Chapter 17: See, Power

Okay, so now we're on the next part of the story, which actually resembles what the description of the story says it to be. Percy hates the Olympians now and is working against them, all his kids are born, all the main characters are introduced and we can continue.

Chapter 17: See, Power

Six Months Later

Percy's P.O.V.

A lot has happened in the past six months. Larissa and Calix had started walking and now could move around on their own, the rest of the palace had been built, and my new captains, i.e. the eight people we recruited to help me lead had been training vigorously every day since they arrived.

They were at the point where I was considering sending them on a mission, one I'd been contemplating whether or not I should do it now. On one hand, if I did do it now, the Olympians might get worried about a new threat and prepare themselves, but on the other hand, if I didn't do it then they'd be in a state of very clear power over me.

You know what, it'd be good to test them in the field. "I'll do it." I told Nyx as I stood looking over at all the plans laid on the table. The primordial goddess of darkness raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" She asked.

I nodded. "We want to catch them by surprise, but if we do this, they might begin to suspect something, but if we leave them then they'll be able to take us out in the first attack." I said, and she nodded, collecting up in plans into a pile. "Let's go tell them then." She said, and we left the war room.

We were early on in our plan, we would not be ready to attack for years, but I'm willing to wait for it. When we entered the throne room, which now included 14 thrones, looking much like the Olympian throne room minus the two empty thrones on the end which belonged to me and a goddess of my choosing.

I wonder if they've replaced me or put anyone on the female throne? Perhaps I should get a spy. It would be useful, especially as we come closer to the attack. I wonder who Erebus' spy was? If we can get them on our side then that would be good. It would have to be a god or demigod, since monsters wouldn't be able to do much internal spying and nature spirits don't have as much access to information as a god or demigod would.

The captains all sat on their thrones, Bob and Damasen standing out due to their added height. It looked comical, like adults sitting next to children, yet those children were in their teens. Six of the thrones were empty, since Nyx and I were at the door and my children weren't yet old enough to take their place on the council.

I smiled. "We have a task for you all." This got their attention, as they all stopped talking and looked at me. I cleared my throat. "As you know, Olympus is very powerful. The gods on their council are very powerful. However, there are some that are more powerful than others." I said, and they nodded in agreement.

"As it's been known for a very long time, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are the most powerful gods, hence why they're called the big three. But a few years ago four gods were severely bumped up in power levels: Ares, Athena, Artemis, and Me." I said, and they nodded again, remembering all I had told them about recent history.

"This huge spike in power was thanks to new weapons being forged for them from the blood of Typhon, new weapons of power to rival that of the Big Three's. My mission for you today is simple. Retrieve these weapons, steal them, however you want to put it." I said, and their jaws dropped.

"What? How are we supposed to steal from gods?" Silena cried, and cringed at how shrill her voice was. "Well, in case you forgot, Luke here stole Zeus' bolt like ten years ago. It can't be that hard for you." I said, and Luke relaxed as he remembered.

Nyx handed me the main paper for the mission, and I briefed them on how it would work. "Okay, so here's how it's gonna go. The eight of you will split up into pairs and get one weapon for each pair. Nyx and I have talked it over, and these will be the teams."

"One: Bianca and Zoe, you will be retrieving Artemis' bow, which is likely kept in her palace. Since it's night, she will have stored it away and gone to sleep, meaning you have to be quiet and undetected. That's a key part of all of these, guys. Stay undetected." I said, and the two former huntresses nodded.

"Two: Luke and Ethan, you will be finding Athena's spear. We don't really have any idea where this would be, but likely in her palace like how it was with Artemis. Be careful though, she might still be awake. She may be a... night owl." I said.

No one said a thing.

Still smiling, I tried to explain it. "Get it? Because her animal is an owl, and...'' I trailed off, clearing my throat. Nyx had her head and her hands. "Perseus, you're an embarrassment." She sighed. Luke and Ethan nodded, both at the plan and the comment.

I shook my head. "Just trying to lighten the mood. Anyways, three: Charlie and Silena. You'll be getting Ares's axe. Again, no idea where he is, probably out banging some mortal woman. Let's just hope for your sake that he didn't take it into the bedroom with him." I said, and they cringed at the thought.

"Finally, four: Damasen and Bob, you'll be kindly fetching my sword. According to many monsters, there was talk that Olympus sealed it up in a cave with a very large rock in the way that pretty much only the big three combined could lift. That's why you're doing it, since a Titan and Giant should just about match up. There shouldn't really be any security." I said, and they gave a thumbs up.

I handed the plan back to Nyx and clapped my hands. "Well, off you go then." Pair by pair, after discussing where to head first, they all flashed out to complete their mission.

I went to the nursery to find my children. It was about time for their lunch.

Zoe P.O.V.

Bianca and I flashed to Artemis' palace, which I knew the location of thanks to my previous allegiance with the hunt. Every once in a while, Artemis would bring us here to stay for maybe a week or so. A sort of vacation home for us. Bianca wasn't a member long enough to have visited before she died.

We flashed to the bushes across the street, on some minor god's property who was probably out having his way with a mortal or nature spirit, disgusting pig.

To our surprise, the lights in the living room were still on, and we could see two shadows inside through the curtains. We shrugged it off, though. We had to get this done.

I led her around to the side, where I knew there was a set of pipes we could crawl up, thanks to hide and seek that the hunters played while Artemis was at meetings. After some hunter parkour, we made it to the balcony of her room.

I managed to peek in through a crack in the curtains, and I saw no one was in bed. Good, that means that one of the shadows downstairs was probably Artemis. Would suck if she had the bow on her.

I pulled out one of my hunting knives and skillfully picked the lock, and Bianca followed me in. The room was tidy, and on the wall was a large display case containing a gold bow. "Bingo." I said, pointing to the display case.

Bianca walked over and tried opening it. "Of course it's locked. Should we smash it? She asked, taking out a knife and holding the hilt above the glass. I quickly pulled the knife away. "No! Remember what Percy said. Remaining undetected is key." I loudly whispered, and she nodded, sheathing her dagger.

We decided to go check on what Artemis was doing, to gauge how much time we had. We crept through the hallway, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs with a direct view into the living room.

We hid behind the railing as we spied in. Thalia was here, surprisingly holding a baby. "Who's baby is that?" I asked myself, and Bianca shrugged. Artemis held a cup of coffee in her hands, and the two of them were chatting normally.

"She's drinking coffee, so she's obviously not coming to bed anytime soon." I said, and we crept back to the room. I pulled out my knife and set to work on picking the lock. "You keep watch." I told her, and she nodded, keeping the door open a crack.

I spent a few minutes trying to pick the lock, even trying a few times to pry it open, but it was a top quality lock. Bianca gasped, quickly whispering to me. "She's coming! Hide!" We quickly threw ourselves under the bed, hidden by the fact that the covers almost reached the ground, which still allowed us a viewing point.

Artemis entered the room, sighing and closing the balcony door. "Stupid lock. I'll have to get Hephaestus to fix it before the winds blow it open at three in the morning." She muttered to herself. Then she walked over to the bathroom, and we got to listen to our former mistress relieve herself for a solid thirty seconds.

"Damn coffee." She complained, exiting the room once she flushed and washed her hands. We got out from under the beds and resumed our positions, blushing slightly.

It took a few more minutes, but I opened the case and grabbed the bow. "Alright, let's get out of here." I said, standing up. As I did so, the floor creaked, and what we heard from the living room made our hearts drop.

"It sounds like someone's walking around in your bedroom." Thalia said.

Needless to say, Bianca and I booked it out of there, quietly closing the balcony door as we left.

Luke P.O.V.

Ethan and I flashed to Athena's palace, or at least in front of it. We couldn't flash directly to it. The lights were all off, meaning she was either asleep or not home. We contemplated how we would get in.

"Breaking and entering?" Ethan suggested. I shook my head. "If she's home she'll hear. We should go quietly just incase." I said, and Ethan nodded. We snuck around to the back of the house and tried the backdoor. Locked, of course.

"Wait." Ethan said as I started making my way back around. He bent down and lifted the doormat, and our jaws dropped. There it was. A key. We looked at each other in disbelief. "Not very smart for Athena." I said.

Ethan unlocked the door and we snuck in, trying our best not to bump into any of the many priceless artifacts she had. Not because we were worried about breaking them, but because they'd make a lot of noise.

We went room to room, looking for anywhere she may have hidden her spear. You never know with Athen, she many have a hidden fallout bunker where she keeps all her precious belongings. I chuckled to myself at the idea that she buried it in a treasure chest, and how silly Ethan would look digging it up with his eyepatch on.

Ethan glared at me. "What's so funny?" He asked, and I shook my head. We snuck through the house until we came upon a room with light shining under the door. We looked at each other with that look on our face that said uh oh.

I cracked open the door a bit and looked inside. Holy crap it was huge. A library three times the size of the Olympian throne room, lined up with rows and rows of bookshelves. The light was coming from the front of the room, just down from the door, at a table.

On that table was candle, and so was the goddess Athena sitting and reading a book. Of course, on the floor by the table next to her was the spear and her shield, Aegis. Just looking at it gave me the creeps. I pointed it out to Ethan and he swore under his breath.

I pushed the door open a bit more so we could get through, thanking the Fates that it wasn't old and creaky. We crouch walked over to one of the tables, hiding behind it. There were back panels under these tables, so we could hide under them out of sight from her. I got an idea.

I gestured for Ethan to follow me as we got to the next to the left of Athena's at a 90° angle, where her items were leaned against. I put my finger to my lips in a shushing motion and looked around the corner of the table.

It was like the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park where the kids look around the corner and the dinosaur is right there oblivious to them. That's exactly what it was like, only instead of a velociraptor it was Athena.

She had one leg over the other, and I was shocked as I noticed she was wearing a chiton. I thought the gods all wear normal clothes when they're not at meetings? I wondered. I was so close I could make out the book title. Dark History of the US Presidents by Michael Kerrigan. Of course, non-fiction. Just how she likes it.

I decided that it was now or never and I slowly reached around the corner, where the spear was just in view. I stretched my arm out trying to reach it, and with my middle finger trying its hardest, I touched it.

Which sent it falling over onto the shield and causing a loud crash.

I snatched my arm back, able to hear my heartbeat in my head as I prayed that she didn't see me. It was complete silence, not a single noise aside from the wind outside.

"Hm." She said casually as if it were nothing, and went back to her book.

I waited for a moment, and when I heard a page flipping, I tried again. Now the spear was on the floor, so it was much easier to grab. Very slowly and carefully, I grabbed the head of the spear and dragged it over, and she thankfully didn't notice.

I showed Ethan the spear, and we snuck back out of the palace, flashing away when we were back in the street.

Silena P.O.V.

Charlie and I flashed to a random corner on Olympus, in the dead of night. It was windy, and I shivered. Charlie smiled, pulling me into him. I huddled into him for warmth, and after a while decided we should get moving.

The two of us walked down the Olympian streets like a normal couple, trying to blend in. Surprisingly, the streets were still fairly busy even though it was not too long before midnight. It must've had something to do with it being a Friday, since there were a few gods and goddesses all staggering around hammered. Not that gods only get wasted on fridays.

We passed two in particular. "Look out, it's Aphrodite." I said, and the two of us looked the other direction, trying to hide our faces. I doubt she would've recognised or even noticed either of us, though. My mother was leading a tipsy minor god presumably back to her place to do gods know what with him. I didn't want to think about it.

Fortunately, as we passed them, we heard some information that was very useful. "I coulda taken him, Artemis." The god said drowsily. Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "I'm Aphrodite, not Artemis. And Ares would've kicked your ass. I can't stand to have that handsome face of yours getting smashed up." She said seductively, stroking his cheek.

The god chuckled, and the two of them continued down the street. Charlie shook his head. "No offence, but your mom's a thot." He said, and I giggled. "Percy's really rubbing off on you with his choice of words, isn't he?" I said. Charlie shrugged. "Just trying to get used to how much things have changed. One of those is the english language." He admitted.

Then I looked around. "So Ares is nearby, is he?" I scanned the streets, looking for anywhere he could've been. Then I saw it, a bar with a lot of gods and nature spirits hanging around. Of course, mom picked that guy up from the bar, and Ares is in there getting blackout drunk. "There." I said, pointing it out.

Charlie nodded. "Let's hope he's passed out in a corner booth or something." He said, and I nodded, hoping so too. I didn't really wanna start a fight with the god of fights. That was not on my to-do list.

We pushed past the drunk people into the bar and looked around. It was packed full of some of the most disgusting people I'd ever seen. Gods sat groping nature spirits and goddesses, some doing so obviously without the person's consent. Others drunk their stomachs full of alcohol and lay passed out on tables. Overall, not fun to see.

There, sitting at the bar, was one Ares, God of War. He sat talking to the bartender, holding a huge cup of something that I didn't bother studying. I pointed him out to Charlie and quickly came up with a plan. He seemed reluctant, but I persuaded him.

Once the bartender had disappeared, I went up and sat next to the god, knowing he wouldn't recognise me. Of course, he didn't, and when he saw me he smirked like a creep. "H-hey baby. How you doin'" He slurred his words, and I fought back a cringe. Nonetheless, I played up the act using the powers I'd inherited from Aphrodite.

I flirted with him smoothly as he drank more and more. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Charlie was getting closer and closer to ares' axe, which he had stupidly left leaning on the bar next to him. I kept up the act, smiling and batting my eyelashes at him.

Ares grinned drunkenly, on the verge of passing out. "How's about we go back to my place, beautiful." He said, trying to charm me. My eyes drifted to the door, where I thankfully saw Charlie rushing out the door holding a familiar axe.

I smirked, standing up. "How about no." I told him, then quickly pushed past the drunken gods and out the door to Charlie.

Bob P.O.V.

After getting the location of Percy's 'grave', Damasen and I flashed to the site. I must say, for a tomb it was pretty disappointing. Just a mountainside with a big boulder in front of it. Not even any security, just a rock.

I nodded at Damasen, and we one side of the boulder. I cracked my knuckles, getting ready for probably the hardest part of the job. This boulder did take all of the Big Three to move, so it was probably heavy. Either that or the gods have gotten weaker since the war. There was hardly any god to titan combat in the second one, so I didn't really know. Olympus just sent out their bastard children to try and stop us. Which, of course, they did.

We got in position, and I counted down. "Okay. Three. Two. One. Push!" I said, and the two of us heaved with all our might. Gradually, the boulder shifted over to the side, enough for the two of us to get in anyway. We entered, Damasen having to bend down to get through the doorway. Percy had given him the ability to shrink down for convenience, but that still left him at seven feet tall.

In all honesty, the room was alright. Kinda boring, just a lot of dust, pillars to hold the roof up and a large stone coffin-type thing in the middle. As we got closer, I noticed there were markings on it. Words, paragraphs actually.

We didn't bother reading them. It was probably just nonsense anyway.

Assuming the sword was inside the tomb, the two of us gripped the stone lid. With a great pull, we ripped off the lid, and indeed, there it was. A golden sword, gleaming even though there was no light. "It glows in the dark." Damasen remarked.

Wanting to get out of here as soon as possible, I grabbed the sword and helped Damasen shift the lid back into place, doing so with the boulder as well when we got outside. Now that we had the sword, we flashed back to Percy's palace.

Percy's P.O.V.

Now that all of them had come back, they each handed me the weapon the collected. Honestly, I'd never felt more powerful than when I'd held all four weapons. "I trust that you didn't run into any trouble?" I asked, and they shook their heads.

"Ares was blackout drunk, so he won't notice anything until morning." Charlie said, and I nodded. "Athena was reading, so I don't know how long it'll take her to look over at her gear." Luke said. "Artemis was talking with Thalia, so she didn't notice us." Bianca reported. Finally, Bob, who looked nervous and uncertain about something, told of their mission. "No one's been to your tomb for a while, so we're safe for now." He said.

I nodded, smiling darkly. I transformed all the weapons into their respective hidden items, a ring for the sword, a necklace for the bow, a pencil for the spear and a key for the axe. Using a spell Nyx taught me, I bonded the other three weapons to me so they would always reappear on me when I lost them.

I breathed deeply, taking this new rush of power in. Through the reflection on the window, I noticed that my eyes were golden. I spread my arms out, grinning.

"Do you see? This is power."

Okay, so I'm fine with that chapter, I guess. Next chapter I'll introduce the main character, and then maybe after one more chapter of interim, we can get into the whole Percy vs Olympus thing. Also, do you guys have any Pertemis fics to recommend? I'm running out of reading material, especially on Wattpad. Alright, I'm gonna go watch South Park.

Word Count: 3837