Chapter Text
Percy was officially sick and tired of the constant hovering. Ever since he and Annabeth had made their way out of Tartarus and the war with Gaia had ended, the gods had kind of became overbearing worriers. It was odd, especially for the children with godly parents who were the most hands off. Percy supposed that he could at least find some peace in the knowledge that the gods did actually cared about them, even if in a very very small amount.
After the fighting was over and the dust had settled, Poseidon had demanded that Percy temporarily reside on Olympus under the watchful gaze of Apollo and Asclepius. Athena, however, had not required her daughter to do anything more than receive a check up to conclude that any injuries she had acquired whilst in Tartarus would not be fatal and then she had promptly been sent her on her way back to camp.
Annabeth seemed like she couldn't wait to get away from Percy after his display of power down in Tartarus and as much as it hurt the son of Poseidon, he didn't blame her. In fact, he felt much safer being what he felt like was detained on Olympus where he couldn't possibly be able to hurt his friends.
It wasn't until when Dionysus visited Percy at Apollo's Temple less than a week after Percy was put on bed rest that he had to actually talk about what happened. Before that point, both Apollo and Asclepius were more than content with letting him stay silent as they checked his vitals and used their domains to ensure that Tartarus was not going to have any continuing negative effects on him.
Dionysus had strode in, his eyebrows tight in what was either concern or anger and then sat himself in the squishy chair that sat directly next to the bed. Leveling Percy with an intense gaze, the demigod was now certain it had been concern Dionysus had been feeling. It was a degree of concern that Percy had never seen in a display from the god before.
"Percy, do you know why I'm here?" Dionysus asked his question in a way gentler tone that Percy ever thought the god could accomplish. It was so in contrast to the gruff and abrasive voice that typically exuded from Mr. D that he couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably as he talked.
Once the words sunk in to Percy, as he was slightly groggy from the medication he was on, he was so shocked that Mr. D had called him his actual name that his whole face screwed up before he shook his head genuinely.
"You haven't spoken a single word since arriving on Olympus. That isn't like you, I've seen you every summer since you were twelve so I know for a fact that you like to talk... a lot. And, I can't help but say that I was surprised you would let your father practically trap you here, on Olympus, when you could be at home with your mom instead." Dionysus continued, a knowing look in his eyes.
Oh, Percy wished he could see his mother but he wouldn't. Percy was dangerous and he would rather throw himself back into Tartarus rather than entertain the potential risk of harming his mother. But Percy didn't feel like admitting that right now, so he simply shrugged.
"I'm going to be upfront with you, I think you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Percy. And rightfully so. You've been through way more than any demigod that's ever lived. No one has ever made it out of that place until you. But I'm not here to force you to talk, Percy, I'm here to tell you that mental health is part of my domains. So, if you ever need to talk, I could push aside my godly ego for this." Dionysus said empathetically.
As Percy tried valiantly to listen to what the god was saying, his ADHD made him hyper-focus on the small things that seemed different in Dionysus since he last saw him. He had bouncy black curls that seemed much healthier than Percy had ever seen him with. His eyes were blue just as they always were but near the iris it was a light purple that Percy had never seen before. Now that Percy was actively looking at the god he seemed less like he had a trailer park beer gut and more like a bulky athletic build. The longer Percy looked, the less the person in front of him looked like Mr. D. And yet, Percy knew it was still him.
Dionysus noticed Percy analyzing him and grinned , "Father restored my domains, my godly image is no longer strained. I'm not surprised you didn't notice earlier, you have a lot on your mind."
Percy let out a big breath as he worked himself up to speak. It seemed like a such a perilous task when every chance to talk before now didn't seem like a subject to waste his breath on.
"Who is camp director?" Percy asked, his vocal chords scratchy from a combination of lack of use and strain from drinking fire in Tartarus.
"Still me for now," Dionysus shrugged, "I think the gods are going to be taking a bit of a more active role filling in week by week or so eventually. But for now, while we adjust the world back to a normal state, I agreed to still be camp director. Why? Are you gonna miss seeing me everyday, Peter?" Dionysus smirked as he joked.
"You know, you're way better than your Roman version, no offense," Percy said, thinking of how Bacchus had treated him not too long ago.
Dionysus raised an eyebrow, "You know, kid, funny thing about that. I don't like him either."
Percy met his gaze again, his features clearly showing his confusion.
"I think you'll find that most of us prefer our Greek forms, that's why Olympus is on the Greek side of the country. It's why we don't allow ourselves to visit that camp all too often. I'm pretty sure only Apollo, Artemis, and Ares don't find too much of a problem with their Roman versions. Those three didn't necessarily change as much as anyone else did, I mean Apollo stayed Apollo he just had a few... alterations... to who he was. Did you know that almost eighty-five percent of New Rome is filled with legacies? It is far more rare for a new demigod to show up there than it is for a Greek demigod to show up at camp Half-Blood. Although, now with the war, those statistics are a bit skewed." Dionysus explained.
Percy didn't know what domain had exactly caused for old crabby Dionysus to become a social butterfly but he wasn't going to question it. He was too distracted thinking about the thirty-five or so campers that filled the cabins when once upon a time twelve year old Percy walked into a camp with closer to eighty campers.
"You don't have to sit here with me. If my dad is forcing you, I won't tell him you left." Percy said sympathetically.
"No, Percy. I'll admit, I was asked to be here by both your father and Apollo but I'm not forced into it. Most of Olympus and both camps are worried about you."
"Why me?" Percy frowned in confusion.
"Because you changed Percy, during this whole conversation there has been not one single sarcastic retort. I've known you since you were twelve, kid, I know that's not normal. Everyone can see how this is effecting you and we just want to help." Dionysus leveled with him.
"Why? So I can go out and complete another prophecy next month? I'm not. I won't put anyone in danger." Percy said immediately as he shook his head.
"What do you mean?" Dionysus froze before raking an analytical gaze over Percy.
"What are you talking about?" Percy backtracked.
"You said you wouldn't put anyone in danger, not that you didn't want to be put in danger. Percy, do you think your dangerous?" Dionysus tipped his head and his curls bounced with the movement.
"All demigods are dangerous, we learn sword fighting day one at camp," Percy snorted.
Dionysus leveled him with an analyzing glare. "Don't be smart with me. You're deflecting."
"It's just some of the things I had to do down there. I'm not exactly proud of it," Percy sighed.
"Percy, if you are going to say you are dangerous just because you did what you had to do in order to survive, then I'm gonna need you to take several steps back from that narrative and look at it from an outsiders perspective," Dionysus instructed authoritatively.
"I already know the outsiders perspective." Percy said with a self deprecating smile.
Dionysus paused at the way Percy looked, it was somewhere between furious and heartbroken, and then the god understood, "Annabeth thinks you are dangerous?"
"She's scared of me and I can't blame her for it. But, if she is scared of me then maybe I really am nothing more than a monster in the making. My dad is known for producing them, right?" Percy's grin morphed into something much more sardonic.
"Percy you have to understand, Annabeth is going through a traumatic time too. She's probably less afraid of you and more afraid of everything in a more general aspect." Dionysus tried to reassure the demigod.
"No, it's me that she's afraid of." Percy said definitely
"Why are you so sure of that?" Dionysus pressed.
Percy hesitated, eyes wandering from Dionysus to the bedsheets covering his legs, "I think something broke inside me while I was in that place."
Dionysus, to his credit, did not falter. Although internally he was receiving treacherous flashbacks of ancient times. Back when he himself had felt something break.
"What broke in you, Percy?" Dionysus questioned, his tone not giving away his thoughts.
"I don't know but I think maybe Annabeth is right to be scared," Percy's voice which had been slowly improving as he began using it again cracked harshly as his emotions got the better of him.
"Is that why you aren't trying to get better?" Dionysus finally got around to the question he had been sent to pry out of the demigod in front of him.
"What?" Percy questioned in alarmed confusion, sitting up straighter in the bed.
"Has anyone exactly explained to you how a demigod's powers worked?" Dionysus paused in his original interrogation at Percy's genuine befuddlement.
Percy shook his head, he wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going.
"Your powers are connected to your father, but they are a birthright that is not to be denied. And your strength? That has to do with two specific things, how much you believe in yourself and how much your father believes in you. That is why your powers have always been so extraordinary. You are Poseidon's favorite son. But from the moment that being in contact with sea water did not begin to heal your residual ailments from that place, your father worried you had lost faith in yourself because his faith in you is still unwavering."
"I don't understand why he thinks I deserve his praise," Percy mumbled as he shook his head.
"Percy, again, you aren't a monster. You are a kid who has been fighting for his life since he was twelve years old. Stop trying to punish yourself, it won't work." Dionysus said a bit forcefully to get his point across.
"Why not?" Percy questioned, the sardonic smile flashing across his face once more.
"Because your blood is turning gold, Percy," Dionysus said gently, as his face screwed up in sympathy.
"What?" Percy's voice gave out in the shock of the situation.
"Just as mine did millennia ago, it was just a theory I had but once you said that something had broken inside you... well, that's basically the first step." Dionysus continued unwaveringly.
"No. No! I rejected the gods offer years ago!" Percy sat up straight, his whole body tense as his worst fears came true.
"This wasn't something to be offered, Percy. This was your fate." Dionysus said sympathetically.
"So I get no choice in the matter?" Percy questioned harshly.
"No one does. Not my father nor yours. Not me nor you. I'm sorry, I know this isn't what you wanted." Dionysus frowned at the look on Percy's face.
"What about the fates? Can't I question them?" Percy asked desperately.
Dionysus suddenly looked as if he were going into godly heart failure, "No! No, Percy, the fates are going to do what they want to do and the only thing you will accomplish by trying to seek them out to change their mind is make them angry and further ruin your life."
"What? That's ridiculous!" Percy looked at Dionysus and wondered if he was bluffing.
"It's happened before," Dionysus said barely above a whisper.
"It has? To who?" Percy questioned, still not quite believing the gods words.
"A certain god of poetry," Dionysus was careful about not naming his brother, this place was attached to his temple and this was the last conversation Apollo needed to overhear.
"I've never heard that before," Percy said, still confused about everything.
"Well, it is a very sore subject for him. I wouldn't recommend bringing it up. He might seem all sunshine but there was a time where he was anything but." Dionysus warned.
"Mr. D, no offence, but I'm pretty sure there was a time in history where all the gods were way more dangerous than you all are now." Percy said.
"That's where you are wrong, Peter," Dionysus began.
Percy did not miss the fact that he was called being called Peter again, it made Percy relax a bit, knowing that Dionysus was trying to switch the conversation to a lighter tone.
"The gods are not less dangerous, we are just different in our composure. Your father has just as much power as he did then, he just does not flaunt it. I think you would agree that he resembles the calm nature of a wave now but back then it was the stormbringer that made Poseidon who he was." Dionysus explained.
"Why did you all change?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Honestly, Percy, I don't know. No one remembers what exact moment caused us to change but we did and I think it made us better gods. I know you don't think much of us- a fact I am continuously annoyed by, just so you know -but we are much better than we were and I don't think you understand how hard it is for gods to change especially if it isn't their whole form changing. Gods are supposed to be how they are, no learning to be something else, and yet we -for the most part- do not go after each others children anymore. In ancient times, we used to get involved with demigods quests quite frequently, but our involvement only opened them up to more danger from other gods or monsters who wanted revenge. It's why the ancient laws are in place to restrict parental contact, if we don't let ourselves get attached then we won't almost blow each other up when something happens to them. I know that's not right by your standards, Percy, but that is just how it is."
Percy listened to Dionysus and tried to see what he was trying to say but he just didn't understand. Why couldn't the gods care about them? Why could they change once but not now? Why was he being told this when the god in front of him could be telling him where Percy could find the fates and shove them into Chaos for ever deciding to make him become a god.
Dionysus allowed Percy to sit in silence as he absorbed the information. The god sat back in his chair and allowed for a glass of red wine to appear in his hand.
"Mr. D, can we keep the whole god thing between us for right now? I just I want to tell my mom and I think I want to tell dad too... so can I just have a little time before you tell anyone else?"
Dionysus debated with himself for a moment before nodding, "It can wait a bit, ascension isn't immediate anyway, it is quite the process."
Dionysus left not long after that as Percy pretended to fall asleep. Percy waited until he was sure the coast was clear for him to slowly creep out of the bed. If he had to find the fates on his own, he would. He survived Tartarus, he's sure he could convince the three to stop his ascension. And if they killed him for his impertinence, well, Annabeth already thinks he is a monster... so, what does he have to live for?
Percy realized as he stealthily made his way through the corridors of the temple that he had no clue where he would find the Fates. Were they in the underworld? Or maybe on Olympus? He supposed he could ask someone but he didn't think anyone ever sought them out.
Well, except Apollo, as Dionysus had just informed him. Percy supposed he could try to get the god to tell him where they are but how exactly would Percy be able to do that? Percy pondered Apollo, all of his known strengths and weaknesses, immediately the answer came to him: stroke his ego.
He wandered around Apollo's temple more blatantly now, walking heavier on purpose in hopes to catch the attention of a certain god.
"Percy!? What are you doing out of bed?" Apollo questioned as he rounded a corner and almost sent Percy to the floor with the amount of force he bumped into him with.
"I was actually looking for you. I woke up from my nap and I had a headache that I hadn't had before and-"
"Oh, well, come along then," Apollo interrupted Percy's explanation as he navigated the both of them towards the hospital beds.
"Hey Apollo, you're the god of like... a lot of things, right?" Percy questioned in faux innocence.
"Well, yes I am," Apollo grinned widely.
"You're the god of knowledge, right?" Percy continued.
"I am, I have to say Percy with your track record of forgetting these types of things, I'm a bit impressed that you remembered. It is one of my more overlooked domains."
"Since you have the domain of knowledge, does that mean you know like... everything?" Percy tipped his head to the side as if he really had a hard time conceptualizing it.
"That is a more complicated question than you realize. I sort of do but I also am not omnipotent in the way you might be thinking. I don't know every single thing, especially if it falls under another gods domains, but in a more general sense... yes, I do know quite a bit." Apollo nodded with a self-satisfied smile.
"Oh, okay! Thant makes sense. So for example, you wouldn't know what and how Hephaestus is building something and you wouldn't know where like the Fates reside because it's like not general knowledge and specific to those individuals?" Percy questioned effortlessly.
"Actually, not to toot my own horn, I do know where the Fates reside, it's hidden to most, even the immortals, but it is easy to get through if you both know where you are going and why you need to see them. I was told because of my domains but they don't like visitors, so, accessing their temple is really never a good idea unless it is an emergency. The last time I visited was when my Oracle was killed by Hades and even then it was risky." Apollo said, gesticulating wildly with his arms.
"Wow! I knew you were an important god but really I'm impressed. I mean, to be trusted by the Fates with something like that... that's crazy!" Percy said with a grin.
"Isn't it! And their temple never actually moved from Corinth in Greece, so it's only accessible by godly travel or the portal in the locked room of my temple! Which is another cool point for me! To be the only place where people can access it, exclusivity is one of the most important factors in level of coolness!" Apollo smirked as he boasted about his privilege with the fates.
Percy nodded and filed the information away for later, the locked room in this temple would be the easiest way to get to the fates. All he had to do was wait until just before sunrise when Apollo would leave on his chariot. Percy was glad now more than ever that living at camp with Travis and Connor Stoll had taught him how to pick an assortment of locks.
So he waited patiently in his sick bed, it seemed that being completely miserable the last few days had paid off in some way as Apollo and Asclepius both were too glad to see him actually interacting with them and making progress to notice anything suspicious.
Just before sunrise, Percy made his way out of the bed and through the temple. It had more rooms than he thought it would which made his search a bit longer than he had hoped. But finally, just as the sky outside had the days first hue of orange, he saw it. Percy realized it was probably made to look inconspicuous on purpose. The small lock was nothing more than a common cam lock. Percy took riptide out of his pocket and in pen form and aligned the cap of the pen to the center circle of the lock. He reared his arm back and slammed the pen up sharply, satisfied when the center of the lock fell out onto the other side of the door.
Shoving riptide back into his pocket he was more than pleased when the door opened easily. For as paranoid as the gods usually were, he was surprised Apollo didn't keep some kind of protective enchantment or whatever around it. Although, he supposed most people would be stupid to willingly go see the fates. Oh well, Percy was nothing if not reckless anyway.
He grasped the door handle and pushed the door open. At first he wondered if he had entered the wrong room but then he noticed another door in the far right corner that almost seemed to shimmer faintly. Determined now more than ever, Percy strode towards it and flung it open only to be practically sucked inside.
Percy wasn't quite sure how but he knew it worked. He knew he was now in the Temple of the Fates. Maybe it was the bone-chilling aura that thrummed through the walls. Maybe it was the way Percy could feel hope of new life and dread for the dead with every other step. It was cold and yet loving. Ruthless and yet kind. An anomaly that only would make sense for a Temple of the Fates. It was as if Percy could practically feel every possibility, the good and the evil in perfect symbiosis.
"We wondered when your Fate would bring you here." Atropos' voice echoed off the walls.
Percy froze, "I don't want to ascend."
"Fate does not bend to the will of a person's desire," Clotho's voice echoed next.
"Do you think I care? I am sick and tired of my life constantly being screwed with by immortals. Enough is enough," Percy said narrowly.
"Perhaps, Perseus, you should first learn why one does not go against Fate. Yours was written millennia before you were even born. You have no choices in your Fate, they've already been made long ago," Atropos said scathingly.
"How would my fate be predestined, the prophecy I fulfilled at sixteen said I would make a choice, if it was all predestined how would it be a true choice?" Percy questioned, his eyebrows high on his forehead.
"A valid question, child of Poseidon, it's validity is the only reason we have not already pushed you," Lachesis' voice echoed now.
Percy was unnerved that although he could hear them he could not see them within the walls of the temple. Some part of him knew that he wasn't supposed to move anywhere else.
"The choice was less about you and more about who was going to be the one to make it. If Thalia was to make it, she would have died along with Luke. If Bianca had tried she would have died and Luke would have survived. If it had been Nico, Kronos would have already had a body and his choice would be far more struggling than anyone else's. You, Percy, understood Luke in a way that you could relinquish your choice and let him decide his Fate. It is who you are, Perseus, that allowed you to be a true hero." Clotho explained.
"Why would my destiny be... predestined?" Percy questioned, still determined to get them to take back his ascension.
"Technically, it is only predestined according to our memory and the Titaness, Mnemosyne. The rest of existences memories have been blocked. My sisters and I are beginning to think though, that that will soon change," Atropos spoke evenly.
"Good-bye, Perseus. Safe travels." Lachesis signaled.
"Percy?!" Apollo's voice carried from the hallway, "What are you doing in there? Are you insane!?"
As soon as Percy saw Apollo step through the Portal into the temple the power of the three primordial sisters swelled and it felt as if Percy was being tossed backwards through a hurricane. He was unconscious with a last realization that he felt a tight, warm grip on his shoulder.
At least wherever Fate had just flung him, the god of healing would be there to transport him home.