For we once so loved the world by HowlingDarkness95

Chapter 16

When Percy next opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the ceiling of his own bedroom in the Avengers Tower. He blinked a few times, before the image and the location registered in his mind. He sat up slowly, his mind running through everything that had happened after he awoke from the spell Hecate had cast on him.

"Percy," Poseidon said, drawing the boy's attention to him, "You need to bring Loki to us, without him knowing the reason why."

Percy blinked at him, confused, "How am I supposed to do that? He's not exactly your average god you know."

Athena frowned, "That is why you are supposed to think of a way to get him here." She sniffed disdainfully, "We cannot be doing the entire work boy."

Percy scowled, "It's not that, I mean, why do I even need to get him here without him knowing? And how am I even supposed to do that? He's crazily smart, he'd find out in a heartbeat."

The goddess of wisdom sighed exasperatedly, "You have to bring him here without knowing the reason why, not without him knowing. There is a difference."

Percy gave her a deadpan stare, "No, there really isn't much of a difference, I mean, I'm supposed to get him here without knowing why, but the problem is that he'll probably know before I even get him within a mile of the Empire State Building."

Athena narrowed her eyes, "You have been assigned a job, you should do well to fulfill it. A second chance has been given to you, one that no other has been given the privilege of, it is a simple task, get Loki here but do not let him know what we plan on doing. I would have thought that being in that accursed mortal agency for three years would have given you a measure of the term subtlety."

Percy glared back at the goddess, "Yes well as I have said, in case you missed it the first time, Loki is nothing like SHIELD's normal targets, who are, if I may remind you, human. He's a freaking god, that's like asking me to bring one of you to Asgard without letting you know why you are there or what the Allfather planned to do with you."

Athena's eyes widened, "Why you - "

Zeus shouted, "Enough!" interrupting the growing argument as his master bolt shooting out bolts of lightning for good measure. He frowned at the two of them, before gesturing to Apollo to recite the prophecy.

"The world on his shoulders,

the hero shall falter and fall.

Existence in smoulder,

until he rises once more.

The trickster and ocean

shall overcome all odds.

The reign of the titan

fall by flames in due course."

Percy refused to show any emotion at the words that had just come out of Apollo's mouth. He glanced up at the king of the gods, "So essentially I need to bring him here because he is a part of the prophecy?"

Zeus nodded, ignoring Percy's mumbled 'You couldn't have told me that right from the start?' and said, "He plays an important role, or so we think, and we cannot afford for his loyalties to be divided."

Percy stumbled back in shock, "Wait what? You want to force him to claim loyalty to Olympus?" he hissed.

"No!" Hermes shouted, practically leaping forward "Nothing like that. His mind is not his own, not fully anyway. We cannot have him be in contact with the enemy, even if he does not know it."