The Beginnings of an Olympian

2 | Forced Acceptance

And that would have been it. He would have walked out of the room and head back to camp. He would have moved to New Rome and started a life alongside Annabeth without fear of dying. He would have done all the things he had just stated he wanted. But of course, the fates had other plans.

3rd Person | Percy's POV
1008 words

Percy was about to walk out of the throne room when a brilliant light blinded him. He instinctively averted his eyes, only to open them and stare at the three Fates.

"You wish to find peace young hero," Clotho said, voice raspy and as old sounding as she looked.
"But this will have to wait," continued Lachesis in the same scratchy manner.
"You have no choice in this matter," added Atropos with a finality to her words.
"The decision lies in beings more ancient than us," they spoke together.

After finishing the last line, they took out a sea-green string and started chanting in a language older than the gods. Percy was startled when he started to glow as the string turned golden with strands of the original sea green woven into it. He had no time to object to their decision. The process felt like his blood was draining out of his body quickly, but also being replenished with just as much vigor. It would be hard to describe, but one thing could be said for sure: it wasn't pleasant. Finally, they stopped chanting and he felt normal again. Well, he didn't feel quite the same to be considered normal. He felt stronger, more powerful but no longer felt the weird sensation as before.

Not a second after he mentally thanked the gods it was over, a searing pain rushed into him spreading outwards from his gut as a single black strand was added to the yarn. It lasted only a brief moment, but the pain was indescribably excruciating. He would have yelled out if it hadn't been over so quickly. The Fates gaped in slight horror but quickly masked their surprise with blank expressions. They began speaking again in that alternating way they do.

"Hail Perseus, god of riptides, heroes, loyalty, and respect."
"God of poisons and water molecules."
"With the Pegasus as his sacred animal and Anaklusmos as his symbol of power."

Percy was stunned at the number of domains he had. He was stunned at the power he felt coursing through his veins. Honestly, he was in a constant state of being stunned.

A few gods scoffed at the domain of respect. Ares even bellowed, "How did this punk get the domain of respect? He hasn't shown me any!"

"He knows the power of respect," the Fates started answering as if chastising a child.
"It lies with those who earn it, not with those who demand it."
"So it is in his nature to only show respect to those who deserve it. And now it is within his domain to make it so."

The same few gods, mostly Zeus, shifted uncomfortably in their seats at the last part. They worried Percy would turn his powers against them and demand respect. Or punish them for not showing him respect. But everyone else was still contemplating his last two spheres of influence.

Athena decided to voice the thoughts on most people's minds. "Why did you add two domains at the end, Moirai? Did it have something to do with the black strand added?"

The guess was good and she knew it. But she wanted verbal confirmation that she was right. And maybe she wanted to rub it in the other gods' faces that she was right. Hubris was an inherited trait her children had after all.

"That we cannot tell you."
"For we do not know ourselves."
"It has never been done before."

Percy wanted to know why he was given the domains and why it showed up as an aftereffect of the searing pain. He had his suspicions, but he was partially in denial. He didn't want to remember the time he lost his morality in Tartarus. He didn't want to have the domains that showed the dark side in him or the powers that felt like something in his gut cracking, shattering like shards of glass. He remembered how terrified Annabeth was when he controlled those poisons, feeling the water molecules in them. He knew his powers could go further than controlling other liquids, but he also knew that the display of some of his true powers was enough to unlock the meaning of his fatal flaw. He would do anything to protect those he loved, with little regard to the moral dilemmas.

Percy was brought out of his thoughts when he saw another chair being added. It held power that commanded respect, which he did have, so he guessed it made sense. Intricate depictions of his heroics were etched into the sides of the throne. The scenes of different heroes kept shifting on the backrest. It was made of the different metals demigods used: silver, celestial bronze, imperial gold, and Stygian iron. Sea-green wave designs kept flowing like water through the chair giving it an eerie look and casting shadows around the throne. The slightly dark aura balanced the chair's beautiful features. The contrast was stunning and took his breath away.

"Thank you, Hephaestus," Percy said with sincerity.

"That was not me, young one," he replied wide-eyed.

"Then who could have put the throne there?" Percy wondered out loud.

Everyone seemed to be just as confused as him, if not a little afraid of what it meant. The elder gods considered an option that scared them. Chaos. Could the creator of the universe support the new god so much that he personally crafted his throne? If that was so, then Zeus definitely had another thing coming.

Zeus was just as curious and wary but nevertheless shook everyone back to the present. "We shall not dread on this matter any longer. This is a cause for more celebration! Let us take leave to Camp Half-Blood and announce the new Olympian!"

And so, in a brilliant flash of blinding light, too much of you asked Percy, all the Olympian gods arrived at the hearth in Camp Half-Blood. But to their surprise, no one was around. They quickly realized that everyone else was gathered at the hill near Thalia's pine tree.