What is a fictional world?
Are there supernatural beings out there?
Are the myths real?
These questions come to everyone's mind at least once in their lifetime.
Well, when one starts thinking about myths then they start thinking about every mythology out there.
Such as the Shinto, Christian, Hindu, Greek-Roman, and Persian mythologies.
Greek mythology is one of the most mysterious myths out there. If one were to study Greek mythology then they'd learn many things like how the Universe was created.
According to Greek myths, in the beginning, there was nothing, but void, or nothingness.
Then after some time came a being of celestial energy. Chaos, the first Primordial God, and Creator of the Universe was born from the void.
Then from Chaos, other Primordial gods were born such as Chronos Primordial God of Time, Ananke Primordial God Inevitability, Compulsion, and Necessity of Fate, Erebus Primordial God of Darkness, Tartarus Primordial God of Abyss, or the Pit and many other Primordial Gods...
But unlike Chaos, these beings had golden blood also known as ichor, and they were called Primordial Gods because they were personifications of their domains unlike Titans and Pagan Gods.
Tartarus The Primordial God of the Pit. It was found in the deepest parts of the Greek Underworld, also known as Hades' realm.
For those who knew of its existence, many would come to fear the Pit of Tartarus as a very terrifying realm.
The Pit has poisonous acid air, the ground has broken glass powder, and crystal embedded in it. It has a gray atmosphere and its clouds are blood red. The ceiling is so high that it is invisible from the ground, stretching for miles and miles to plunge into darkness in the form of plateaus.
Multiple pointed mountains and volcanic chasms adorn the landscape. A few long, thin, black trees grow in the flatter areas, and multiple monsters emerge like worms from blisters that form on the ground. The main wall of the cave is made up of multiple precipices and obsidian cliffs, where the rivers of Hades descend, presumably in the form of waterfalls.
The landscape descends to the most dangerous area, where the heart of the Primordial himself is found. As it descends, the terrain loses its composition of black gravel and begins to have a rather skin-like appearance, with a large membrane covered in a thin layer of earth or dust, smooth and warm, on which multiple cave mouths are made up of piles of stones. A dense black mist covers the lower areas of this region. Taking the source of the rivers and the obsidian cliffs as the North, in the South direction is a forest with a cold climate and humid by the dark mist, with tall black and round trees, but without branches.
And though its environment was one many feared, it wasn't the main reason why so many were afraid.
According to the myths, when a Greek monster like a hellhound, chimera, or hydra is killed, they go to the Pit for the reformation of their bodies, as they wait for their moment to be reborn. Similarly, when Greek full-blooded immortals die then they also go for a reforming process in the abyss.
And according to myth, Greeks Gods also used to send their enemies to Tartarus as punishment for their crimes. Such as Kronos' case in which the Big three and sons of Kronos, Zeus the God of the Skies, Poseidon Lord of the Seas, and Hades Ruler of the Underworld send Kronos to the Pit by dismembering him with his scythe into a million pieces.
Needless to say, whether the majority of the mortals believed it or not.
The Legends are real.
The myths are real and so are the Gods.
...
In the Deepest parts of Pit
The sky in the abyss was made of sulfuric gray clouds and haze, a land filled with broken dark glasses. Volcano-like mountains and rocks were scattered around the surface of the abyss.
Somewhere between all the mountains and rocks was a small cave. It seems that someone was using it because the bones of recently dead creatures were spread on the ground outside the cave if the smell of meat melting in the air was anything to go by. In addition, there was a twinkling of light, acting as some kind of light source in the cave, which was more than enough evidence to show that the cave was not empty.
The internal structure of the cave was very simple like any other cave, except that the cave was very large and its inner walls were painted with dark red blood and golden dust spectacles.
Inside the cave was a boy, in his teens, wearing a torn half-sleeved orange T-shirt and shorts that barely hung from his body and were likely to be torn by a simple cut.
He was around 5'10 feet tall with a powerful yet swimmer's lean body that was accompanied by his strong broad shoulders.
He had messy jet-black hair with streaks of gray that defied the laws of physics and gravity by standing at unnatural angles.
He was also what girls called the "good looking guy," who had sharp facial features and a strong jawline with high cheekbones. He had a dark sulfur tan that was caused by being in the pit for so many years.
His eyes were the most attractive thing about him, they were deep sea-green, the perfect combination of gray, blue, and green that swirled and collided like the ocean.
There was a fierce raw intensity in his eyes, but he was also taking on a ghostly appearance. His eyes showed that he was a kind man on the inside, but he was also ruthless to the creatures he considered enemies.
His body was littered with many small pale white spots that were on the verge of recovery and were probably caused by him while fighting others with other monsters or beings.
It was his presence that evoked a sense of strength, respect, and dedication to his will. The atmosphere around him was calm and peaceful, like the calm before a raging storm, waiting for the right moment to dispel the chaos and seraphic destruction.
Many of the Greek World would know of him, as he was the Hero of Olympus, its savior. He went by many names.
The Slayer of Minotaur
The Sailor of Sea of Monster
The Carrier of the Sky
The Escaper of Labyrinth
The Bane of Polybotes
The Survivor of Tartarus
To cut it short, he had numerous titles.
He was none other than Perseus Apollyon, also known as Percy Jackson the Demigod Son of the God of the Seas, Poseidon, the Father of horses, the mighty Earthshaker, and the Stormbringer.
Many would wonder why the Savior of Olympus would be in such a place, and this was where it all began.
...
Mt. Olympus
After Giant War ended
Percy felt nothing. He sensed nothing. He smelled nothing. He just felt devoid of everything.
Even after the present-day Greek gods and goddesses won another great war at the cost of a large number of casualties, he simply... felt nothing.
Null of any emotions, senses, expressions, feeling that's what he felt.
They were on Mount Olympus, shining in all its gold and white glory like nothing ever happened. Huge palaces of the gods surrounded the supernatural mountain. Olympus is a paradise, with golden palaces, parks, and streets usually filled with minor gods, spirits, and demigods or demigoddess, but not today. Hundreds of other creatures and beings live with the major deities.
Anyone would've found the beauty of Mount Olympus heavenly, but he again felt nothing seeing the scenery of angelic paradise.
Looking around he found that the streets of Olympus were mostly empty, with everyone at a convention being held in Throne Hall.
After walking for some time, he finally reached the entrance of the throne room, which was about 25 feet long and wide. The highly realistic and spectacular art of the Big Three defeating the Titan Lord Kronos was engraved on the dazzling white-gold doors that were made of an alloy of Imperial Gold and Olympic Silver.
Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself, as his face became devoid of emotion and expression. His face hardened and his gaze turned to the fearless cold eyes of a strong leader.
He pushed the doors, holding back most of his strength. No mortal would've been able to do what he did and even an average demigod in his prime had likely found it difficult to open the doors.
Percy had to fight the grimace of his face, all attention of beings that were present in the Hall went to him. Taking the surroundings of Throne Hall, he found it difficult to look around with all the pure divine gold that the room contained even with his enhanced eyes. If it was possible, the room probably contained 15-20% gold of the whole Earth.
The walls were painted with pictures of various gods defeating their enemies. And the ceiling of the hall was something else, looking up, he found a never-ending blue sky. Any mortal would probably faint just by looking at the magnificent scenery around him.
But he felt... felt like nix.
Glancing towards a group of tired and bloodied demigods and remaining members of Great Prophecy joined by a few remaining Hunters of Artemis at the corner, he smiled. A fake smile, but a smile nonetheless. They deserved it. Seeing their leader smiling, their face brightened and they smiled in return.
"Demigods!" A deep and powerful thundered.
Looking in the middle of the room, he found massive thrones arranged in reverse U-shape. And sitting on the thrones were giant beings with power rolling off them in strong waves.
The air around him disrupted and warped alone from the power that was being released by giant beings.
Staring in the direction from where the voice came was a Being, that was 20 feet in height. That being was anything, but normal.
He was imposing, and very muscular, with shoulder-length black hair and a gray-and-black neatly trimmed beard. He had brilliant electrically-blue eyes with a serious and proud, but very handsome face.
Said man was wearing a normal dark blue pinstripe suit. His presence was releasing a dense powerful aura that was screaming King's rule and laws.
Percy recognized him as King of Olympus, Zeus. He can see all demigods and legacies were struggling to stand still amid the powerful pressure caused by the presence of immortal beings. Though for him, it was barely an itch.
Percy tried to make eye contact with the gods, but each one of them tried to avoid it. Even his father looked away. He was hoping to feel terrible by this, but he again felt null.
Even unwavering Zeus and Prideful Athena had also avoided his glare.
Then Zeus started speaking, but his words fell on deaf ears. He was sure, he spaced out throughout the meeting. Don't get him wrong, but he wanted to get out of Olympus as soon as possible.
"Demigods! Once again peace has reigned over our Pantheon." Zeus spoke with a voice full of vigor, shaking him out of his stupor.
All the Demigods around him were cheering happily. He felt neutral neither happy nor terrible.
Suddenly, the air around him warped and bright light engulfed him.
The last words he heard before blacking out were, "Go home and rest, Hero. You've already done a lot for the benefit of Olympus."
...
Two years later
Percy sighed.
Looking around, he found himself surrounded by tall evergreen trees and sitting on a public bench in Central Park. It was a beautiful bright sunny day. Although the weather was still a little bit cold.
He removed the mask from his face.
A lot of things have happened in the past few years.
It has been two years since the spread of the coronavirus in the mortal world. More than 200 million mortals were infected with Covid-19. And about 4.8 million people died due to this vicious virus.
Ever since this virus first entered the human world, he has been living with his mortal family due to the pandemic and lockdown imposed by the government to protect the world.
It was last year that humans finally found a cure for the virus after medical teams from several countries worked together as a team. And now that more than half the people across the world have been vaccinated, the government has allowed people to go out and start their own business or resume their work.
In quarantine, he had contacted Hestia and found that the virus didn't kill divine and supernatural beings. When he asked if Divine beings know how and where this virus came from, she just said that they know nothing about it and Apollo with his children is trying to help humans by taking the form of a human in disguise to find an antidote for it.
Demigods were spared by this virus. For them, the virus is nothing, but high fever. As their other Divine half had prevented the virus from infecting them. Though this gave him some relief, he was still worried about his family. Because of that, he used to do all outdoor chores.
The lockdown law enacted by the mortal government also indirectly forced the demi-childs and the spirits of nature to remain in isolation at Camp Half-Blood.
"P-pa-papa hahaha... stop."
Turning towards his family, he found his Step-father Paul tickling his sister, Estelle.
Yeah, his sister.
Two years ago at the end of the meeting, someone forcefully flashed him to his mother house when he was still unconscious and imagine his surprise when he found a cute infant girl around 5 months in age with a small black tuft of hair on her head, energetically roaming on his chest and playing with his hair while babbling incoherently after he woke up in an unknown room.
When he learned that the sky-eyed child was his sister from his mother, he had no other emotion than happiness. This was the time when he smiled. He was so happy that even Athena's vocabulary would not be enough to describe his happiness.
But that happiness was short-lived when his mother asked him about the events that had happened in the past few months.
She had already known what was happening in the Divine world as Heroes' trainer Chiron had recently told her about it was Hera who kidnapped him and about how another great war was on their head, but nothing more than that.
He was crying and sobbing uncontrollably while talking about war and a little bit about his time in Hell to his mom. But his mother was there to console him.
Cruelty and brutality of the Abyss and War had deeply changed his mindset differently, but he didn't tell his mother about that.
After that, he never talked about that and the Divine world to his mother.
It's been two years since he went to the camp. He had severed all ties with the supernatural world, even the Romans, except for a few beings like Hestia, Thalia, Chiron, Nico, Lupa, and a few others.
Call him a coward. Call him heartless to leave camp when it was in ruins. But he was fed up with Gods toying with his life, Monsters trying to decide his death, and other similar things.
He just wanted to live the rest of his life in peace.
"Percy are you okay?" His mom asked, worried for her child.
Glancing at her mother, he found her eyes filled with worry. His heart clenched painfully at that sight. He felt terrible for making his mother sad.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied in a somber tone.
His mom checked his face for a few seconds trying to find any lie before signing.
"Let's go home. Estelle is done playing." Sally spoke after a brief moment.
As he stood up from the bench, with something tugging on his trousers, below he gazed at his sister smiling while her hands were open, clearly making the universal sign 'pick me up'.
A mischievous smirk found its way to his face, bending down he quickly scooped her sister and let her sit on his shoulders. Only his sister was able to turn some of him into his old self.
Just as he was about to tickle her till the end, he felt an unknown weight in his pocket. When he put his hand in the pants, he felt something that was a bit like paper. When he took it out, he came out with an envelope.
Opening it up, he found some notes written in it in Ancient Greek. After taking a few minutes to think about the note, he then started reading it.
His eyes widened slightly at the end of the letter note.
...
Percy breathed in the smell of the deep wood of the forest.
It was around afternoon, the ever bright sun was dim that day, the atmosphere was dry and cool and the sky was filled with gray clouds. He could feel a lake not far away from him. It was enough to keep his nerves steady and calm.
He was a bit nervous about the letter she sent because it was not her method of communication. In the letter, she told him to meet her near Camp Half-Blood, and there he was now.
It's been two years since he'd gone to Camp. He didn't know how the campers would react after seeing him two years later.
Angry or freaked out. Not wanting me back.
He thought.
I will get what I deserve.
He arrived a few minutes earlier, very much looking forward to meeting her. It's been almost a full year since they last met face-to-face. As he said earlier, he was both nervous and happy. Nervous about other campers if they saw him and happy about meeting her.
As he was getting ready in the morning, his mother was more than happy to help him get ready after knowing the reason for his happiness, which was dancing around his cheeks. Even though they chose to remain best friends after the small-term relationship they shared, he still cared for her. Even if she doesn't love him romantically anymore, she still has a special place in his heart.
"PERCY!" Someone yelled, snapping him out of his stupor, the voice felt oddly similar to him, he could recognize it anywhere. Looking towards the downside of the hill, he found her waving in his direction.
A warm feeling filled his heart, similar to when he watches his mother and Estelle smiling.
Percy sucked his breath at seeing her appearance.
Every time they meet, she seems more beautiful than ever. She still had that same athletic build comparable to that of a supermodel and sports Olympian females
Her golden princess curls were flowing with the wind, and the sun was shining brightly on her Californian tanned skin and her high cheekbones were still sharp as ever, for which any girl would die to get.
She had calculating gray eyes, that are always unconsciously analyzing surroundings, finding 101 ways to take any problem down.
When he saw her running towards him, without delay he did the same, ran with all his might. When they were a few feet away from each other, they stopped running. After taking a deep breath, he stepped forward in a jiffy and hugged her.
He inhaled the sweet-sour scent of lemon shampoo that she uses. He felt her breath on his neck. She then tightens her hold on him, trying to keep him close. He felt her tremble in his hold. It's been a long time since they saw each other face-to-face. He'd learned a long time to control his emotions.
He started stroking circles on her back, trying to keep her from breaking down into sobbing fits.
"Wise girl... shh... it's okay." Percy said with a calm demeanor, trying to lighten her mood.
After taking moments to compose herself, she spoke. "I missed you. It's been a long time since I last saw you and I couldn't control myself when I saw you."
Percy just smiled at her reply. "It's okay. I'm back now. "
Hearing his response, she laughed. "I see, you're still the old idiot seaweed brain I knew."
I'm not. I've changed a lot.
Percy wanted to say, but he couldn't muster enough courage to say that.
He laughed awkwardly, hoping she would not notice his odd behavior and she didn't.
"So... long time no see." He said playfully. He grinned when she smiled at his dumb reply. "How are you doing Annabeth?"
"I'm good Percy. What about you?" She replied cheerfully.
And for a few minutes, they talked about camp and a few other things. Percy caught up to a lot of new things regarding the supernatural world.
After a brief moment of talking, he asked a question that had been eating him for some time. "Where is your boy or should I say, boyfriend. He was going to come with you, wasn't he?"
Annabeth blushed at this. "Harry was going to come but got stuck in a busy schedule at camp. Though he said to me to greet you on his behalf."
Percy muttered 'ok' under his breath and pondered on her reply for a minute. Harry Potter was the champion of the Goddess, Trivia, and distant descendant of Titaness Hecate.
Harry came from a weird place called Hogwarts a few years ago with his friends Ron and Hermione.
Harry was a bit odd with midget height and lean build and had pale skin with raven hair, he had deep green emerald eyes.
And let's not forget about the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.
Only Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron with Gods know the origin of them and what and where Hogwarts was. It was top secret. Not that Percy was interested in the wizarding world.
"What was the reason you wanted to meet me? I mean you said in the note that you want to share something with me. Not that I don't mind talking to you." Percy said the last part hurriedly, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
Looking at her, he found her reaction weird and odd. Her face was suddenly marred with a frown. She started chewing her lips, looking anywhere, but at him.
"Wise girl, are you okay?" Percy spoke out of concern for her.
Finally, she looked at him. "I want to show you something."
He just nodded. On this, she started looking at the pocket of her jeans to find something and after finding what she wanted, she took it out. On her hand was a plain black cube with some letters inscribed on it.
She held her out, understanding the sign, he moved his hand to take the cube. But just when he was about to touch the cube with his fingers something unusual occurred, some vision flashed in front of his eyes. It was a vision of gold and black ethereal light in which he saw a dragon... weird.
Shaking his head to get rid of the sudden blindness, he quickly takes the cube out of her hand and starts inspecting it. Some letters were inscribed on top of the cube, they were written in a similar language, but he couldn't understand it. Turning around, he pointed at the letters on the cube.
Annabeth, seeing this, shrugged and spoke. "That's what I'm here to find out, the meaning of that writing."
Percy glared at letters one more time, they seemed oddly similar to him, but he couldn't remember it. Twirling the cube in his hand, he looked towards her. "Where did you find it anyway? And why are you so curious about the cube?"
Annabeth snapped at his question. "That's none of your concern!"
Percy frowned at her reply but said nothing.
She shakes her head and inhales deep breaths. "So sorry for snapping at you. I'm just stressed. Both Chiron and Harry denied any option of helping me and said to forget the cube."
Percy smiled awkwardly at her apology, he felt somewhat happy inside that she still kept her old trait of curiosity unlike him.
"But I found that these letters are written in some ancient language. And none of the campers even Chiron knows anything about it. Sure he's millennia-old immortal but even he doesn't know anything. And when I discussed this with my mother, she also had no idea about what these marks were." She exhales deep breaths at the end.
Percy didn't know what to do. Should he help her or-. "How will I help you? If even Athena doesn't know anything about it then how would I know? And we can't ask other Gods for help, it's a silly problem in front of them."
Annabeth frowned when he said her mother's name directly but said nothing instead she pondered on his response for a minute. "I don't know, call it inner instinct or demigod sense, but I think you'll be able to help me find out the truth behind the origin of the cube." Her face gained a hopeful look while saying that.
Percy wanted to dissuade her but he could not. How can he do that? It would destroy her hope. For good, he nodded. Seeing this, Annabeth smiled warmly and moved closer to him. And for the next few hours, they both carefully observed and analyzed the cube.
...
They found nothing.
They tried all methods they could in the middle of the forest, but they got no results on their hands. Both were laying on the cold surface of the earth and were mentally tired since they were overthinking a lot.
Annabeth turned her head slightly towards Percy's direction, who was wandering in his thoughts. "I've got nothing else to try, my brain is starting to hurt a little bit. Maybe Chiron and Harry were right to not help me. Thanks for helping me anyway, I think we should go now. "
Percy could see that she was already losing her hope and it made him sad that there was nothing he could do to help her. Suddenly, he had an idea, a dangerous idea that he wouldn't try to attempt, but it wasn't like that idea would work, and after trying several ideas, trying another wouldn't hurt him at all.
He stood up and found that she was packing things in her bag to go back to the camp. Moving on, he quickly snatched the cube from her hand and touched her shoulders, she immediately vanished into a sea of mist. He didn't want to hurt her in the process he was going to try, then headed towards the nearest tree. Quickly sitting under the tree, he leaned back towards the tree and sat down as comfortably as he could on the dry ground.
He learned a few tricks during his solo journey into the pit. He didn't even know if this trick would work. Sitting on the ground in Indian style, he held the cube in his hands, closed his eyes, and focused on bringing his dormant divine powers from his dormant ichor in his blood. Then he felt that his aura was rising.
He could feel the movement of the wind in the forest, the dark clouds in the sky ready to release a thundering rage on the world, the wind containing leaves, dust, rock swirling around him like a storm. After a few minutes, he extended his pull on his divine power which had been suppressed and dormant for the past two years.
Beads of sweat rolled down his face, he was gasping a little, the process was taking a toll on him now. He didn't know why he was working so hard for the little plane cube, but he had a little curiosity about the cube in his heart. When he touched the cube for the first time, he felt something like a connection with the cube. This was enough to force him to use his sealed powers.
Shaking his head to get rid of unwanted thoughts, he realized that it was raining. He opened his eyes and looked around and thought of the Olympians. If they hadn't felt a lightning strike in the sky, they should now. The scene around him was very beautiful and yet scary.
A moment before the calm and calm sky had been consumed by clouds of black thunder and dazzling lightning flashed alarmingly near the muddy land, the wind was blowing like a sea of waves. The trees in the forest were on the verge of blowing away from their roots, the ground turned muddy, and he could see a mighty storm swirling around him with water, rocks, tree branches, which would prevent anyone from entering his surroundings and was acting as a barrier.
Percy opened his eyes, now he could see the golden veins that adorned his outstretched arms and chest, they were coming from his heart to his arms. An icy-gold aura covered his body, he could feel his eyes gleaming in the storm. Then he started pouring more and more power from his heart into his arms. He felt the ground shaking a bit.
Don't ask how he knows what to do. He could hear slight whispers in his mind telling him to do what he's doing now.
He could sense Olympians were outside his hurricane, trying to pass the barrier, but were failing. Before they find a solution to enter through the hurricane, he sped up the process. Not that they would harm him or anything, but he wanted to know the truth about the cube. Whispers in his head were louder now, encouraging him further.
Satisfied with the power he had gathered, he concentrated all his energy on the cube with his hands. His hands were shining bright golden and so was the cube. Like a sudden click, something clicked inside the cube. Suddenly the cube started getting brighter and brighter and something happened.
He could feel his power fleetingly from his body towards the cube as if it were sucking his energy. But he let it happen.
And then a strange scene happened. The atmosphere around him was in disarray as if reality itself was at war and transformed into another ether. He could now clearly hear the Olympian, and especially his father, screaming, undoubtedly feeling distraught after feeling a change in his surroundings.
He didn't know what had happened, but one moment he was standing, and the next he was being sucked in by a portal opened by the cube. It was as if his interiors were contracting and stretching together. It was not painful, but a strange sensation.
The last thing he saw after being completely sucked into the portal was that the cube shattered and turned into black dust and something else. He may have been daydreaming or his eyes were slightly damaged, but he was sure that he must have seen black dust entering his chest.
And then he heard that voice.
"[ExE......eXe......ExE]..."