The Beginnings of an Olympian

24 | Meditation

"I sense that you will go through many trials. But the biggest battle to overcome is the one within you. This sword is a reminder that not everything in the dark is evil and somethings in the light are worse. Now we must get going. Follow me."

She got up and started walking down towards the pit. When we got to the edge she turned into water and slid down into the opening of Tartarus. Seeing no other option, I jumped in after her.

1st Person | Percy's POV
(Italics within the text below are thoughts not spoken out loud)
1450 words

Are we there yet? Gods, it's been ages.

I know I should be scared of going back to hell, but at the moment I was very bored. Last time I had Annabeth to keep my company. This time I only had my thoughts.

Is this how Nico felt? All alone when he came down here?

I never understood how he survived Tartarus by himself. It was proof he was stronger than me, more resilient. The fall did give me time to think, though. I contemplated what powers I might have gained from my domains. After seeing Lady Styx transform into water, I wondered if I could do something similar. I am the god of water molecules, so I focused on them. I reached out my senses and found the concentrations in the air and my body and the mass I assumed to be Lady Styx falling a little ways away.

It'd be pretty cool if I could travel like Nico does. Maybe turn myself into mist or something. Oh! I know! Vapor travel!

And with that idea, I began practicing as I fell. I focused on connecting my essence with water molecules and transforming into them. After about a billion tries or so, I was able to go into vapor and back again with little effort. And yet, I was still falling. I had no grasp on time as I fell. It could've been hours, it could have been days, it could have been weeks. I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be falling, so I tried something else.

Lady Styx told me that I needed to find a balance within myself. I've been struggling internally between the good and bad aspects of my powers. Some of the children of Pasithea, goddess of relaxation, meditation, hallucinations, and all other altered states of consciousness, said that meditation helps you center your mind. I figured it can't hurt while I've got nothing else to do. I sat cross-legged in the air, closed my eyes, and focused on my breathing.

Thankfully, my ADHD had been slowly going away, so I was able to concentrate. After a little while, I felt a pull in my thoughts towards riptides. I relinquished my mind towards it and a wave of knowledge hit me all at once. I already had the information at my disposal, but this was the first time I summoned it. I saw the deaths from riptides, or rip currents as classified by scientists. I saw the devastation in its aftermath. But I also saw how they transformed their surroundings, how the environment was slowly bent to its will, how new ecosystems arose from the changed underwater landscape.

After making peace with what I saw and accepting everything about riptides, my thoughts shifted towards heroes. At first, I only saw the good and brave things heroes did. How they helped people and saved the world. But then I saw how easily they could fall from grace. How they could influence people to do unspeakable things. I saw their hunger for power. I saw the pain heroes face and the pain heroes cause. Most heroics come at a cost. Take one life to save 10? Let one town be destroyed so the city isn't obliterated? Give up personal happiness for that of others around you? Bare the loss of loved ones so that no one else knows what it feels like? At what point do the costs outweigh the heroics? At what point do you say, "enough is enough"? I never got the answers to those questions. But I think if everyone knew definitive answers, then there would be no heroes.

Next, I contemplated loyalty. This one I was well versed in. Protecting friends no matter the consequences. Never wavering in who you support even when they're wrong. Rising to the top alongside your friends but falling just as quickly to be with them. The consequences of betrayal to those you were once loyal to and the pain of betrayal from those once loyal to you.  All things are good in moderation. Will you let the world suffer because of your loyalty? Will your loyalty inspire others to do good?

Then, I reflected on respect. This might be the most powerful of all my domains. Respect is hard to gain and easy to lose. I realized I could influence respect as easily as I could control the currents. With respect comes trust and admiration. People are more willing to follow those they respect. Likewise, losing respect can be dangerous. It can cause your demise. But what many fail to understand is that respect can only be earned. If it is forced, it is false. And if it is false, it holds little power. This is why I would vehemently object to altering the respect people have. To do so, even by me, would be false.

Is this why the Fates entrusted me with this domain? Because I wouldn't abuse the power? 

Furthermore, respect is not limited to only the good. Even the light must respect the dark lest the world goes out of balance. This is why I want to learn to respect all sides of my domains. Each aspect holds meaning and lessons to learn. Each aspect should be respected.

My mind drifted towards poisons. I shuddered at the images my brain conjured up but kept up the deep meditation. I saw the obvious death and suffering poisons cause. I saw the hopelessness that came with being poisoned. I saw the fear in the eyes of those witnessing death from terrible poisons. I felt a tear slide down my face from what I saw. But then I saw poisons being cured and hope restored. I saw how some poisons were used to heal ailments. I saw how corrupt kings and dictators and tyrants were taken down with poison. I saw the patience and intellect required by those brewing poisons. I saw how poisons were natural defenses for plants and animals. The power still scared me, but I learned to accept the power. Poisons themselves aren't evil. It's how they're used that determines if they're dangerous. Yet the risk is high enough that they should always be approached with caution or avoided entirely in some cases.

Finally, I returned to thinking about water molecules. I already understood the power I had over them. I could detect them, control their speed, thus the state of matter, and control their movements. By extension, I can control people through their blood. I can control plants that hold water. I can manipulate the molecules in the air too. Like the poison, this power could be used to kill people, to bend them to my will. But it can also be used to heal people or plants or animals or provide water, a necessity of life.

After a while longer of just sitting, or falling, in peace, I started to regain my other senses. I noticed how my body felt and then I noticed my surroundings. Not much changed from when I last had my eyes opened. But I did notice Lady Styx falling beside me. She had turned back into a human-like form.

"That was quite a long meditation, Percy. Though, before you started mediating it had already been two weeks. You were falling cross-legged for about a week. Very boring company."

Wait! I haven't eaten or drank anything in 3 weeks?! Oh, wait. I'm a god. I don't need food. Better just materialize a piece of ambrosia and a small bit of nectar to be sure.

"I'm not sure how time down here transfers into the time above, but I think we should be nearing the bottom," Lady Styx said.

Oops. Did she say anything else while I was thinking? How much longer?? Ugh.

As if on cue, I saw a red light below me. I could smell the sulfurous air too. Lady Styx turned back into liquid water and I followed suit by turning into water vapor. We both floated down safely in our elemental forms. When we reformed on a glass beach, we headed towards the river. It was another part of the River Styx that soon went underground, or under skin since this place is Tartarus's body.

"I'm going to travel in my river. Use your powers to sense which water is mine and focus on the flow. It'll go towards the heart where Tartarus will meet us. Good luck on your journey. I can only guide you. You must survive it on your own."

I nodded and thanked her before saying my farewells and following the flow of the Styx.

Man, I wish I'd brought some music to pass the time.