The Lightning Thief || Percy Jackson x Reader

01 | the start of a disaster

"Do you think that there are anymore mortals left who truly believe we still exist?" Y/N asked softly.

For a moment, all she could hear were the sounds of giggling naiads in the lake and the music of satyrs. Mount Olympus was peaceful as ever. It was its own slice of heaven with its elegant architecture and year round azure sky. The grass was always green, the stone roads were always clean, and the spirits were always high.

Y/N lifted her head off the soft grass to sit up and look at Lady Athena, who was sitting on the white marble bench beside her. The goddess's head was tipped back, letting the bright sun wash over her.

"Certainly," she responded without turning away from the sky.

Y/N laid back down, wondering if the goddess was looking at the same turtle shaped cloud she had spotted.

"How do you know?"

"I just do," she said so genuinely that Y/N had no choice but to nod and accept the answer. "As long as the stories of mythology are passed around, there will always be someone out there that believes them to be true."

Without thinking, Y/N whispered, "My story will never be in any of the books."

"Hundreds of thousands of things have and will never be memorialized."

"I don't think anyone would want to read about me," she sighed, simply stating it as if it were a fact. Then, she laughed absentmindedly. "Much too boring."

"Your story is not over yet," Athena said in her infamous motherly, I am wiser than you voice.

"It will be." She watched as the cotton turtle was swept by the wind and turned into something that more closely resembled a dog.

Athena looked at the girl as she closed her eyes against the direct sunlight. The goddess adored the girl, finding her ability to stay untouched by the eroding of time even in her immortality highly admirable.

"Tell me what you have so far," Athena asked of her after a long pause of silence.

Y/N opened her eyes, looking at her elder, trying to detect humor in the request. "You've been on the front row of my life since I was created. No offense, My Lady, but I do not think you need to hear me recall it."

The goddess had this pitiful look in her eyes like she had something to say, but decided otherwise. "Let me hear it anyways."

Y/N shifted her position in the grass, focusing on the calm lapping of water as the lake splashed against the wooden docks. "One day a long, long time ago, Lord Zeus looked amongst his fellow Olympians as they prepared for another war. The other side was small in numbers, but they were cunning beyond what was thought to be their capabilities.

"Lord Zeus did not believe they were going to lose, but they had underestimated their opponent and had paid the price for it. Their power had been exerted. They had been tricked and undermined. The gods and their heroes had prevailed but, embarrassed, the Olympians realized they needed a back up plan. They didn't want to be cornered ever again."

Y/N took a deep breath before continuing.

"They began to orchestrate a back up plan. Something that could exist beyond them. Something powerful, immortal against time,  a... secret tool box of sorts for when things go wrong.

"And thus came me, Y/N. They decided to give up a very small bit of their essence, their powers to keep locked away so if they were ever weakened again, there would be a part of themselves unharmed that could restore them just enough.

"It was a risky plan. They could not just put their powers into a box or something and lock it away. Firstly, they could lose the box— they were good at misplacing things."