Perseus Jackson-The Phantom World

II

It's really a warped thing.  All about perception.  Your perception, my perception.  About the Phantom World.  About me.  If I am a phantom, then perhaps I am not even real.  Sometimes it is hard to tell myself, whether or not I'm actually real.  Whether or not anything is real.

It all seems like a dream.  A very strange, long dream.

In fact, I don't even recall most of it.  It is all forgotten.

Washed away a long time ago...

...

"Phantom?  There is a problem." Pontus said.

I raised a brow.  "Is it enough to gather the attention of The Phantom?"

Pontus nodded seriously.  I propped myself up, and turned my attention to my mentor.   "I'm listening."

"It's the Olympians." He said, somewhat uncomfortable.  I have no idea why he was so edgy.  The gods and goddesses of Olympus were fools.  Imbeciles, really.  True, I had my past with them.  True, I used to despise them.  But over time, the hatred faded.  I'm not one for holding grudges, and true, they wronged me.  All of them did.  But I no longer care.  I am a bigger person, and I have a bigger purpose now.  I am no longer their puppet, their pawn.  And I will no longer do their dirty work.  But that doesn't mean I am unwilling to save them.  They clearly don't have the power, and I do.  That is all there is to it.

There is a vague memory there...Annabeth.  Blonde, grey.  I think I used to love her, and I think she betrayed me.  It no longer matters to me.  I doubt I could even pick her out of a crowd.  She, and the rest of the Gods are strangers to me.  I no longer have emotional ties to any of them.  

I am Percy.  I am the Phantom.  I am everywhere.  I am nowhere.  

See?  These things no longer hold any consequence for me.  

I understand what Pontus is getting at, and I am not mad.  I am not hurt.  All those feelings...they faded a long time ago.  But along with the anger and hate, along with the sadness went everything.  A lot of time has pasted, and now it is all a distant memory I no longer care for.

And that's all there is to it.

"Who is it now?  What is it?" I asked, barely batting an eye.

"Gaea, again.  My sister should probably go to therapy," Pontus grumbled. "Her anger issues are pretty annoying.  Tartarus, their children.  Standard stuff."

I yawned.  I sort of remember immense fear, seeing him.  Feeling his aura of power.  The weight of his presence.  The horror.  The terror.  But that stuff no longer phases me.  Nothing phases me.  I am shadow, and I am light.  I am the Elements, and I am life.  Honestly, everything else doesn't matter.

But, I am still human.  Barely, but still.  My humanity makes me a good person.  It puts life behind the powers.  So I can still care, and I could still love.  I can still make emotional attachments.  And I do.  I care deeply for the children I save.  I love my mom, and Paul.  I love my siblings, and I care for my mentors, my friends, my teachers.

So it isn't like my attachments of my life when I was in the Olympian stages dissolved, and so did all of my attachments.  When you don't see people over the centuries, when things that hurt you, that tear at your soul...when hundreds of years go by, eventually, you don't even remember what happens.  When you make a friend, don't have contact with them in years, and don't mention their name, don't see their face...they don't seem to matter much.  It's a simple fact.  I've outlived my attachments to them.  I don't have loyalty, hate or love for them.  But they are better than those before them, so I would prefer to keep things as they are.

"So, what do you want me to do?  Show up at the big battle that is bound to happen, the one that 'determines the fate of the Earth' and just kill Gaea, Tartarus, and all of the Giants and stuff?"  I asked.  It was a perfectly logical plan.  I could take them all, and that was another simple truth.  I was a being outside of time, outside of fate.  Even Primordial couldn't complete with that.

"Actually, I'd like you to go to Camp Half Blood.  I know you would like to see all of the demigods you saved, and I know you could use more companionship, and all.  And I monsters are bound to attack them, and a lot of them are going to die, unless you stop them.  So, are you okay with that?"

I shrugged.  But then I grinned.  "Great.  That sounds great.  I don't want any demigods to get hurt.  Of course, I'm not a miracle savior.  I won't always be there, so they can't just rely on me. It isn't always going to be my problem." I frowned.  "So should I insists on overseeing their training?"

Pontus grinned.  "You took this much better than I thought.  That sounds good.  I agree with you."  Then he yawned.  "You know yawns are contagious, right?"

I yawned in response, and laughed.  

"Where is everyone else?"

"Sorting out the Council.  Gaea and Tartarus are creating an uproar, as usual.  I have to go as well."

I felt disappointed.  "Why?"

"I left Erebus in charge." 

I snorted.  "Pontus."

"I was only planning on being gone for a second!"

"You better get back, then.  I'll see you around.  I have to tell my family that I'm leaving," I said.

"Bye," He winked at me before dissolving into water vapor.

I sat still for a moment.  Then I just laughed.  Sometimes you have to just laugh...the absurdity of it all...

And then I too was gone.  Just a shadow, whisked away by the war on the horizon.