Teacher, Not Hero (femPercy Jackson X YJ)

Fifty-Four: To Fight And Die For Olympus

"Eventually, there was a war and the prophecy came to pass. Kronos, the titan lord, rose from the Pit and laid siege on Manhattan, in an attempt to capture Olympus." Three sets of eyes widened in shock. Diana paced harder.

"Laid siege on Manhattan? Where was the Justice League in all of this? Why didn't we know?" Bruce demanded. Percy shook her head.

"It was not mortals place to intervene. This was a divine fight. You didn't know because you weren't supposed to. The entire city was put to sleep. No one knew it happened except the people fighting. But don't be mistaken, it was a war. A lot of good demigods died. I carry their deaths with me; as I was the commander." A dark shadow passed over Percy, her eyes seeming haunted.

"How old were you? How old were the other demigods?" Alfred asked, almost afraid of the answer. Percy sighed.

"Most demigods don't live last the age of 20. Powerful ones like me usually die at around 10-13, hence why making it to 16 was such a big deal. I lead the Greek army at 15. My comrades, the non-immortal ones, were at most 19. The youngest one to fight was around 7." Percy said, hanging her head. Bruce put a hand to his face. Diana looked away. Alfred had tears in his eyes. Above them, Dick considered leaving altogether, his chest heavy.

"They were children. The Justice League exists so this doesn't happen. So children don't fight and die." Bruce said, his eyes hard and voice harder. Percy laughed.

"Demigods are weapons, Bruce. We don't get to be children. We are born to fight and die for Olympus. We are proud to do so. To the gods we are tools, to the monsters that hunt us, and we are hunted, we are prey. Food. Scum. We fight for our lives every day. We die bloody with our swords in our hands. We are soldiers. Age does not matter." Percy said, her green eyes gleaming in the room's soft lighting. She took a deep breath.

"It's not fair, and it's not right. But it is our reality. It has been my reality since I was 12 years old. After we won the war, there were a couple months of peace. But history repeats itself. Just as it happened thousands of years ago, after the Titan war, came the Giant war. Gaea tried to rise. Seven demigods, a mix of greek and roman decent, were quested with traveling to the ancient lands and preventing Gaea from waking. The Prophecy went:

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"This is where Diana's knowledge of me ends. Those 7 demigods were Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena, Jason Grace, the son of Jupiter, Leo Valdez, the son of Hepheastus, Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite, Frank Zhang, the son of Mars, Hazel Levesque, the daughter of Pluto, and me, Percy Jackson, the daughter of Poseidon. Halfway through our journey, which was a grueling, dangerous one, I- I got trapped." Percy paused. Her breath shaking. Bruce looked back at Diana, who had stopped pacing, now leaning against the back of another chair, listening intently.

"I'll spare you the details of how it happened. Like I said, this story would take hours, days, if I told the whole thing. Annabeth keeps telling me to write a book." Percy chuckled slightly before sombering.

"I got trapped. In the Pit." Diana took in a sharp gasp of air, tears in her eyes.

"No..." She whispered.

"Yes." Percy continued. Diana let out a sob. Percy looked up.

"The Pit is what you refer to as Hell. A place were the monsters demigods kill go when they die. Where monsters are born. The gods, the titans, every being alive fears this place. It is dark. And it is cold. And it is one of the main reasons you see so many scars decorating my skin. It is why there is a darkness in my soul that will never be burnt out of me. It is Hell. It takes you apart and pieces you back together in some feeble shell of who you were. It made me the very thing I feared. The thing I killed to survive: a monster. And that is something that will haunt me in life and in death. The monster you saw me fight in Alaska, the being who took my sister, was the primordial god of the Pit, Tartarus. While I was there for 50 years, he was my jailer, my torturer, and my master. I escaped him. And he came back for me by taking my sister. So I ended him."

A tense silence grew in the room. Percy stood up.

"I am broken, Bruce Wayne. I don't presume to be anything different. I am a soldier, a tool, a killer, and a weapon. I have bled and fought for Olympus. And now Tartarus is dead. He will not reform a consciousness until the age of men is over. My time as a hero has come to an end. I have fought in, lead two wars, and hundreds of battles. I have gone on countless quests, killed thousands of monsters. I've slain gods, titans, giants, and primordials. I am tired. But now, if you'll let me, I'd like to teach the new generation of heroes. Demigods and mortals. So they won't have to fight as I have. Diana brought hope back into me by bringing the team into my life. Maybe, with work, the Justice League can be indoctrinated into the realm of the gods. A coalition between mortals and demigods, like the one between the Greeks and the Romans. So wars will no longer be fought by children." Percy said, hope in her voice. A light in her eyes that Diana hadn't seen since Percy was 13, holding the sky as she swore to the heavens. When she fought for a better world. Alfred smiled and Bruce nodded.

A new age was on the horizon. Somewhere on Olympus, a young girl sat next to a hearth and Pandora's Pithos hummed slightly. Hestia smiled. Hope had been restored. And Percy Jackson had found it again.