Searching For Serenity

Chapter 16

Athena
The silence was deafening as we watched the boy writhe on the ground. His skin, which was normally a dark tan, was beet red. The Moirai stood facing him, their hands still outstretched and their faces contorted.
Even those of us who didn't vote watched in awe and uncertainty. It is rare for the Olympians to be visited by the Fates, let alone showing up to directly create an Olympian.
In my years of being alive I had never seen anything like it, and from the looks on my fellow Olympians faces' I'd bet no one had.

Minutes passed and not a single word was said, and my thoughts began to linger, thinking about the past. I was still holding on to the resentment against Percy for losing my daughter and it was looking like I'd have to put up with this moron for eternity. Deep down I knew Perseus wasn't at fault, and the irrationality of it all gave my head an ache, but I couldn't let it go.
I pondered on this for a minute, before it clicked.
He never swore by the ancient laws, yet here he was on his way to becoming a full fledged Olympian.
I looked to father to see if he had any inkling as to what I was thinking, but all I was met with was a defeated face that couldn't turn away from the center of the room. It was obvious that he was frustrated by the turn of events, but resigned to pouting, powerless over the situation.
Hopefully I'm wrong for father's blood pressure's sake.
I swiveled my gaze across the Olympians once again to find that most were still honed in, although Demeter had resorted to trimming the plants on her throne. My gaze was sucked in by the unusual form that my had sister had taken.
She was normally in her younger form to match her hunters but today she looked to be in her early twenties, which wasn't all that weird considering she wasn't around her hunters. But what was weird, was her usual annoyed look and relaxed posture. It was missing and instead replaced with her leaning on her knees and holding her hands on the side of her head and her eyes. They seemed to have an unusual glint to them and where they normally showed a callous was a look full of emotion.
She stared more intently than any of the other gods and I started to feel really bad for my father's therapist.
This is a can best left unopened, I thought, at least for the time being.

Artemis
The longer I stared, the more certain I was that there was something else going on, and Percy's body was still convulsing on the ground, but his face was one of concentration.
I fully expected cries of outrage and joy from myself and the others, but instead it was a shocked silence. No one knew what to think.
Percy was now the God of Heroes and Loyalty, as well as Justiciar of Olympus.
Poseidon was obviously ecstatic, so much so that the mention of Pontus seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other at least for the moment.
My father didn't even seem to register the "Justiciar of Olympus" part, which seemed like it would tickle him in the wrong way. He was obviously annoyed with the outcome of things but he obviously knew there was nothing he could do to change it.
I couldn't shape the feeling that something was wrong.
Why would Percy call the council for this without telling me? Was he mad about our fight and pulling away from me? No, he understands why I felt that way...I hope. Maybe it was just the liquor, I told myself.
I started to overanalyze and nearly burst into tears on the spot. I got shaky at the thought of Percy coming back to reality and deciding he doesn't need me now that he's a God.
He could have anything he wanted, and I doubt there was anyone in the room who could stop him. So why would he want to be with me?
I did my best, to hold off my questions, internally begging the fates to let me be wrong.
Give me a chance, I pleaded.

Some of the Gods had started talking amongst themselves, while the ones who voted for Percy still sat there wordlessly.
It had been close to an hour at this point and the three old ladies were drenched in sweat as well as Percy.
Suddenly the Moirai retracted their hands and disappeared without a word and instantly Percy collapsed all the way, dropping his face all the way onto the floor and smashing his nose against the marble. He raggedly fell to his side and I instinctively stood up, along with Poseidon, Apollo, Hestia, and Aphrodite, who was quick to sit back down after seeing my glare.
Where the crimson blood should have been on Percy's face was instead golden ichor.
The blood of a God.
I wanted so badly to run to him, but now wasn't the time to make myself look a fool.
Poseidon on the other hand, clearly did not care, as he started moving towards his limp son.
Without a sound a familiar looking man in rubber waders appeared next to Percy, swooping his head up in his arms and sat it in his lap.
"Who are you? Get away from MY SON!"
Poseidon lunged forward in a sprint to meet the newcomer who was so freely touching his son.
The man didn't even react to the angry sea god, instead brushing Percy's hair off his face.
Poseidon was almost in reach of his son when the man looked up and spewed water into the air, which had a mind of it's own, walling the two men in the center from the rest.
Poseidon smacked straight into the wall of water, and his eyes flared green as he reached out to the water, not accepting defeat.
The result of this was Poseidon standing just outside the barrier, grunting and moaning as he tried to will the water aside. If it wasn't so intense it would've been comical.
Zeus, seeing his brother fail, stepped up out of his throne, his master bolt in hand.
"Stand aside brother," he warned.
He centered the rod at the barrier as the electricity started to build, headed to the point.
"Wait!" I screamed, "You could hurt him!"
Too late.
Zeus fired the bolt, but before it could obliterate the shield of water Pontus flicked his glowing green eyes to the side as the seemingly solid water wall blew out to each side, absorbing the huge electric charge, soaking all the Olympians besides myself and Percy.
Thank Gods, I thought, happy to stay dry.
No problem dear, a voice replied in my head with a gravelly chuckle.
"Get away from...my...son..," Poseidon said through clenched teeth, "I will not let you take him."
"Who said anything about taking him?" Came an ancient voice, echoing around the chamber.
Pontus picked up Percy's head and scooted out from under it before laying it back down on a cushion made out of crystal blue water.
Pontus stood up, eliciting a reaction from most of the council, who all started to stand gripping their weapons.
Myself and Demeter were the only ones who remained in our thrones, even Hestia looking ready to unleash Tartarus.
I smirked to myself, ready for the show.
Pontus laid hands out as his side, the water congealing around them before he slammed his fists close. The water reacted by shaping itself into a gigantic silhouette of a man. A couple of the Olympians got the message and took a step back, while the others got the message wrong and started to square up to the primordial.
The watery silhouette lost it's transparency and took on a skin tone and texture, before completing transforming into a thirty foot tall man with a large beard, encrusted with barnacles. He had two crab claws for horns and a grin was half hidden under the unkempt facial hair.
Leaving no doubt to the other Olympians who they were dealing with.
"If you wish to fight, you will have your wish," the man said in almost a whisper, that still boomed throughout the room, "That is not what I nor Percy wish, but I will defend myself."
He looked throughout the crowd and met eyes with Poseidon, "You think bad of me? Jealous maybe, but I can assure you, that I am not 'stealing' your son. He is my Champion, but he is still your son."
"You! You're the reason he didn't come back to us for so long!"
"I took in your son as a broken man, and did my best to rebuild him," he reasoned, "Young Perseus here has been my only friend in the last thousand years.
Poseidon stared angrily at the primordial god, sizing up his target.
"Now if none of you are going to attack me, then I suggest we move Percy somewhere that he can get some rest," he suggested, a little less than commanded.
I heard something hit the floor and I looked over to see Apollo with his hands up, slowly approaching Percy, leaving his bow behind himself on the floor.
He crouched down beside his fellow Olympian and looked up at Pontus, "May I?"
Pontus nodded, with a warm smile.
Apollo gently picked up his newly immortal friend warmly and flashed out of the room.
"So are we done here," a yawning Dionysus asked.
"Absolutely not, we need to know what the Fates meant..." our father answered tiredly.
Poseidon was still locked in on the older sea god, "What do you know about all of this?"
Pontus shrugged, "Er..me and Ananke haven't been the greatest of pals for the passed few millennia."
The council stared at him incredulously, feeling like children compared to the primordial.
"Although I have a good feeling your folks' new member has been told everything he needs to know by the Moirai themselves," he added dissolving with the wind.
"So what?" Poseidon asked, still looking amped up.
My father looked like he could use some godly ibuprofen about right now, "I guess all we can do is wait for Perseus to finish resting, in the meantime I'm going to watch Days of Our Lives reruns," he mumbled flashing out of the throne room without the normal theatrics.