Not Just Another God ✓

Chapter 1: The Whole Being (a) god thing

"Mortal?"

Mom's deep sapphire eyes met mine, taking the mistletoe from my hand.

"I used to be the goddess Frigg," she said, her voice breaking under the pure stress of the revelation.

***
My mom's words whirled around in my mind, picking up fragments of half-formed thoughts as it created absolute chaos.

"You're a goddess," I repeated intelligently.

"I was," she said, "and for hundreds of years, I wanted nothing to do with the Norse world. But now... Now things are different. You have a choice to make. To be a part of the Norse world or to not."

"What do you mean by 'be a part'?" I asked.

Mom smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling with the trademark sign of a genuine look of happiness.

"You have Norse blood," she explained, "and when you were born, it was still too early for me. I still wanted to hide. So I performed the last bit of magic I have performed for... A long time. A spell to hide your Norse blood."

"If you could do that, why didn't you make a spell to repel the monsters?" I asked.

"I did. But I am only a part of the Norse domain. I have no control over the Greek."

"So if you did this spell... And reversed it, what would that mean for me?" I asked, somehow finding it difficult to express my thoughts.

My mom picked up my hands, causing my eyes to flicker up to hers.

"You would be a god," she said simply.

I dropped her hands as if they were made of hot iron.

If my thoughts had been spinning around as fast as a hurricane before, now they were whirling around faster than the fastest, most destructive tornado.

"I can't... I couldn't," I muttered nonsensically.

I couldn't become a god. I couldn't-wouldn't do that to my friends. To the people who trusted me.

I had turned down godhood before. Now all I had to do was do it again. But the words refused to come.

My head started throbbing with the possibilities.

Flashes of things I didn't want to remember shot through my head, and my heart started beating faster and faster as the whole world darkened and Annabeth fell and I failed to catch her.

Screams echoed through my head, screams I knew I had caused, but I couldn't do anything about. People I had hurt, and had never apologised to.

I heard my mom calling my name, but she seemed far away, almost as if I were underwater, drowning in my thoughts.

But I had survived the Styx. I could get through this. And plus, Annabeth would kill me if anything bad happened.

I shook my head violently and started to regulate my breathing, focusing on each breath carefully.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. In. Out. In. Out.

The world slammed back into focus, and I saw my mom standing worriedly above me, clutching a phone.

"Percy," she said, hauling me up, as I looked around, my hands still trembling from the slight panic attack I had experienced.

I gave her a weak smile as she shook her head at me in an attempt to be firm.

"Perseus Jackson," she said, "you're going to tell me exactly what happened, and this time, you aren't going to leave out any important details."

***

I studied my mom's face carefully as I recounted the dangerous encounters I had experienced lately, still toning it down massively. Maybe one day I could tell her everything. But not yet. Not now, when the wound was still fresh in my mind, and the nightmares lurked just around the corner.

"It's getting too dangerous, Percy," she said when I had finished," I just want you to be safe and happy, you know?"

"I am happy," I protested, "I'm going to study and get into college with Annabeth. I can't say anything for safe, though."

Mom took a deep breath in an attempt to stop the stress from creeping in, knowing the chances of danger for demigods.

"Please, Percy," she said, resting a hand on my shoulder, "I'm not forcing you to do anything, and please don't feel like there's any pressure, but promise me you'll think about it? The whole Norse thing?"

I looked up at her deep blue eyes, filled with the wisdom of living too many years and experiencing too many things.

"I will," I promised.

A/N: as of the 13th of June 2021, chapters 1-3 has been completely rewritten, as yes the title is a Beetlejuice reference.