Chapter 58:
Percy walked out onto the other side of the portal and found himself on the top of a very tall lighthouse. The tower over looked a cliff below which was the raging sea. Percy smelt the fresh sea breeze as it hung in the air. He reached out to the sea and immediately connected with it, he used his powers as the son of Poseidon and found that he was somewhere just off the coast of Washington state.
"Come Percy, in here," Iris called as she stepped out of her portal and closed it behind her. She then walked into the lighthouse.
Percy walked into the lighthouse and instead of a giant beacon he found a circular table with twelve comfortable looking leather padded chairs around it and a hearth in the center warming up the room.
"What is this place?" Percy asked as he walked inside weary of an oncoming attack. He still wasn't convinced this wasn't a trap.
"This is where we meet," Iris as explained, "our own version of Olympus." she turned away from Percy and conjured up a rainbow. She spoke, "he's here," and vanished the multicoloured ray.
Suddenly the room light up light a christmas tree as many different coloured light filled it up. Percy barely managed to close his eyes in time, otherwise he was pretty sure he would have gone blind.
He opened them and standing before him were ten new figures sitting in the chair around the table. Percy didn't recognize them, but he didn't need to considering he could see their name floating above them;
Triton, Minor God of the Sea
Lv- ?
Nike, Goddess of victory
Lv- ?
Eirene, Goddess of peace
Lv- ?
Pothos, God of lust
Lv- ?
Eunomia, Goddess of good law and order
Lv- ?
Harmonia, Goddess of Harmony
Lv- ?
Tyche, Goddess of luck
Lv- ?
Hecate, Goddess of magic and Mist
Lv- ?
Nemesis, Goddess of revenge
Lv- ?
Zephyrus, God of gentle west wind
Lv- ?
Percy was surrounded by 11 Gods in total, and once more they were all minor Gods. Percy looked at Iris and something inside him clicked.
"This isn't just a group of random gods is it?" Percy looked at the room, the table, the way they were all organized, this wasn't the first time they gathered here. There was only one logical conclusion, "this is a council of minor Gods."
Triton smirked, he turned to Tyche, the goddess of luck, "that's 20 drachma."
The goddess was dressed in a silver Harvard hoodie and grey slacks. She looked like a college freshman with silver hair and bright purple eyes. She sighed as she snapped her fingers summoning a bag of drachma's and tossing it to Triton, "I hate you."
The divine son of Poseidon grinned as he snapped his fingers sending his newly won money away. The God hadn't changed much from the last time Percy met him. He still had his green skin and black seaweed like hair tied into a ponytail. He wore a nothing but a pair of lifeguard trunks and blue flippers displaying his god like chiseled body.
"Okay," Percy looked at the Gods, "what the Hades is going on?"
"Percy Jackson," Eunomia, the Goddess of good law and peace walked to a seat on the table and sat down. She looked frighteningly similar to Kate, with her brown hair and sharp cheekbones. She wore a long coat with a business suit under it, she also had a gun strapped to her chest along with a golden shield proudly displayed on her belt, "we need to talk."
The other gods and goddess took that as their que to move. They each quickly found their seats and sat down leaving Percy standing at looking at them.
"I came here because Iris told me she would help me fix what happened to the demigods," Percy said as he looked at the minor deities, "are you guys going to help me do that?"
"We are," Eunomia nodded, "we believe we can help each other in this regard."
"Okay," Percy nodded, "first off who caused this?"
"We believe that one of our own has caused this chaos," Eirene, the goddess of peace spoke up. She wore a golden and white toga with a golden laurel on her head. On her shoulder was a white dove which seemed to radiate a sense of calmness and satisfaction that washed over PErcy and the rest of the Gods.
"One of your own?" Percy raised an eyebrow, "so a minor god caused this?"
"Indeed little brother," Triton nodded, "and as he is one of us, we believe it is our duty to fix this."
Percy blinked, "since when have you called me little brother?"
Triton smirked, "since you stopped being an embarrassment to father."
Percy rolled his eyes, "gee thanks Triton, that's some really deep brotherly advice there."
"Yeah well don't get used to it," Triton smriked.
"Now, back to business," Eunomia spoke drawing attention back to her, "the one who did this was Morpheus."
"The god of sleep?" Percy asked, "well, that would make sense, considering everyone feel asleep. It would make sense the God of sleep would be involved."
"Correct, accept Morpheus isn't the God of sleep, Hypnos is, Morpheus is the God of dreams and the unconscious, much more powerful and much more eccentric." Hecate, the goddess of magic and the Mist spoke. She was dressed in a black robe with blue runes stitched into the fabric. Besides her floated two torches with green fire burning in it and a pole cat sitting in front of her on the table.
"I see..." Percy nodded looking around, "and why exactly did he decide to go crazy?"
"Watch your tongue boy!" Nemesis yelled out as she slammed her hand into the table. She looked around 50 with a leather jacket and a bandana tied around her grey straw like hair. She wore red sunglasses behind which her eyes glowed like two ball of fire, "Morpheus is one of us! He most certainly did not go crazy!"
Percy narrowed his eyes at the goddess, "he made all the children of the Gods fall asleep. Some of them were working on something, he'll just a few minutes before my friends fell asleep we was fighting a demon, imagine if they had all dropped to the ground, they wouldn't have lasted a second. The demon would have ripped them into pieces."
Nemesis growled, "he isn't crazy."
"Yes, he is."
"Enough," Eirene, the goddess of peace whispered. Her voice was small and gentle, but everyone heard it. Slowly the anger that took over Nemesis's face went away as she sat back down. "We have not come here to discuss Morpheus's actions. We have come to try and save our children."
"And we must stay focused on target," Eunomia finished.
Percy sighed, "fine. Why did he do this in the first place?"
"Because he believed it was the only way to keep the demigod's safe," Harmonia spoke. She was the goddess of harmony, and unlike the other humanoid deities in the room she wasn't exactly normal. Harmonia took on the form of a snake with a pair of 60's purple shades stuck over her eyes and a rainbow bandana over her crown. Percy would have been freaked out a little bit, but after seeing talkings dog's, underwater monsters that could end planets and an interdimensional warlord his standards of freakyness was set pretty high.
"You see Kronos came to us with an offer," Harmonia continued, "he said that if we join him and support his war when he wins he would give us and our children a place in the new world he makes."
"And you denied him......right?"
"Not at first," Nemesis growled. Perry shot her a look and she shoot one back, "what? Don't look at me like that kid! Don't tell me it wasn't a reasonable request! The Gods have never valued us! Our official title is minor Gods! Do you think we owed them anything?!"
Percy shrugged, "I'm not one to judge, after all I can't stand half the Olympian's myself. But, they are still family, and one doesn't abandon family."
"Which is preciously why we denied their request," Eunomia spoke up. The way she acted and the way everyone shut up when she talked told Percy that the goddess was the leader, and if this council was lead by the goddess of good law you know they were in the right hands.
"Kronos didn't like being denied," Triton schooled, "he told us once the Olympians were defeated we would be next. Most of us took it as an ideal threat, but Morpheus...."
"But Morpheus disagreed," Iris picked up the story, "he believed that the Olympians were arrogant and uncaring enough to sacrifice their own children if it meant they would win the war. And if they sacrificed their children, ours would soon follow. We didn't know what to do, and that's where you came in."
Percy blinked, "me? Why me?"
"Simple," Tyche spoke up eating from a box of thai take out, "you are kind of like the leader of the Greek demigods, and while you aren't Roman, the Romans still respect you. We wanted to meet up with you before, ask you to stay out of this war, let the Titans and the Olympians sort their own mess out."
"You wanted me to make the demigods betray the gods?" Percy asked a little startled.
"Betray?" Eunomia raised an eyebrow, "why do you think it's betrayal to not want to die?"
"They are family Eunomia, we can't just-"
"-Precisely, they are family, you are their family. And they would send their own children into battle to die for them."
"So you would just let them die?"
The goddess shock her head, "they wouldn't die. Kronos may be powerful, but Zeus and the other's could still take them. No, the Olympians would not die, they would win and send the titan's back to Tartarus, and hundreds of demigods would have wasted their lives for nothing."
"And why should the demigods obey them anyway?" Nemesis asked, "the only reason I could guess is because of the protection they provide in their little camps. But what you don't understand is that we can provide the same protection, and we wouldn't want you to due for the privilege."
"The Olympians are flawed Percy," Triton spoke, "even our father is not....all there. They try, but in the end they see themselves as better than everyone else. Better than humans and better than minor gods."
"Enough!" Percy snapped, "I didn't come here to argue philosophy, I came here to get my friends back. So are you going to tell me how to do that or am I on my own?!"
The council of minor gods looked at each other as unspoken words were shared. Percy knew they were talking about him, he didn't like being ignored, but he dealt with it. Percy waited and soon Eunomia stood up and spoke.
"We don't know how you were not affected by Morpheus's speak, technically every demigod should be asleep right now. But if it turns out you are immune somehow to mis mental magic then you are probably the best one to help save the other demigods."
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Enter Morpheus's realm and save all the demigods!
Rewards,
300,000 Exp
One random gift from the minor Gods
?
Failure,
All the greek and roman demigods in the world will die from brain damage
Kronos will win
Do you accept?
YES/NO?
Percy pressed on yes and pushed the notification away. "Okay, so now I know who did, why they did it and why I wasn't affected. Now I have one more question," Percy glared, "how do I get this son of a bitch?"
"Hypnos, the god of sleep can help us there," Triton spoke up as he and Iris got up and approached Percy. "He is weaker than Morpheus, true, but they share similar abilities. We get him to take us to Morpheus realm and you should be able to reached the demigods trapped within no problem."
Percy nodded, "great, are you two coming?"
"Hypnos is....dangerous," Iris hummed, "he is not very easy to work with. Triton and I will accompany you to him and will help get his services, after that though it will be up to you."
"Why can't you guys help?"
"Morpheus's realm is very unstable," Harmonia answered, "you see like his domain suggests it is a literal dream land. If one isn't careful they could destroy the entire place by making it collapse in on itself. That was why we were apposed to his plan in the first place, we won't risk trapping our children inside their own heads."
Percy nodded, "okay...makes sense."
"Come," Iris raised her hands summoning a rainbow coloured portal in front of Percy, "we have much to do."
Percy and Triton walked into the portal with Iris following behind. The portal closed leaving the remaining 9 gods by themselves.
"I don't like him," Nemesis growled as she sank into her chair.
"You don't like anyone," Harmonia replied.
"He's a good kid," Tyche spoke up finishing her food and tossing the empty take out cup away, "plus you hate everyone."
"Indeed, Percy Jackson has my faith," Eunomia nodded in acceptance, "he's smart and caring, a perfect combination for the kind of person we need to save our children."
"Oh please, you just like him because he works in a police station!" Nemesis yelled.
"True," Eunomia nodded, "and anyone who is so dedicated to serving justice at this age is deserving of respect."
"Either way nothing we say now will change what is about to happen," Eirene said as ashe walked out of the room and into the open air. She looked down at the sea and immediately the raging storm that was building died down giving way to calm winds and steady waves, "all we can do now is wait and see what the son of Poseidon does."
With Percy,
Percy stepped out of the portal and found himself once again in an unfamiliar place. He was in the middle of a city, dusty, very windy. The street he was on looked abandoned and very poor, there was trash flowing freely on the street and graffiti on the wall.
From the short palm tree planted on the sidewalk Percy figured they were somewhere south, from the humid temperature he figured they were somewhere near the sea.
"Where are we?" Percy asked.
"Florida," Triton replied as he and Iris stepped out of the rainbow portal and started walking. Percy followed and the group quickly arrived in front of a old abandoned mattress store that seemed to be over run by dust bunnies and the occasional cockroach.
"Okay, that's both disgusting and unhygienic," Percy shivered.
"Hypnos isn't one for hygiene," Iris snapped her fingers causing the door to unlock. They walked into the dark building, Percy could barely see, but after Iris summoned a floating ball of light and rainbows the room burst into colour.
It was run down and very old. The wallpaper was coming off the wall with mold growing on the wood. The goddess and god walked forward uncaring but Percy was creeped out. He swore he saw a rat scurrying about in the shadows somewhere, he may be able to take on monsters, but this was another thing completely.
As Percy continued walking he remembered his latest adventure and what they had found inside. Percy looked at Triton, "Triton, after this we need to talk. I found something of dad's, I think he might want it back."
Triton turned back and raised an eyebrow, "what is that?"
"You remember the Roman's have the Eagle for Zeus? Well I discovered the symbol of Neptune, the 11th Legion Pegasus."
"What?!" Triton stopped dead on his tracks and turned to Percy, "where did you find it?!"
"Under my school," Percy shrugged.
"Why was it there?!"
"Well it seems my school was built by Churchill and he was apparently a son of Poseidon. He wanted a place for it be safe, so he decided to move it to US and build a school around it for protection."
Titon's green eyes looked completely stunned, "Churchill? Seriously? Damn...well it does make sense, bugger always was resourceful."
"We need to keep moving," Iris warned the son of Poseidon.
Triton nodded, "right," he looked at Percy, "come we can walk and talk."
They continued heading deeper into the building as Percy spoke up, "so you know him?"
Triton nodded, "yes. We were...well, not close as I would have liked, but it was enough. He had a giant weight on his shoulder, as we now know, so the Fates forbid anyone from our divine family to contact him. Father himself only had one chance to meet him, and that was only to tell him the truth. Sigh, maybe if we were closer...nevermind, that's all in the past now. You have it safe?"
Percy nodded, "it's in my inventory."
"Okay...do you plan on using it against Morpheus?"
Percy's eyes narrowed, "only if he threatens my friends."
Triton sighed, "fine...but please, use it only as a last resort. It's a very powerful object, if the other Gods knew off it they would remove it from your possession. It's your Trump card, keep it hidden for as long as possible, got that Percy?"
Percy nodded.
They walked deeper down the corridor eventually reaching a single steel door that was rusted all over. Iris walked up to the door and pressed her hand up against the door summoning a burst of rainbow light that destroyed the door blowing it off it's hinges;
BOOM!
Percy winced as he blinked his temporary blindness away. He looked up and saw Iris and Triton walk in, guessing this was his cue Percy did the same.
The grimly and dirty hallway gave way to a clean and pristine white marble coated room. Every single spot in the room looked like it had a micro brush passed through it removing it off all dirt. There was no light in the room, their only source of light was Iris's floating ball.
Iris walked around to the side wall and flipped a switch turning on the brightest light's Percy had ever seen in his entire life. Percy's eyes shut close on reflex alone nearly blinding him. It took him a few seconds but he was able to finally open them again. The lights were high powers and placed on the ceiling in such a way that they enlightened every corner of the room.
In the center of the room was a pile of pillows each the size of a full grown human being. And curled up into a little ball in the middle of the pillow pile was a young man with white hair wearing blue striped pyjamas.
Percy looked at his title;
Hypnos, God of Sleep
Lv- ?
Percy blinked, "is that little shrimp really Hypnos?"
Iris nodded, "indeed he is. Triton, please wake him up."
Triton nodded. He bent down and dug his fingers into the two iron door Iris had blasted into the room. He lifted them with ease and walked to Hypnos' body before smashing the two doors together like a pair of hit-mats.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
Percy's held his ears in pain, "how is he not awake yet?!" He yelled through the noise.
"He's a heavy sleeper," Iris told him as she closed her own ears.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes of continuous noise making on Triton's part, Hypnos started to stear. He got up and rubbed his eyes with one hand. Slowly he opened them revealing milky white eyes that seemed to be able to focus on everything and yet nothing.
Triton stepped back as the god of sleep looked at his guest. He gave a lazy smile with his eyes still half closed, "hello Iris, hello,yawn, Triton. And who is, yawn, this?"
Percy blinked, "I'm Percy...Percy Jackson."
"Yay," Hypnos yawned, "why are you all, yawn, here?"
"We need your help Hypnos," Iris told the God, "Morpheus has done it Hypnos...he actually went through with it. Right now every single demigod child in the world is unconscious, trapped in his realm. We need your help to bring them back."
Hypno's eyes looked just a little bit more awake, "I see. And how do you plan on doing that? Morpheus might have broken the rules allowing you Gods to interfere, but if anyone of you even steps into his realm you could potentially collapse it in on itself."
Triton nodded, "we know. That's why we're aren't going, we are sending Percy here to get back the demigods."
Hypnos turned his white gaze on Percy, "who exactly is Percy?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, "you don't know? I mean come on, everyone in Olympus has at least heard about me."
"Hypnos doesn't get out much," Iris explained before turning to Hypnos, "Percy is a son of Poseidon and very powerful one at that. He's somehow the only one who has survived Morpheus' attack."
"I see," Hypnos didn't take his eyes off Percy, "and how old are you Percy?"
"14," Percy replied evenly.
"I see...then just two more years until the world ends. Lovely. Now, how exactly are you immune?"
"We were hoping you could tell us," Triton spoke.
"Maybe, maybe...tell me Percy, what do you dream off?"
"I...I don't."
Hypnos raised a white eyebrow, "what do you mean?"
"I don't dream. I haven't since I learnt I was a demigod. I sleep when I can, but I don't dream."
"Wait really?" Triton asked, "that's...impossible. Everyone dreams, it's a part of life. Even God's dream."
"Yes, but Percy doesn't," Hypnos hummed, he waved his hand in front of Percy causing the demigod to glow white, "well from what I can tell he's telling the truth. He doesn't dream, so that's why Morpheus hasn't been able to take him into his realm as well."
"But how is that possible?" Iris asked curiously.
"I'm not sure,"Hypnos hummed, "but I sense a touch of....destiny from the boy...a touch of Fate."
Percy's eyes widened, Triton and Iris looked confused at Hypnos words but Percy knew what he meant. Hypnos winked at Percy and turned to the minor gods, "either way it doesn't matter. How he's immune isn't important, what is important is that Percy is probably the only one capable of entering Morpheus' realm and fighting the God on even ground."
"You mean you can do it? You can help me save my friends?" Percy asked.
Hypnos nodded, "yes Percy Jackson, I can."
Elsewhere;
Thalia grumbled, "I swear to the Gods Bethany! Get down this instant or I swear, no video games for a month!"
"But mom!" a girl with long black hair and sea green eyes whined from on top of a apple tree. The girl wore pink leggings and a black t-shirt with 'Green Day', Thalia's favourite band, featured on it.
"No but's young lady! You are five years old and unlike your father you are not indestructible!"
"But dad told me you both did way more dangerous stuff!"
"Yes, but we are at least 12 years old when we did it! Now get down!"
Bethany puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, "you never let me do anything fun!"
"I let you fight a zombie the other day!"
"No, dad let me fight it!"
"And I didn't object to you fighting a zombie, you're welcome."
"Moooom, I'm already level 8! Dad said when he was level 8 he fought demons from hell!"
"Well your father didn't climb trees at level 8, if I remember he didn't do that till he was level 40. So get down here this instant!"
Bethany grumbled, a grunt similar to her mother, "fine," the girl jumped off the branch falling head first towards the ground. Thalia flinched in fear, but didn't move, she knew better. Suddenly air currently pulled around Bethany straightening her out and softening her landing. The girl landed gracefully like a feather and smiled at her mom.
Thalia couldn't help smiling back, "you just love scaring the shit out of me don't?" Bethany giggled and said nothing. Thalia shook her head, "whatever. Go inside, I'm made you some pancakes for breakfast."
"Blue?"
"Of course."
"Great! Thanks mom!" the girl waved at her mom rushing into the small cottage house that was next to the tree.
Just then the front door to the small cottage house opened revealing an older man in a suit and tie with a golden detective's badge clipped on his belt. His hair was short and his eyes sparkled sea green. He grinned at Bethany, "morning pumpkin."
"Morning dad!" Bethany yelled back as she rushed inside.
Percy chuckled as he walked towards Thalia, "she seems excited."
Thalia sighed, "she's starting school today Percy. Of course she's excited."
"Well that certainly is strange, last I remember the both of us hated school," Percy stepped behind Thalia wrapped her in his arms. The couple looked down the hill on top of which they built their house. Large plains of grass surrounded them, there wasn't a neighbour in sight, a luxury they could afford since everyone in their family had some form of quick transportation. Flying for Thalia while super speed for Percy and Bethany.
At the very edge of the horizon was a city surrounded by giant walls. This was Gardiner island, Percy had finished constructing the community and now it thrived as a home for demigods and supernatural creatures everywhere.
"Hm, well I wouldn't say hate," Thalia shivered as Percy kissed her neck, even after all this time he could still make her shiver at his touch.
"True...so...what's your plan for today?"
"I'm thinking after I drop Bethany off at school I need to check the data banks. Annabeth mentioned something in the system that tried to shut us down last night. They managed to shut it off, but they need my help identifying the bug."
Percy chuckled, "amazing, my wife the tech wizard. I always thought modern technology was more of Leo's thing?"
"The dog or the demigod?" Thalia and Percy chuckled.
Just then Bethany called out, "mom! Leo's licking me again!"
Percy and Thalia shared a looked before laughing out loud. Slowly they became quiet once more. Thalia sighed, "I didn't think we would make it Percy."
"Yeah....it didn't feel like that for a few years but...we did it," Percy turned her around and looked into her eyes, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world lighting girl."
"And don't you forget it seaweed brain," Thalia chuckled. She closed her eyes and leaned in kissing Percy. A surge of warmth surrounded her, she felt his arms hold her steady. It felt like sleeping on a cloud, but something was wrong...something was missing.
Thalia's mind began to blur, she remembered the times she kissed him. She remembered all of them. How it was almost supernatural they way he could make her putty in his arms. Now the kiss was amazing, but before it was divine. Something was wrong, something wasn't right.
Thalia's eyes snapped open as she pushed Percy away, "no!"
Percy blinked in confusion, "what's wrong Thalia? Did something happen?"
"You-you're not Percy," Thalia's eyes narrowed as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her can of mace. She transformed it into her spear and leveled it at the imposter, "who the fuck are you?"
"Thalia, sweet heart, are you okay? You're not making sense," Percy said as he tried to approach her only for Thali to take a swing at his head. Percy ducked quickly, but Thalia saw the speed at which he did that. The real Percy was much faster and the real Percy wouldn't have dodged, he would have simply caught her spear and disarmed her.
"Stay back," Thalia growled as she channeled lighting into her weapon, "stay back or I'll kill you."
"Mommy? Daddy? What's going on?" Bethany walked outside looking confused.
"Stay back Bethany," Thalia called out stepping in front of her daughter protectively, "something's wrong. This isn't your father. This is.....no..." 'I never had a daughter...I'm not a mother.'
Thalia looked at Bethany in horror, 'who is this?!' She backed away, "who are you?!"
"Mommy?" Bethenny asked looking scared with tears her eyes, "you're scaring me mommy."
Thalia flinched, "I'm sorry baby I-" 'No! Don't apologize! She isn't your daughter!'
Thalia narrowed her eyes, lighting coursed through her blood, "no! Get away from me!"
"Thalia calm down!" Percy roared as he stepped in front of Bethany, "you are going to hurt our daughter!"
"She's not my daughter!" Thalia roared out as she swung her spear at Percy who dodged the swing easily, "and you're not my Percy!" Thalia swung again, the thing with Percy's face moved backwards but ended up tripping on itself falling on it's back.
Thalia ran up and shoved her heel into him fixing him on the ground. She raised her spear up and leveled it's electric tip on 'Percy's' neck, "die!"
Thalia trusted the spear down and for a second doubt clouded her mind, 'wait! What am I doing?! This is Percy! My Percy! My...no...not my Percy! Not my life! Not my daughter!'
And suddenly reality itself exploded.
Thalia gasped. She couldn't see. Whiteness clouded her vision. She couldn't breath, something warm and silky ran down her throat, she was suffocating, and yet she didn't feel like she was being choked.
She pushed her hands out, desperately trying ot pulled herself out of wherever she was. She could feel something, a cold breeze just outside her gelatinous prison. She broke through the white continent and suddenly the cover snapped causing her to be shoved down.
Thalia fell down on the metal floor as she began to pant. She coughed, spitting out what felt like volumes of the white milky substance she was drowned in. She panted and looked up, she found a pod around her height hanging above her head. It's cover was torn apart, inside was that milky white substance she was immersed in, she was trapped in that thing.
She got back up and realised she was in a hallway of some kind. The hallway was big enough for a four lane highway to fit inside. It's wall were red and purple, the colors mixing and churning, almost in a hypnotic way. And hanging from the ceiling of the hallway wasn't just one pod but hundreds.
Each of the pods had a shadowy silhouette inside of it, and each of them were hanging by a long thick cord which pulsated blue with energy.
'Where am I?' Thalia asked herself as she got back on her feet. They were shaky, but after a few steps she found herself able of walk without issue. It was like her feet were asleep, in fact it felt like she had just gotten a well rested nap. She was very energized, whatever that pod did to her at least she got a good night's sleep out of it.
Thalia looked around, 'okay, so what's the last thing I remember? I think...it was me, and Percy. We had just defeated that demon and said goodbye to Christy, John and Jet. We were walking back when suddenly I felt sleepy...super sleepy. And not just me, Michael and Clarisse felt it too. They fell asleep before me. And Percy...he wasn't affected though.'
Thalia cursed, 'okay, whatever is going on I can deal with it. If someone kidnapped me then Percy is probably on his way right now. The best thing for me to do right now is survive, find a way out of this place, maybe find Michael and Clarisse, assuming they are here as well.'
Thalia quickly began walking down the hallway trying to find an exit. SO far there seemed to be no end to the giant corridor, it twisted and turned and seemingly went on forever. Thalia found herself walking for what felt like hours, but she knew it had only been minutes.
Thalia grumbled, 'where the Hades is the exit?!' she kept walking and eventually the hallway narrowed down until it back the size of a normal school hallway with a double door near the end.
Thalia was weary, nothing good can come of this. She reached for her can of mace and bracelet and activated them arming herself with her shield and spear. She walked to the door and slowly pushed it open peeping to the other side. Thalia's eyes widened, she saw nothing, nothing but darkness, and then suddenly something pulled her forwards.
"AHHH!" Thalia yelled out as she was sent flying through the darkness. She dropped her spear into the bottomless pit below her as she flew across the dark void. She went head over heels and flew faster and faster.
Suddenly the darkness gave way to light and then suddenly Thalia was throne onto the floor made of marble as she rolled before getting back up and looking around. She was inside what looked like a king's chamber. The room was decorated like it belonged to the 18th century filled with paintings and beautifully designed furniture. The room had a cupboard the size of a small car and a marble bathtub big enough for ten. Oddly enough the room didn't have a bed.
"Welcome daughter of Zeus, I should have expected you of all people would have escaped."
Thalia snapped her fingers summoning and chain of lighting she turned and crouched ready to attack at a moment's notice. She saw a man standing near one corner of the room smiling at her like he had not a care in the world.
The man was dressed in a fine expensive looking suit, the kind Thalia's father wore on a daily basis. His face was black and had no features, like a shadow come alive. And on his back were a pair of giant wings of black and white three times bigger than his body.
Thalia narrowed her eyes, "who the Hades are you?"
"I am Morpheus," the man pushed off the wall and bowed, "the god of dreams. Perhaps you have heard of me."
Thalia's eyes widened, "you're a god." she lowered her hands and stopped channeling her lighting, "sorry about the light show, wasn't sure. Where am I?"
"You are somewhere safe," Morpheus nodded to her, "here no one can come after you. Not the Gods, not any kind of monster and most certainly not Kronos."
"Then...this is your realm?"
Morpheus nodded, "indeed it is."
Thalia's eyes went wide, she immediately was on the offensive once more channeling lighting into her closed fists, "then you are the one who kidnapped me!"
"Well that would mean you didn't come here of your own desire," Morpheus said looking unfazed by the lighting in Thalia's hands.
"What?! I don't even remember getting here! Last thing I remember was falling asleep in Percy's arms!"
"Indeed, and after that you did what you always do when falling asleep. Come into my realm," Morpheus snapped his fingers and the richly decorated room disappeared. Thalia found herself floating in mid air once more with nothing to support her.
Out of reflex she flinched, she conquered her fear of height but it was still there, and right now it was very strong. She watched as slowly the world around her began to shirk. The darkness gave way to the hallway again which then became smaller and smaller into the size of a planet.
The planet was covered with hallways running across it like roads. Those white pods hung above the hallways and between the small paths was nothing but darkness.
Thalia looked to Morpheus, "this is your realm?"
Morpheus nodded, "indeed, it is. Every God has one, but other than fellow immortals no one is allowed to visit. A rule the Fates enforce quite strongly. But I am an acception, my realm is accessible to all humans once they sleep. Their minds come here, and they dream."
"That pod," Thalia said in horror, "you're saying I've been it before?"
Morpheus nodded, "everyday since the day you were born. When you sleep you dream. And if you dream, that means you come here."
"T-then how did I wake up?" Thalia asked, "how am I standing here talking to you?"
"A mistake on my path," Morpheus admitted, "you see I am a bit strained right now. My powers are weakening. Usually I would be able to hold you in check just fine, but now...well I'm stretched a bit thin as they say. You are one of the most powerful demigods I have ever seen, your will was strong enough to break you out of my hold."
"But...Michael and Clarisse...they fell asleep before I did. They...you did that didn't you?!" Thalia roared, "why?! Why did you pull us into your realm?!"
"To protect you," Morpheus spoke as he spread his wings, "you of all people must understand Thalia."
"What do you mean?!"
The god sighed, "months ago Kronos came to us minor demigods with a deal. An offer, he would give us the attention and respect we deserve, and in return we must support him in the war with the Olympians."
"What?! Why would you do that?!"
"Wouldn't you?" Morpheus shot back, "if you were ridiculed every single day of your existence, if you were called a 'minor' as your official title, though you are a hundred times more important that they claim you to be? If your children were forced to live together, unrecognized for the power they hold within...if they were called nothing more than 'unclaimed'...wouldn't you rebel?"
"I....maybe...but that still wouldn't excuse betraying the world to a, a madman!"
"We thought so as well," Morpheus nodded, "we asked for more time, but we had decided, we would never join Kronos."
"Who's we?"
"The council of minor God."
"You have a council of minor Gods?"
"Yes, or did you think we all just existed for the service of the great Olympians?"
Thalia narrowed her eyes, "so the council members rejected the offer...I'm guessing you didn't?"
"No, I did as well...at first. But then I realised, why should my children suffer for the hubris of the Gods? Why must innocent blood be spilt? Blood of children that have never even gotten a chance to live?"
Thalia stopped glaring, her lighting started to fritze out. She unclenched her fists. She looked at the god, this faceless being and realised that he might in fact have point.
"So I made a deal with Kronos," Morpheus continued, "if I brought every single demigod in the world into my realm and kept them there then he would promised me that he would not hurt them ever again. He would take his fight to the Gods themselves and leave the minor Gods and the demigods out of it, for good."
"Y-you kidnapped us...to protect us?"
Morpheus nodded, "indeed I did. I took your mind and locked them here. Your bodies will be alright, unharmed and untouched. When the war is over you will all awaken and you can begin again, away from the Gods, away from this war."
Thalia looked at the world below here, the world of dreams. The white pods that littered the surface of the world, those were all demigods, Greek and Roman. She understood now, she realized what he had done.
"You...you saved us," Thalia finally said as she looked up with tears in her eyes.
Morpheus nodded, "yes...I did."
Tears fell down Thalia's cheeks, "t-thank you." She walked forward and moved closer to Morpheus.
"You need not thank me child...we are family, this is what family does," Morpheus spread his arms wide as Thalia moved to hug him. She lowered her head and bent down, Morpheus slowly closed his arms around her, when suddenly Thalia brought her elbow up into the man's jaw.
Thalia was surprised to see her elbow go through Morpheus's face, almost like it wasn't there. Thalia quickly moved back and summoned lighting to surround her.
"Why did you do that?" Morpheus asked with a hint of anger in his voice, "I'm trying to save you!"
"Because you're fuckign insane!" Thalia roared back and she charged forward and threw a punch at Morpheus head.
"What do you mean?" Morpheus asked as he dodged the punch, "I saved you! All of you!"
"And what about the world?!" Thalia asked as she swung her leg at his head only the God to flap his wings and dash backwards, "what about the thousands, if not millions of humans that will die because of the battle between the gods and the Titans?!"
"Who cares about the humans?!" Morpheus roared as he snapped his wings forward sending sharp metallic feathers at Thalia.
"I do! I'm one of them!" Thalia ducked to the size of a ball placing Aegis in front of her. The feather bounced off the indestructable weapon, Thalia quickly charged forward sending a bolt of lightning forward.
"Some will die, yes, but you will still live! We will still live!" Morpheus easily dodged the lightning bolt, but Thalia had covered the gap between them quickly as she began fighting him once more.
"So you expect me to just sit by and allow genocide to happen?!" Thalia asked as she pushed Morpheus chest only for the lighting covered fist to pass through unfazed. But just then the lighting started to explode outwards, Thalia smiled, the lighting was draining into the god.
"ARGH!" Morpheus roared in pain as he smacked Thalia with one of his wings sending her flying back.
"You might have saved us, but the rest of the world will suffer for that," Thalia felt pain, all over, how did that little pat from his wings cause so much damage?!'
"So what?!" Morpheus growled as he leaped forward and grabbed THalia by the shoulders.
"Wrong move featherbrain!" Thalia roared as she exploded with lighting shocking the minor god. Morpheus roared in pain, but he pushed through bringing Thalia flying down back to the dream world and into the fancy looking room.
Morpheus slammed Thalia down into the floor breaking the girls back. The room shock, but the floor below didn't break from the impact. Thalia gasped in pain as she laid there motionless.
"Don't worry," Morpheus said as he walked away, "the pain is temporary, remember this isn't even your real body, just a mental projection from your mind. You will heal in minutes."
Thalia gasped through the pain, "I hate you so much."
Morpheus growled, "why? Why do you hate me?! I only did this for you and my family!"
"Because you didn't think about anyone else! The humans-"
"-Will survive!"
"No they won't! Not after Kronos! You know how he is, do you really think he will stand the followers of the Gods to exist long after they have died?! He would kill them just to make sure they don't rise up against him."
"T-they wouldn't do something like, they are only human!"
Thalia groaned, she could feel her body heal already, "yes, and we demigods are half humans. We are strong, not because of our divine side, but because of our human side. I-I was once like you, I couldn't care for what happened to the humans...but now, after living with them, trying to be one of them, I realise I am as much a human as I am god."
"You don't know what you speak off," Morpheus growled, "humanity isn't a blessing, it's a plague. It's the only thing keeping you from realising your potential to be a God. Why do you care for it?"
Thalia slowly got back up, her body was still in pain, but she smiled, "I once had the same question you know. I asked Percy, 'Why should we care? The humans don't care for us, why should we care for them?' And you know what he said? He said, 'because we are them'. He believes in them, I believe in them. Every single demigod, we don't just belong to the divine world, we also belong to the human world. And we would fight to protect both."
Morpheus remained silent. He meet Thalia's eyes and felt them pierce into his soul. Zeus always looked down on Morpheus, but never once did the God fell superior to Morpheus. But now, the way Thalia looked at him, he felt like dirt.
"You can't leave this room, so don't bother trying," Morpheus finally spoke up as he walked away, "the cupboard is filled with books and there is running water, in case you wish for a bath, though you don't really need one, but I find it a common dream to feel refreshed. You don't need to eat or drink, and since you are technically asleep you will not need to do that as well. You will stay here for now until I can find a way to put you back under your dream."
Thalia looked up at the retreating god, "Morpheus, before you go can you answer me something?" The God stopped and looked over his shoulder. Thalia sighed 'guess that's a yes', "you said I was a the strongest demigod you ever meet, tell me does that include Percy Jackson?"
"Correction, I said you were one of the most powerful demigods I have ever meet. And no, it doesn't include Percy Jackson."
"And why not?"
"Because...because I haven't been able to get him here for some time. I have heard stories of his deeds, but have never seen his strength for myself."
Thalia chuckled, she smiled, "oh, well then I guess I won't be staying here for long after all."
"Why is that?"
"Because if Percy isn't here in your 'dream pods', then that means he's awake. And if he is then that means he's coming for me, which means that he's coming for all of us."
"One demigod won't change a thing. In this world I am God."
"So what if your God? He's Percy Jackson. He fought demons from hell and Elder Gods. He traveled across worlds to return to me, you think he won't come here as well? He will, and when he does you will regret ever laying a finger on me or any other demigod!"
Morpheus growled, "we shall see girl," his form then started to fade before disappearing completely. Thalia sighed she looked around the boring room. It wasn't all that bad, the worst part is the room looked like it belonged to an old woman from the 18th century.
'Wherever you are Percy, please hurry up,' Thalia prayed to her father, something she rarely did. But the situation definitely called for it.
With Percy;
Percy sneezed, he rubbed his nose and sniffed, 'either I'm getting a cold for the first time in three years or someone is thinking about me. My guess would be Thalia....don't worry baby, I'm coming.'
"You okay Percy?" Triton asked.
"Fine," Percy nodded.
Hypnos's room had changed, the pillows had been pushed to the side with Hypnos levitating in the center which had been cleared out.
"Hypnos said it would take awhile for him to form the bridge Percy," Iris hald his shoulder, "calm yourself. Worrying will not help."
"I know, but I can't help it, you know," Percy grumbled, "an attack of this scale, and there was no warning. One minutes everyone was fine, the next they dropped like flies."
"Relax baby brother, you will do fine," Triton assured him, "just get in, find Morpheus and get out."
"Yeah, got it. But seriously Triton, the whole compassion thing is kind of freaking me out," Percy chuckled.
Triton nodded, "I understand. I realise that I came off very negative before, it's just that as history tells there haven't really been that many....good demigod sons of Poseidon."
"You mean Orpheus?"
Triton nodded, "him and others like him. So I judged you before I truly got to know you. For that I apologize."
Percy shrugged, "doesn't matter Triton, can't blame you can I?"
Triton nodded, "thank you Percy....how're you must know, this doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to date Mera."
Percy's eyes went wide, "dude, I have a girlfriend!"
"And?"
"I'm in love with her!"
"Still doesn't mean you won't cheat on her."
"Yes! That's exactly what that means!"
"What are you saying my Mera isn't worthy of your love?" Triton glared down at Percy.
"No! I mean, yes? I mean....fuck!"
Iris chuckled into her hands, "you two are the strangest pair of siblings I have ever seen."
Before Percy or Trition could respond Hypnos spoke up, "I'm ready."
Everyone became serious as Percy stepped forward, "what's the plan?"
"Morpheus realm is like any other, it exists outside normal reality, much like other realms of God, but it is accessible to everyone once they sleep. That's the easy part, the difficult part is getting you to dream."
Percy nodded, "okay...and how are we going to do that?"
"Leave that to me Percy. I'll make you a way into Morpheus's realm, once there it is up to you to find and save the demigods."
Percy nodded, "okay, sounds pretty straight forward. What's the catch?"
Hypnos gave a sleepy smile, "you can't bring anything you're not sleepin in with you. So if there is something you need, I suggest you have it with you when you sleep."
Percy nodded, "I see," 'so no inventory huh? I'll be stuck with just Riptide and Waverider, but that should be enough.'
"Percy, why don't you take out father's Pegasus as well?" Triton suggested.
"Wait why? Isn't that a bit overkill?"
"No really. Remember Percy this isn't the real world, it's Morpheus's realm. He controls all, if he wishes he could remove all water in that place limiting your arsenal and taking away your most powerful weapon. Take the Pegasus with you, you will need it's power."
Percy nodded, "alright then...well if I'm going to fight a god, might as well go all out then," Percy said as he opened his inventory and pulled out the sea stone green symbol of power.
The Gods gasped at it's beauty, even they weren't free from it's gaze.
"Amazing," Iris whispered.
"Never in all my years did I think I would see this again," Triton admitted, "father will be pleased Percy."
Percy nodded, "I'm sure he will," Percy then reached into his inventory once more and took out his gauntlet. He put it on his left hand and flexed smiling at the familiar feeling. "Tsunami!"
The gauntlet exploded forward covering Percy with silk and metal. Soon he stood there covered head to toe in black armor with white highlights,
Ping!
Bonuses activated!
+20% MP
+10% HP
+70% Elvish magic
+5 Dex
+2 Str
+3 Vit
+2 levels for water, ice, shadow and earthquake control
Percy opened the helmet and looked to Hypnos, "I'm ready. Send me in."
The god of sleep nodded, "understood. Please, sit down."
Percy sat down cross legged as he held up the staff of Neptune with his right hand. Hypnos floated down and sat in front of Percy. He slowly began to chant in tongues Percy didn't recognize as Percy started to glow white.
Slowly Percy felt his eyes grow heavy. His head started to bob back and forth as he grew more and more sleepy. Percy didn't fight it, he let the sleep take over. Finally Percy's head fell forward, sleep had taken him.
Hypnos sighed, "it is done."
Triton and Iris sighed in relief. "We need to inform the minor council at once," Iris told Triton who nodded in agreement. She snapped her fingers in tending to summon a rainbow. But nothing came out, Iris frowned and tried again and again but still nothing happened.
"What's wrong Iris?" Trition asked.
"My powers, it's not working. I can't seem to contact anyone via my messages."
"But why is this happening?"
"I'm sorry, I believe that' my doing," Hypnos said as he got to his feet smiling, "you see I blocked your powers. This is my little home you see, I have made this place Iris message proof. Don't want unwanted calls while napping."
"Oh, I see," Iris sighed in relief, "thank Chaos. Could you please drop the wards Hypnos? I will be just a minute."
Hypnos shook his head, "no can do Iris. Don't want to risk you and Triton leaking anything. Well I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end, after all you won't be alive to do that."
Triton narrowed his eyes, "Hypnos what are you." Suddenly one of Hypnos pillow flew threw the air and hit triton across the head. The pillow then suddenly began to glow orange, before it grew bigger and bigger, and then;
BOOM!
Triton was sent flying back as the pillow exploded. "Triton!" Iris called out as she quickly went to his side. "Are you okay?"
"That hurt," triton growled as she slowly got up. He held his head, he was bleeding from his temple, his ichor died his black hair gold.
"Hypnos! Why did you do that?! We are your friends!" Iris cried in anger.
"Simple Iris, because you are not my friends, you aren't even my allies," Hypnos smiled.
"I-I don't understand."
"Kronos," Triton spat out, "he's on the Titan's side."
Hypnos nodded, "correct son of the sea, I am on their side. Now, die," he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of white light. Suddenly every pillow in the room started to vibrate and glow orange.
"We need to get out of here now!" Triton called out as he got to his feet.
Iris grabbed Percy and tried to teleport only to find that she couldn't', "he blocked all form of travel! We can't teleport!"
Triton's eyes went wide. The pillow glowed brighter and brighter as they started to heat up even more. Triton jumped on Iris and Percy, "get down!"
And then the room went up in flames.
BOOOOM!
Dream Land;
Percy sighed, "for the last time Kate, no, I don't know what Castle got you for your birthday."
"You sure? Can't you just read his mind or something?" Kates asked as they walked into her office in the 12th Precinct.
"My powers don't work like that Kate, you know that."
"Right right, anyway, back to business," Kate picked up a file on her desk and looked it over, "where are we with the Simpsons case?"
"Well I have a pretty good lead right now, but I would like some time before giving any promises."
"And by that you mean wait until the killer strikes again and catch them in the act."
Percy grinned, "you know me so well captain."
Kate chuckled, "I should. After all I did train you. Alright, be careful and if this plan even hints at risking the lives of other people I want you to scrap it and go for the killer directly, got it?"
Percy nodded, "got it. Anything else captain?"
"Actually there is, George! Come in," Kate called out.
In walked a man with brown hair and purple eyes. He was pale and stood around 5 feet, very short, especially compared to Percy's impressive 6 feet. The short man wasn't fully human though judging by his large hands and feet, Percy could also sense magic roll off him, he resembled a nature spirit of some kind, if he was to guess George was a dwarf.
"This is George, a dwarf from the underground colony in New Surp. He's a magical being, like you, so the department thought it would be best if you two worked together."
Percy shrugged, "you do know I don't really need a partner right?"
"You are literally the best cop we have on staff Percy. Even before you officially became a cop you were catching criminals. Plus you know how to use your powers to help in an investigation, which is something most magical cadets joining the force has no experience with. I want George to learn from you and after he has enough experience I'll take him off your hands."
Percy nodded, "alright, sounds good captain. I'll get going then," he walked away and turned around, "coming George?"
"Y-yes sir!" the dwarf replied as he quickly followed Percy out.
"Mark I need that report on the lab analysis by noon?" Percy called out as he walked to his desk.
"Hey just because you have super speed doesn't mean the rest of us do!" Mark, a son of Ares shout back.
Percy chuckled, "yeah yeah, just get it done."
George quickly walked besides Percy, "I just want to say ser, it's an honour. I mean, Gods be praised, you're Percy Jackson! You saved the freaking world!"
Percy chuckled, "well not really. My wife did that, I just made sure nobody killed her while that happened."
George nodded, "right ser. Honestly I'm surprised I got you as my partner, I've heard about the things you did, bringing the divine world out of hiding. Helping the mortals and the supernatural worlds coexists, you're a hero back in my town ser!"
Percy smiled, "well here am I your partner George, and nothing else. Got that?"
George nodded, "sir yes sir." the Drawk saluted, Percy couldn't' help chuckling.
"Enough of that, time to get to business. Now unless my memory is foggy your people are excelt with mud and the like yes?"
"Yes sir, if there is one thing we know it's our dirt."
Percy nodded, "good. In the crime scene we found trace amount of dirt on the victim's clothes. I believe it's from Central Park, but I want a second opinion. Go down to the morgue, the medical examiner in charge, one Alexis Castle will help you finding the body. Use your powers to find out where exactly the dirt is from. Got it?"
George nodded, "got it."
"Good, no go," the dwarf quickly walked away, "oh and George, welcome to the NYPD-supernatural crimes unit."
George smiled, "thank you ser."
Percy smiled watching the drawk power walk to the morgue, if nothing else the little guy had spirit and that is truly what counted in the end.
Percy felt his smart phone ring, he pulled it out and found the caller ID displaying a picture of Thalia and himself on their wedding day. The daughter of lighting hated the white dress, even though Percy and rest of the guests swore she looked like an angel from heaven. And considering they actually knew what angels looked like now that was saying a lot.
Percy picked up the call, "hello sweetheart."
"Your daughter is climbing trees again," Thalia grumbled.
Percy chuckled, "well I'm sorry who was it again that told her that Gaea might wake up any moment and try and swallow her hole?"
"Hey it was a good motivator to make her fly at the time!" Thalia shot back.
Percy rolled his eyes, "fine, I'll come over and help get her down."
"Don't you have work?"
"No, just a little paperwork, besides I can always take an early lunch," Percy got up and put on his jacket, "see you in a bit."
"Great, oh and could you please pick up some eggs on the way home? We ran out."
"Got it, love you."
"Love you."
Percy put away his phone and put a hand up, "ID create: Time Dilation!" he entered the partial time frozen red world of his and took off in a rush of speed.
Percy smiled as he ran passed the reconstructed New York. There were no buildings here, bigger than ever. People now lived side by side with that which they called monsters. The world was finally at peace, and it was all thanks to Percy and his friends.
It was soo good, it was almost like a dream. A dream he didn't want to wake up from.
Percy Jackson
Health- 15,400/15,400 (+2000) = 17,400
Mana- 8,325/8,325 (+2000) = 10,325 (+20% more mana, +1,865) = 12,190
The Gamer
Title- Son of Poseidon
(+20 Str,+20 Vit, +20 Dex, while in water)
Level-49 Exp- 127,050/150,000
Race-Demigod
STR- [Original- 150] 0.146 (+11+20+75) = 106.146 (Layers of seals applied - 10)
VIT-150 (+11+20)=181
DEX-100(+11+20)=131
INT-150
WIS-100
LUC-100
POINTS- 50
MONEY- 25,221,683$/ 20,856 D
Percy Jackson is a demigod, the son of Sally Jackson and Poseidon. He has ADHD and Dyslexia making it difficult for him to sit still in class, that has since changed, he is now considered a genius in battle and is considered very academically gifted. Percy loves his mother, and every demigod in camp and will do anything to protect them all.