The Ascension of Percy Jackson (as brought to you by Poseidon) by breakerfaith

Chapter 1

Poseidon had a plan.

Though he had never had a child do so before, there were three general ways that a mortal being ascended to godhood. They were either gifted godhood, had their own divinity burn away their mortality, or built enough of a following of believers that they became a god. Only the first had the guarantee of success. The second was the most dangerous. The third made the strongest type of ascended gods.

The first had few flaws as long as the participant went willingly. Most who took this gift were only given it due to being lovers of gods. Ganymede and Ariadne both are examples of mortals who found their happiness with the gods.

The second had only one known success, Heracles. Even after all of his adventures, he had to kick start his ascension by laying on a funeral pyre himself. Foolish that it was, it worked. He spoke after how he had felt himself beginning to burn from the inside in the days prior to his act. From his tale, he unfortunately spawned copy cats. Too many heroes had felt a similar burning and thought they were worthy. Too many were proven incorrect.

The third style of ascension has only one true case of success, his nephew Dionysus. Though later many an emperor would try to follow in his footsteps, they missed a key point in his worship and his following. It was naturally caused. Dionysus did not tell them to follow him. He did as he wanted and, in his footsteps, followers grew like vines for his grapes. He truly forced no one to worship him in the beginning, though he did take offences for being slighted. When enough of a following was built, he smoothly transitioned into his even greater power.

As Poseidon's heart broke a bit, he watched his son turn down a gift of godhood. Though proud of his courage and sheer loyalty to instead bind the gods to a promise of taking care of their children better and of pardoning the traitors, he could not say he wasn't disappointed that his son had not taken the offer. Never before had Poseidon wanted more for a mortal son of his to ascend. But as he and his fellow Olympians swore their oaths, he noticed something.

His son had followers.

He saw the look in the eyes of his sons fellow half-bloods. Some might look and only see soldiers following their commander. Some might look and see only the eyes of younger children looking up to their metaphorical big brother. But Poseidon saw differently. He saw the eyes of followers. Followers willing to stand against insurmountable odds. Followers willing to resist the temptation of an easier life by giving up and stopping their belief. Followers whose only reason for staying and fighting and dying was in their belief. But not in Poseidon or any of his fellow gods. But in his son. In Percy.

Poseidon watched as his son made the rounds to his fellow campers. As Percy talked to them, Poseidon saw it again. Not in all of them, no of course not. Athena's daughter looked at him with a lover's eyes. But in more than half, he saw devotion and, dare he think it, worship. As Dionysus reconnected with his wife for the first time in a while, Poseidon had a thought. He decided that it would not do for his child to burn out; and since Percy had already rejected a gift of godhood, there was only one path forward.

Percy's followers needed to grow and Poseidon would help it happen.

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Author's Note

Please do not be a silent reader!

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All credit to https://archiveofourown.org/works/53999872/chapters/136697272