Not Just Another God ✓

Chapter 18: If something bad happens to you, blame me

Annabeth bit her lip and the same time I spoke those dreaded words.

"So-," Magnus said, dragging out the word, "how does one become a god?"

"Ever considered becoming a poet, Maggie?" Alex teased, nudging Magnus's shoulder, which he responded with a scowl at the nickname, but it was a scowl full of endearment, if that was even possible.

"I think you should just be able to say that you are a god and accept that fact," Annabeth said, thoughtfully.

"I can't," I said, shaking my head, "I can't just become a god, I just..."

Annabeth flashed me an encouraging smile, her eyes glittering with the wisdom of what is to come, "You can, Percy. You're much stronger than you think."

I shook my head.

"You don't understand," I said, "I don't want to do this. I don't want any of this."

"We know you don't, Seaweed," Annabeth replied, "but if that's what you gotta do, you gotta do it."

I took a deep breath. There was no point reasoning with Annabeth. She would win every time.

"You got this," she said, and Magnus gave me a thumbs up. Even Hearth looked up with that serious expression on his face that never seemed to change.

I looked up at the sky, which was a wonderful vibrant blue, a color many artists have tried and failed to recreate.

"So," I said, nervously, imagining the Norse and Greek gods squished into a small room and shaking their heads at my stupidity, "looks like I'm a god."

All at once, I felt a rush of power, like a brain freeze but sort of different, as if a brain freeze could transmit sugar to your brain. You would think that the second time round it would hurt less, but it didn't. In fact, it might've even hurt more.

This time, instead of feeling my DNA getting switched, it was my brain. I seemed to see volts of energy travelling through the bridges in my head, a real life, moving scrapbook. Flashes of my life swirled around me, showing all the deeds I had ever done.

I saw myself as a innocent twelve year old, dragging Grover into camp, with Luke when he died, defeating Gaea. I saw how the gods saw me, a side I had never seen before. I was a force to be reckoned with, a young boy who would stop at nothing to save his friends, or to do a task. I was, in the eyes of the gods, a true hero.

Then, the scenes shifted. I saw legendary Norse and Greek gods and heroes blinked infront of my eyes. I saw all the deeds they had ever done, good, bad, or uncertain.

And all at once, I saw that these pictures, these scraps of information had a theme. Bravery, chivalry, heroism. Selflessness, trust, loyalty. They were showing me what I was a god of.

With a tiny of gray and an ancient burst of power, the Fates and the Norns appeared in my dream-like state.

"We have shown you the past," they murmured monotonously, "but only you can decide the future."

They stared at me unblinking, as if waiting for me to say something.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," I said, still staring suspiciously at them.

"Choose," they said, each holding out a glass bauble, each showing a different scene inside. I frowned at them, trying to figure out the scene, but the more I tried to see the what was inside, the more my head throbbed.

"Choose," they repeated in that same dreary tone.

"I can't choose," I said finally, "if I don't know what's inside."

They circled in, enclosing me in a ring of creepy old ladies.

"Choose. Choose. Choose."

Their words became a chant and that chant tickled at my brain, confusing me. I became flustered and picked up a globe at random. It felt warm in my hands, like it was a living thing, then I realised it was. It was my future. If anything bad happened, it would be my fault. All. My. Fault.

The chanting subsided and the ancient rulers of destiny stood still, their baubles vanishing.

They held out their pale, long fingers for the future I had chosen and peered at it, curiously.

"Interesting," one of them mused.

"What?" I asked, "What happens?"

"That is not for you to know at the time being," another one of them said, flashing me a cruel smile.

"Please!" I pleaded, "tell me what happens!"

"It's time for you to go back, young god," they said, and immediately, I was thrown back into the real world.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, scanning my pale face.

"I'm okay," I said, giving them all a faint smile.

"Dude," Alex said, "don't ever do that again. It was really creepy."

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"It was like your physical body was here," Annabeth explained, "but your mind was someplace else."

"Oh, yeah," I said sheepishly, "about that..."

"What happened?" Annabeth asked, with the cutest little frown etched on her face.

"The Fates and the Norns kinda made me choose the future," I explained.

"That's never happened before," she contemplated, her eyes drifting of and seeing all the possibilities.

"Umm, yeah," I said, "but it also means that whatever happens next, if anything bad happens, I'll be responsible for it."

"Fate doesn't exactly work like that," Annabeth said, with a slight grin on her face.

"What'd you mean?"

"Seriously, Percy," Annabeth replied, laughing a little, "after all these prophecies, you still don't understand?"

"Just tell me already!" I half-screamed, my curiosity peaking up its ears to hear.

"The Fates-and I'm assuming the Norns don't control everything. Think of it like a giant puzzle. They know the picture, the final outcome, but how you get there is your decision."

Magnus nodded in agreement.
"I get it," he said, "and if anything bad happens, don't blame yourself."

"Exactly," Annabeth said, looking at me with her stormy gray eyes.

"I guess," I said, trying my hardest to think of something else but the weight of the knowledge that I had chosen the future rested heavily on my mind, a huge, immovable block of steel.

"So what do we do now Lord Perseus?" Magnus said, with a deep exaggerated bow.

"Shut up," I said.

"Hey, didn't you go through all that to get runes or something?" Alex asked.

With all that had happened I had completely forgotten what I had come to do.

"Maybe I didn't go through enough suffering?" I suggested, dreading to think that I had gone through all that for nothing. I glanced at Hearth, but all he did was shrug.

"But you did what Mimir said, right?" Magnus asked.

"Yep," I said, my heart beat starting to beat a little faster.

I looked out at the horizon and saw something big and black.

"Umm, guys? Is it just me or is that thing flying straight towards us?" I asked, watching my friends' faces contort into ones of utter fear.

"Duck!" Magnus screamed and we all clambered to the ground, waiting for the creature to pass.