Chapter 11
Percy
"Percy, darling, your gay is showing," a voice said from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Annabeth. He raised a brow.
"Aren't you supposed to be jealous, oh fiancé of mine?" he asked her.
"Oh no," she answered while she shamelessly checked out the man training on the other side of the gym. "I recognize a nice man when I see one."
"I know, right!" Percy said with a fake girly voice. They stared at each other’s eyes for some seconds and suddenly they started cracking up. "That was good," he said, his eyes releasing a couple tears of mirth.
"Yeah but seriously, Captain America? Those are high standards, Seaweed Brain. I'm flattered." Percy flipped his nonexistent long hair.
"Oh yes, do. I won't even ask how do you know him. But know that if I wanted, I could have Captain America." Percy chuckled and Annabeth raised her eyebrows.
"You could?" Her boyfriend nodded with amusement still in his eyes. "Wanna bet?" Two equally dangerous smirks made their ways into their faces.
"Five drachmas that I get him to blush."
"Deal."
"I'll just let you know before I go that I played a prank on him yesterday so the odds are in your favor." And with that, Percy headed towards the blonde soldier, who was punching boxing bags. He stopped a few meters away from him and appreciated the view: a kind and hot man exercising without a t-shirt. His bisexual self made a sudden apparition. He decided he would not play with Steve and instead tell him the truth. After all... that would also make him blush.
"Hey, Steve," Percy said as he approached him.
"Percy, hi. Didn't see you there, did you just come in?" the alluded asked, stopping all exercise to talk to the demigod.
"Kind of... I've been by the door watching you train for some minutes. You have some good moves... And muscles too," he said while looking at him up and down. Steve blushed.
"Ok, that was easy," Percy said, laughing.
"What?" Steve asked still a little red.
"I wanted to make you blush. I didn't know it'd be that easy. Either way, nothing I said was a lie so..." the soldier’s red color was renewed.
"No, but seriously, do you like, not receive compliments? How?" Percy asked, confused but still amused.
"Y-yeah I do, it's just that... You're my team mate and I don't know... Generally, girls are the ones to approach me..." he said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. Percy laughed.
"Right. Well, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with unrequited compliments. Though they are true, I only wanted to prove something to my fiancé." If Steve was curious about what 'point' he was referring to, he didn't show it.
"Fiancé? I remember you said you had one before but I didn't know you were serious."
"Well, I was."
"But aren't you like 17?"
"Yeah, but if you knew about the things we have done for each other and what we have been through together... Then you wouldn't doubt our relationship," Percy said, and it was true. Steve didn't seem to believe him, as he didn't know what he meant. He probably thought they were just two crazy teenagers. It didn't matter, though, because neither Percy nor Annabeth needed him to believe them.
Percy suddenly heard a noise that he knew all too well: the roar of the minotaur. If he hadn't been half god, he wouldn't have heard it.
"Well, I'll get going. I want to talk to her some more. Bye," Percy lied while waving at him and heading to the door, where the IM had already been cut. Annabeth was wise enough to know that Steve would look that direction when he left and they certainly wouldn't be able to explain an Iris Message. Steve, though he had showed to be the most trustworthy, already knew too much.
As soon as the gym was out of sight, he took off running. He looked out a window and saw the Minotaur, though he was not alone. No, he was flying on a drakon. Well, shit.
Percy didn't hesitate a moment before throwing himself out of the window. He used the water in the air to pull his body towards central park, where he had both space and water. He landed a few blocks away and he run to get to his destination. He reached it right in time because not a minute later, the drakon landed next to him.
"Missed me already?" Percy said with a smirk. The Minotaur roared again. "Drama queen..." thunder rumbled. "For once in my whole life, Zeus, I wasn't referring to you. Unless... Oh no, this is too good to be true! Are you... claiming your title?" Lighting hit Central Park's water. Guess not.
Percy kind of forgot about the face that there were two monsters in front of him he still had to deal with. He was reminded when the drakon flapped his wings and sent him tumbling back towards the water, but the fence stopped him from falling. He concentrated and kept the two 'visitors', as Thor had called them, in place. He reached for his powers within himself and lifted the electrified water, sending it towards them. The shock would have slowed them down if they hadn't already been moveless. In this case, it left them exactly as vulnerable as Percy needed them. He approached them while reaching for Riptide to deal with the drakon, as it was tiring him to keep such a big thing in place.
The drakon disappeared in a pile of golden dust after Percy sliced his uncovered skin with his sword. Scales and size where the big deal with drakons, but if they couldn't move and you could reach their vulnerable spots easily, then it wasn't as bad. Sure, it was draining, but relatively effortless.
Percy then released his dear old friend, who charged at him, albeit a little disorientated. The demigod decided that, if he wanted to try something new, this was the time. He gathered all the power he could feel and used it to lift the Minotaur, who screamed in agony. Guess it wasn't painless. Not that he cared with it/him (or whatever pronoun monsters used). Percy raised his opponent more and brought it to him. He seriously didn't know where he was taking energy from, but he was succeeding. The Minotaur found a quick death, caused by the sword was wielded by his two times slayer.
Just as fast as the monsters appeared, they were gone.
Replacing them was Poseidon, with a concerned expression in his face.
"Percy, we need to talk. Now."
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Percy followed Poseidon to his underwater castle. He was worried about the reason why his father, none other than an Olympian god and one of the Big Three, would look for him to speak in person. This had to be serious.
Poseidon was sitting in his throne while Percy stood in front of him. The room was deserted, as the god required his servants, and it did nothing to appease Percy's concerns.
"Dad, what is it that you have to tell me?" Poseidon looked nervous. It isn't every day that you see this happening. He ran a hand through his face and hair.
"This never happened before. Not even Zeus believed it was possible. But after it, it happened and I hoped to keep it a secret but now it's not and-" Poseidon was interrupted by his son.
"Dad, please, start from the beginning. I don't know what you're talking about." The god sighed in defeat.
"When you were... downstairs... something happened with you." He sighed again in frustration. "Percy, to survive, you unlocked powers you shouldn't have.
"As you know, no demigod had ever survived that place before Nico, Annabeth and you. The difference between them and you is that Nico went there on purpose, he didn't unlock powers because he didn't have to. He had almost no will to live and he was there only to close the Doors of Death, even if he had to sacrifice himself. He knew he wouldn't survive at the end, so his efforts where different: he just had to keep himself alive long enough to accomplish his goal and then die. He only had to protect himself, but he didn't have the will. Therefore, no powers were unlocked. Then, nothing happened to Annabeth because, as a daughter of Athena, she doesn't have any power other than an amplified intelligence. That was what she used to survive, and that was it.
"On the other hand, Percy, you not only used powers you already had, but you also unlocked other capacities no demigod has ever had. What you have been using lately, and what you, in fact, just used, was blood bending. The only beings with that power are Chaos, Oceanus, me and a few minor deities with water-related domains. I could say that you are the first demigod to have the ability, but I would be lying."
"Dad, what are you trying to tell me? Am I one of the few demigods with that power? Why does it matter?"
"No, Percy, you don't get it. You aren't one of the few demigods with that power because none have ever existed. But that's not the point. The point is that you are not a demigod, not anymore," Poseidon declared with a serious face. Percy looked at his father with a stoic expression.
"Elaborate, please."
Poseidon swallowed. "My guess is that, in a moment of great need, anxiousness and fear, you reached for a power within yourself to get out of the situation. You found out you could blood bend, which you had never done before, and managed to survive that way," he stopped and looked at his son for his confirmation. Percy nodded, telling him he was right so far. "When you did, you felt as if your power was limitless. You felt ancient and important, no one was over you and you could do whatever you wanted, not only because of your newfound might but also because your will was above anyone's." Percy hung his head down in shame. It was true. "Percy, don't feel bad about it. In fact, it's a miracle that you survived. Your mortal body should have burned up when you hosted the power of an Olympian." Percy looked up in shock.
"I did what?"
"You hosted my power. You hosted me." There were some minutes of silence following as Percy processed the information. "Do you have any idea of why you didn't die? No one, not even the most powerful of demigods, can survive that kind of power. Yet you did, and you still do. Something in Tartarus was shielding you from the raw power that you now have within."
"The Death Mist. It must've been it. With it, my body kind of dissolved into mist so, when I hosted you, I didn't have a body to burn up." His father looked at him in surprise and realization.
"The Death Mist? Of course! No one, at least no one mortal or alive, ever used it. It now makes sense why you're the first one to live through it! After the Death Mist, you retrieved your mortal body again, which adapted slowly to you and, therefore, to your new power. Your body appeared at a tardy pace so it had time to register your new self without burning up. Percy, this is genius!" Poseidon said with bright eyes. They suddenly darkened. "This must be kept a secret. If it doesn't, power-hungry demigods will throw themselves into Tartarus to become gods. Not many will survive, but the ones that do will create chaos." Percy looked up quickly in astonishment.
"Did you say 'to become gods'? Is this what you meant when you told me I was no longer a demigod?" Pain flashed through Percy's eyes at the thought of being immortal and watching everyone he loved die. Poseidon must've known what he was thinking because he continued explaining.
"You're not immortal. Think of the situation as the one with Jesus from the Christian religion. As you may know, Jesus was like the mortal embodiment of his father God. He had his power, but he could still die (and he died on the cross).
"Percy, you now have the power of a god, me, but you're still mortal. In fact, Percy, you're now a part of me."
And to think that I started this day making Captain America blush...