Eyes of the Storm (TNOS #3)

Chapter 1 ⁘ Poseidon

The blonde curls of his sister's hair were the last thing Poseidon Olympian saw as she left him from her weekly visit.

Athena was not one to show a friendly face by any means, but her company alone soothed him. Although he would appreciate it more if she talked less about her and Alistair's invention, the Dodeca. Supposedly it should be a better compass to the Olympian Artifacts than the little Greek papyrus they used to have. But it couldn't track the Artifacts stolen. At least not yet.

All of it was his fault.

Claudius had been too strong for him. Once he unleashed his power, Poseidon couldn't do anything to stop him from attacking Olympian High and taking the Artifacts from their base.

Argentum. Talaria. Aegis. Ignis. Messis. Amare. Sagasitas.

Seven magically powerful objects, and Poseidon managed to lose them all in a single fight. Even when the whole Titan Mafia seemed to have surrounded them that day, they only needed Claudius to face him. Even the twin Cardinals, Hendryx and Leonidas who were really Hyperion and Iapetus, didn't have to do anything but watch as their leader did the dirty work.

He had read the myth of the Titan Atlas and his punishment. When Claudius brought down the gravity onto Poseidon by a thousand times, he felt like he was the one bearing the Titan's burden.

Poseidon was supposed to be one of the most powerful gods in the pantheon, and he was on his side with the power he had given him, but he didn't stand a chance against the primal force of Claudius' power. He wasn't enough.

"This is the power of the Earthshaker?" Claudius had said as he slammed Poseidon on the ground with a flick of his palm. Poseidon had burst every single pipeline running under the grounds of the school to create countless water projectiles, but his attack barely scratched the Titan incarnate. "I might as well take the title from you."

The pain that broke more than his bones. The shame that came right after.

Ivy's screams didn't register with him as much as Claudius' taunt did before he ultimately lost consciousness.

I might as well take the title from you.

"He might've as well taken my power from me," Poseidon muttered, his eyes drooping.

His fingers twitched on the side, gripping the pristine sheets of his bed. Poseidon itched to use the power coursing through his veins, and the power itched to be released, like a dam waiting to be wrecked down. If he weren't tied down to a hospital bed in Bellevue Hospital Center, he would've been swimming laps in Olympian High's area of the Potomac and creating random water bursts to mimic a whale. At best, he would've been helping with the search and hunt effort, which Athena and the rest of the Chosens were probably doing at the moment.

As always though, it was his fault that he was incapacitated in the first place, so he didn't have the right to complain about anything.

But why did it hurt so much?

Ivy barged into the room in a singsong, a literal interruption to his grim thoughts. She led his wheelchair inside. "You know what time it is!"

Poseidon straightened himself on the bed. The sight of the wheelchair irked him, but he didn't let it show. "Ivy. Athena just came by. Did you see her?"

"Sure I did," she hummed. "She looked like she was in a hurry, like she does every time. I don't get why she doesn't want to stay longer, you know? I get that you guys are not exactly touchy-feely, but she could at least wait for me in here before she leaves."

"Well. . . I don't mind," Poseidon murmured. "It's the least she could do with what she's doing with the others. Besides, you said it yourself. If she talked about something other than her work, she would just stare at me like I'm an uncoded Rosetta Stone."