The Ascendance of Darkness (Percy Jackson Twin fanfic)

Prologue

The man's sea green eyes swirled wildly as he strode through the streets of Olympus, drawing awed stares from the nymphs that were inhabiting it. He ignored them. He had a favor to ask a certain God of the Forge.

He didn't bother to knock before barging into the Blacksmith's Palace. "Hephaestus!" He called, his deep voice ringing through the empty corridors, "Where are you?"

The man tilted his head, hearing a clang from deep within the residence. He allowed himself a small smile. "Of course," he muttered to himself, "Always working."

Hephaestus had to be just about the most hardworking god he knew. Some of them, Zeus and Hera in particular, were just plain lazy and to be frank, pains in the gluteus maximus.

He knocked on the doorframe, squinting at the god leaning over his newest creation with a blowtorch. "What are you making this time, you old metalworker?"

Hephaestus spun, the blowtorch still on and shooting flames at the man, causing his eyes to widen considerably. "Thanks for that. I think you owe me a new pair of eyebrows."

He turned the torch off, a grim smile surfacing on his bearded face. "Your eyebrows are fine. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure."

The man held up a pen. It was a simple ballpoint pen with the name Anaklusmos on the side. "I need you to duplicate this for me."

He could only assume that Hephaestus's eyebrows raised, though it was hard to tell with all of the hair. "Your sword? Why?"

The Olympian knew the history of the pen. Nearly everyone who worked with blades at all knew of the famous Anaklusmos, which had been passed down through multiple owners. The tragic blade carved trails of ash through monsters and trails of misery through the ages.

"My son. He needs a weapon. It needs to be able to contain elements. He deflects fire? He has fire in his sword. An infinite storage. The ability to reuse it. He's going to need it for what's coming next."

Hephaestus leaned against a table, crossing his arms. "Fire is a power has been given to only two of my children in the past century, one of which has yet to even be born. Tell me now why I should give this blessing to your son, who has broken the laws that have stood for decades in order to prevent the fall of Olympus. Tell me why the descendant of the sea, who may one day destroy us all, should be given mastery of the elements."

The man's sea green eyes remained strong, stubbornness swirling in its endless depths. "Because that child will live to protect your demigod children and defend Olympus against its most fearsome threat."

"You have been through almost more than anyone you would find here. You have fought and protected for the sake of Olympus. How can you be telling me now that there is something bigger? We have fought nearly everything on this earth from the depths of Tartarus to the realm of my great grandfather Ouranos. Nothing is coming."

The man's eyes narrowed in a glare. "Something is coming. I am going to have two sons. One is getting Riptide, the other needs this sword. My youngest is going to go through death defying trials for a decade. My eldest is going to go through untold hardships at only ten years old and probably for the rest of his life. The love of my life is in the hospital right now, about to give birth, and here I am. Here, in the dusty forge of a crippled blacksmith. So tell me again, old man, that nothing is coming. Tell me that my children will be safe for eternity, and that the Olympians aren't so cowardly as to hide behind them for the sake of their petty thrones. I have made too many mistakes in my life to let this be one of them."

Hephaestus's eyes had long since widened in fear. The man only sighed, his tone softening. "I'm sorry. It's been a stressful couple of days, Hephaestus. Can you please just make the sword?"