, he had spent his time contemplating how to punish them for their crimes, his patience running thinner with each passing hour.
Under normal circumstances, Poseidon would have let his son fight his own battles, as he usually did when one of his children ran into trouble, but this time was different.
Polyphemus was only 30 summers old and was Poseidon's youngest child, making him barely a teenager by human standards. This meant that the god was still looking out for him more than some of his older children.
And of all the mortals that could come and intrude on his son's home, it was Odysseus of Ithaca, Athena's precious 'warrior of the mind'.
The thought of his arrogant niece made Poseidon's Ichor boil even hotter than it already was.
After she had been born, Poseidon had taken her in. Gave her a home below the sea and gifted her with the best education available, and how had she repaid his generosity?
By murdering his granddaughter.
Pallas' death was a wound that had yet to heal, not only in his own heart but also in the hearts of the entire royal family of Atlantis. His sweet wife Ampfritrite had been inconsolable for months, as were his daughters.
But no one took it as hard as Posidons oldest son Triton. When they received the news of Pallas's death, Poseidon had seen the light leave his son's eyes and he would lie if he said it had ever returned.
Back then, Zeus' protection over his favorite daughter had been the only thing keeping her from falling to the ocean gods' wrath. Now for her oh-so-precious warrior to show up and blind his youngest son?
Well, let's just say that Poseidon's revenge was not only for Polyphemus's sake.
And of course, Odysseus had not only spared his foe's life, but he had also revealed his name and home.
He truly was Athenas, the fool's hubris was in no way inferior to hers.
Originally, Poseidon had planned to sink the King's fleet with a storm so merciless it would leave no survivors, it contains all of the god's pent-up anger and frustration. But then something unpredictable happened, his storm was dimmed down, giving Odysseus the chance to make a deal with that minor god Aoles. Now who could possibly possess the power to command his waters, without his permission or even knowledge? Poseidon didn't know, but what he did know was that whoever had dared to disrespect the god in such manners, would soon find to regret it.
And now, after 9 days of waiting, it was finally time for his revenge. These fools had actually opened the windbag, and that was only hours away from their home. Not that this would have meant safety for any of them, but had they made it to their home shores, Poseidon would have summoned a hurricane destroying the island and everything on it. But still, the thought of the king's optimistic eyes only to get this hope destroyed again because of his crew's betrail? Poseidon couldn't help but let out a deep laugh.
Poseidon watched as the ships were blown away, the winds carrying them back to the land of the giants where so many of his children lived.
He waited until the boats had come to a stop before rising his throne from the depths of the ocean.
The waters were still but carried a deep blue, almost black color that underlines his internal anger.
Poseidon was sitting at full height, towering at least 30 feet above any human. The god held his Trident firmly in his hand and threateningly smiled down to the mortals "Hello"
Odysseus stared up at him in horror and let out a single word as the realization dawned on him, barely above a whisper, which the god was only able to hear because of his divine hearing; "Poseidon."
The fear in his weak voice was like a melody to Poseidon's ears, but he was the only one who could find the courage to speak. The remaining 600 men were paralyzed by the overwhelming power of the god standing before them.
Poseidon glanced down at the mortals in condemnation, "You know king of Ithaca, I am a rather patient god. I don't often get pissed off, but you , oh no you crossed a line."
Poseidon began to slowly circle around the ship, not taking his eyes off Odysseus.
"I've been gracious towards you, allowing you to sail without any hindrance. I even told the sea monsters to leave your fleet alone, as a sort of reward for winning the war, even though you are Athena's little favorite." Poseidon spat out the goddess's name like an insult "And how do you repay my generosity?"
The god slammed a fist down on the water, creating a wave that almost drowned one of the many ships around him. He didn't concern himself with the terror-filled screams of the humans on board "By blinding my son."
Poseidon watched closely as the realization of what he meant slowly darned on Odysseus " That Cyclops he, he was..."
" mine " Poseidon's voice was dark as he confirmed the king's worst fear.
Odysseus knelt down, his head almost touching the floor, "Please lord Poseidon we meant no harm. We only hurt him to disarm him, not out of cruelty. We only wanted to escape."
"Save your breath mortal, your words can't help you anymore. When I'm done with you, you will be lucky if I leave anything left of you for the sharks. But first,"
Poseidon turned to Odysseus' fleet, "I'm gonna teach you a lesson." with a single motion of his Trident, a herd of giant horses emerged from the sea made of dark water. They locked their poisonous green glowing eyes on the ships, each running towards one.
Some of them trampled the ships with their hoofs as big as a grown man. Others jumped above them, carrying tidal waves behind them which crushed the boats under their pressure. But in the end, the fleet was drowned. Leaving only pieces of wood, the bodies of Odysseus' former comrades, and the echos of their blood-curling screams behind.
Odysseus stared out on the ocean where his comrade's ships had been mere seconds ago in denial and slowly faltering to his knees. His voice was bearly above a whisper when he asked "What have you done?"
Poseidon shrunk down to about 7 feet high and appeared on the last remaining ship. Upon noticing him, the men all fled as far away from the god as they physically could, all except Odysseus who was still kneeling on the floor. Poseidon walked up to him, pulled the man up by his collar, and threw him several feet across the deck.
"You know 'warrior of the mind', or whatever that old owl-face likes to call you, you could have avoided all of this had you just killed my son. But no ,"
Poseidon waited until the mortal had gotten back to his feet before reappearing in front of him and punching him in the gut, using just enough force to avoid instantly killing the man. He watched as Odysseus coughed and threw up before his feet.
"you are far too nice, king of Ithaca. Mercy is something not many are powerful enough to afford without consequences. And you do not hold this power."
Odysseus didn't manage to get up again, he only looked up to the god before waiting for the next unavoidable hit.
He didn't have to wait long, Poseidon lifted his foot and kicked the man with a force that made him crash into the boat's railing. The god followed him,
"Ruthlessness is the only mercy weaklings like you can afford, the mercy upon yourself." Poseidon raised his Trident above Odysseus, who looked up at him with a mixture of fear and hatred.
Poseidon was about to bring down his weapon to give the mortal the final blow when he felt something pulling on the fabric of his clothes. Odysseus looked past the god's legs and talked to someone behind him "No-, no Percy go. Leave" The man's voice was raspy and filled with pain.
Poseidon turned around in annoyance more than anger, ready to slay whatever fool had been stupid enough to try and save their captain.
Only to find not a foolish solider, but a child. The little boy shaking violently and his eyes were red from crying. "Le, leave O- Ody alone!"
His small hands were clinging to Poseidon's clothes. Behind him, he saw a man who was trying to reach them in an attempt to get the boy back but he was held back by other crew members who were telling him not to intervene.
Before Poseidon had the chance to wonder what a child no older than 7 was doing on a ship returning from war, the boy opened his eyes and looked up at him with teary eyes.
Sea-green eyes.
The same sea-green eyes all of Poseidon's children had.
Poseidon lowered his Trident and turned his back to Odysseus, instead, he concentrated on the kid in front of him. The god observed the kid more, searching for hints of his divine energy in the boy, and sure enough the boy was filled with godly power Poseidon could clearly trace back to himself.
But something was clearly wrong. The child had short raven hair, soft features that showed signs of growing sharper as he grew older and big eyes.
Overall, the kid was adorable.
Now not to get the god wrong, he genuinely loved all of his children, but he would be lying if he said that his kids were known for their attractiveness.
He was known as the father of monsters for a reason. However, this boy was different; he had no claws or sharp teeth, and an appropriate number of both eyes and limbs.
The last (and so far only) time Poseiden had gotten the luxury of a cute child was Rhodes because her mother was Aphrodite. Now to have another one was a blessing the god hadn't expected. But that wasn't all, the boy's amount of divine energy was large, larger than usual for sure. Poseidon was certain he would become a strong warrior when he got older.
But weirdly enough Poseidon didn't know who the boy's mother could be, he didn't remember any human woman who would have gotten pregnant from him in the past few years.
If Poseidon hadn't misheard the mortal, the boy's name was Percy, a bit weird but he had heard worse.
"Tell me, boy, what's your mother's name, and where is she now?"
Percy seemed surprised and looked at Poseidon for a moment for a bit before answering "My mom's name was Sally, but she- she is gone."
Poseidon raised an eyebrow "Sally?" the name felt foreign to him, so he repeated it a few more times, trying to match it to a person.
Salaria perhaps? She was a princess Poseidon had met just not quite 8 years ago, the time would match up. Thinking about it he remembered that the woman had similar features. But he wasn't aware the woman had been pregnant from him? Perhaps he had missed it? It wouldn't be the first time.
From what the boy said she seemed to have died, which was rather sad. Salaria had been a kind and beautiful young woman, Poseidon would have liked to thank her for giving him such a sweet child.
But one thing was still weird about all that "What are you doing on this ship Child?" Salaria had been from a land rather far away, one that wasn't involved in the Trojan War. Poseidon didn't understand how Percy could have ended up all alone on a boat to Ithaca.
"Ody and Poli found me at the scary island and took me with them. They're nice, you can't hurt them!"
Poseidon felt a sudden rush of hot rage consume him. These pesky mortals not only blinded Polyphemus but also kidnapped his cutest child!
How dare these worthless insects! Poseidon had initially planned to kill the king and then just destroy the last boat, but now he would make sure to make each and every one of them suffer for taking his child. Afterward, he would take the boy to Atlantis.
Poseidon turned around, ready to slay the mortal but when he looked down he saw Odysseus, the windbag in his hands and a smug smile on his face. He must have managed to slip away and get the bag without the god noticing when he was distracted by his new son.
Odysseus had already opened the bag while pointing it toward Poseidon. The god felt the force of his own divine storm hitting him in the gut and throwing him off the ship. Before he could react the ship had already disappeared behind the horizon, and his son with it.