He Did...What!? (Chapter 36)

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"What...?" I said, with my eyes bulging out of my head like a cartoon character as I was told a crucial piece of evidence about our enemy as I was looking into a book.

The book was an encyclopedia about Greek Mythology, which may seem absurd at first glance because "OMG, you're THE Percy Jackson! How can you live in the Greek World and not know everything about Greek Mythology!?" But let me correct that by saying, do you really expect me to memerize every single piece of mythos to top of my head?

I bet you can't name every Biblical character, prominent and minor, right here, right now.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I am really flustered at the moment because of my latest discovery.

So I went to a mortal library down in Brooklyn, because why not, I could literally teleprt anywhere. I wasn't very keen when it came to Pontus, as I had met his son Nereus, back when I had to protect Bessie the Seacow during that whole ordeal in the past. I remember him as that really old homeless dude who looked like a really worn down Santa Claus or something. As much as I hated his cryptic attitude when I asked him what I was really looking for, I can't say he wasn't helpful to me. 

That was another thing, I don't know what happened to Nereus. When I had met him, nearly nobody knew him, both in the Greek and mortal world. I recall him being very weak and aged, so I can't imagine he'd be relevent now. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if he just faded in order to pause the usage of his power to stay immortal.

Anyway, so I began to read up on his Bio, and what I found was a bit disturbing.

Prior to the Olympian's claimage to the holy throne, a deity known by the name of Pontus existed as ruler of the seas, primarily the Meditarranean Sea. Conflicting sources detail that he was born to Gaea and Aether.

"Hm, so could it be that he's after revenge for his mother...?" I whispered softly, under my lip because I was in a library. I may be an all-powerful demigod hybrid, but that didn't mean I had bad manners, after all.

With Gaea, Pontus produced five offsprings. Nereus, Thaumas, Phoryces, Ceto, and Eurybia. Sources may vary.

"Ew...that's gross as...oh wait a minute." I said, but then realized that I was literally the son of Poseidon, aka brother of Zeus, the guy who married his sister and had like a bajillion kids with. I even came to the realization that technically, I was Annabeth's uncle...since her mother was Athena and my dad was Poseidon. Thalia was technically Annabeth's aunt as well.

That must've been awkward...I wonder if she knew about that.

Actually, there's a lot of messed up relations in Greek Mythology now that I'm looking into it. Lots of weird stuff going on, and I found out a bit more than I had meant to. I found out that...the gods had some weird habits.

Like, I'm gonna have to ask all of them some questions afterwards.

What is wrong with our family?

Whatever, back to the situation at hand. Pontus is angry because we stopped his mother-wife thing, his...oh for the love of gods I can't take this seriously. Am I literally supposed to be afraid of the guy who sealed the deal with the ENTIRE PLANET who happened to also be his mommy? Not only did I want to make high-school level jokes and puns, but it was almost wasn't real.

By the way, I value my comedy higher than those types of jokes. 

Not gonna make sugar mommy joke.

Not gonna make a sandy beaches joke.

Not gonna make a mud pie joke.

Not gonna make a dirt-y joke.

Not gonna do it.

Nuh, uh.

Oh...wait.

Shoot.

Just ignore all of that, K?

But still, it did provide a reason for Pontus to be angry for some reason. This could be a sort of revenge plot for us sealing Gaea away a long time ago, so there's that going for us. Though, something was still off about this whole thing. Normally, beings like Gaea and Pontus shouldn't care about familial relationships from over a million years ago.

Heck, Gaea tried to overthrow the Olympians, which were her grand-children. Kronos tried to do the same to his children, and so on. What I'm getting at is that I don't think Pontus would garner enough hatred in order to wage war over something that was long ago.

It would be like swearing vengence on someone who killed your wife, who happened to divorce you about 30 years before her death, had tons of kids with other dudes, and hated your guts as well. Nobody would do that, well, most people at least.

I couldn't exactly place my finger on the whole thing. Something was still bugging me about this all. Pontus's moves seem really direct and straightforward, like he just wants world domination and do the classic villain persona. The missing aspect of this plot was the reason, because he really doesn't have much of a reason to commit to a war. If he wanted to overthrow the Olympians, why wait so long after the war with Order? It's been a good year or so since then, so we've been able to stand back up on our feet since.

Had Pontus planned to attack when we were at our weakest, there may have been a slight possibility that he could pull it off, but now it was far too late.

Why wait for your enemy to recover, then fight them?

Ugh, I hate all this ambiguousness surrounding this dude. I said it before, I'd almost prefer to go straight to war rather than try and find out the answer to all this. 

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After thinking about it for a moment, I gave up to my inner desire to relax and flashed back to my personal cabin in the woods that I lived in when I just got out of Tartarus. Hopefully, nobody saw me disappear into thin air, because I'm not sure how that would look like through the Mist, but I'd assume it'd seem pretty weird. Fortunately, my cabin was still in the same clearing in the middle of the woods, and was still standing strong because of it's enhanced design. Good thing I made it to last a long time, and by that, I meant forever.

I gotta thank Hephaestus for that one.

Even though I was outside the door, I could hear something very loud erupt from inside, undoubtedly the actions of one certain Pegasus and a special Hellhound. I wondered how the both of them were doing right now, as they were free to leave and go wherever they pleased, but for some reason, they preferred to stay at home. I couldn't tell if there was some sort of magic at work, or if they were just really lazy.

Actually, never mind, definitely lazy.

I took a deep breath as I knew that these two had the uncanny ability to always wear out my patience. I knew I was in store for something extremely over-the top and obnoxious, but I wanted to check up on the two, as it had been a while.

"Blackjack? Mrs. O'Leary?" I opened the door to the familiar scene of my home, and my words rang throughout the house, but I didn't get an immediate response.

For a moment, I was worried Pontus had somehow found them, but my theory was swiftly abolished as I heard a certain horse from the TV Room ahead of me.

WHY IS THERE NO OPTION FOR HOOVES!? NOT ALL OF US WERE BORN WITH FINGERS ABLE TO GRAB JOYSTICKS WITH! HUMANS ARE SUCH RACISTS AGAINST NON-HUMANS!

Oh yeah, that was Blackjack for sure.

No excuses. I won fair and square, now hand over the five bucks, buddy.

Mrs. O'Leary's voice rang in my head, as I could hear her unknowingly. I don't think she could detect me in the house yet, so she has to still be talking with Blackjack.

I heard the sound of an angry hoof smacking the floor grudgingly, and I could picture the image of a horse with wings handing a five-dollar bill with Abraham Lincoln on it to a large black dog from the Underworld.

Patriarchy at it's finest, I say.

"...Hey..." I walked in slowly, unsure how they would react. Immediately upon noticing me, the two's eyes bulged like water balloons and Blackjack hopped off the couch in order to tackle me in a horse-hug, with Mrs. O'Leary assisting him.

I was assaulted with fur and feathers.

BOSS!

Perseus!

I sighed as I specifically remembered telling them to not call me by those names, but I passed it off as I greeted them. I took a seat on the couch, rubbing Blackjack's spot above his mane, and I pet Mrs. O'Leary with my other hand. Both of them began purring and neighing, or making unusual noises of satisfaction. It's not everyday you see a Pegasus and Hellhound so relaxed.

It's been SOOO long!

Though we do not mind being unsupervised, it has been quite a while since we have seen you.

I apologized as best as I could to two mythological creatures, and I found out that I had just arrived when the two of them were playing a video game of some sort. Looks like when left to their own devices, Blackjack and Mrs. O'Leary always enjoyed playing video games of all things, as well as eating a lot.

There was a table full of empty potato chip bags, plates with half-eaten sandwiches, and bowls of soft drinks and milk. 

To be honest, I bet most people would envy their unhealthy diet. Thanks to their...unnatural bodily systems, they could eat as much mortal food as possible, and not suffer from any effects like becoming overweight or heart attacks.

I tried my best to keep up with the two, as they were so hyper and unwavering, as usual. Blackjack wanted to play Super Smash Bros on some new console, while Mrs. O'Leary wanted to play Uno instead. The two argued like siblings, and I merely watched as a spectator, as the two had gotten back to their ordinary selves. It was comforting in a way, to see them again, as it had been such a long time since I'd seen them. They've been with me for a long time, stayed loyal to me even when I wasn't around. 

I couldn't thank them enough, truthfully.

Oh, I know! Let's play Fortnite! Boss can play with us!

Well...I suppose we can do that. Will you join us for a game of Battle Royale, Perseus?

"Is that even a question? But only if you stop calling me boss." I said as I picked up a controller and the three of us sat in front of a television, huddled together like a pack of hotdogs in a container. I was glad this place had magic that automatically cleaned up this place, and that it kept Blackjack and Mrs. O'Leary groomed and fresh, because I'd hate it if the cabin smelled like wet dog and horse while I was gone.

We played video games for pretty much the entire day till night, losing track of time and having fun. I felt grateful I got this chance to spend with a couple of loyal companions. I don't think there are were better pets that I could ask for.

In summary, the day went by with Blackjack losing continuous games, complaining that he lost only because his hooves messed up when he used the controller, which was a fair argument, but he was one who suggested controller-oriented games. He couldn't help it, he loved these games so much that he couldn't stop playing them, even if he lost in the end. I found it odd that my horse was a perpetual gaming masochist, but I laughed with Mrs. O'Leary, who was a bit more tamed and docile.

Boss, are you gonna leave again after tonight?

It was already nighttime, with the moonlight shining outside the windows and we had to turn on the lights in the TV room in order to see. Blackjack's question caught me a bit by surprise, because I had planned to do something tomorrow, but somehow, I felt guilty leaving the two here all over again.

I sighed. "I'm going to stay until tomorrow, but I need to leave soon. Pontus is threatening another war, and we can't exactly have that." I put my arms behind my head and laid back on the couch sheets.

Why must there always be a war?

"I ask myself that question every day." I groaned.

Is there anything we can do, Boss?

I agree, it is time for us to get some fresh air once in a while.

I scratched under my chin as I thought of something available for them. A Hellhound and a Pegasus. War wasn't currently being fought, so there wasn't anything for them to fight against, which was their primal purpose.

"Hmmm...you guys could always practice against the campers at Camp. But I don't really know if you guys would want to do that kind of stuff." I said, hesitating.

Sure! My hooves have been begging for some good fightin'.

Ditto.

I chuckled. "As long as if it's what you guys want. You're always free to leave the house at anytime. Don't feel as though you have to stay cooped up in here because of me. I'll tell Chiron tomorrow to expect you guys, and just keep in mind not to hurt anybody too bad, alright?" I instructed the pair of ferocious beasts.

You got it, Boss.

Duly noted.

"Hey, what did I say about calling me Boss? Percy is just fine." I commanded, but my words bounced off like rain on a windshield.

ok boss

"Blackjack." I warned, raising a finger.

Sorry Boss-I mean Percyboss, err, Peross,-

"Okay, that's it. Going to bed now!" I said as I got up from the couch swiftly and walked out of the room with the two animals laughing and chuckling in animal noises, and I held a small grin under my lip as I went to my room and laid down on my bed.

I walked through the hallways of the cabin I had built by hand, and admired it for it's authenticity. I really had put a lot of work into it, especially when Zoe was still with me.

Everything was left the way I had put it long ago, with a picture of Zoe around the house, and tales of our adventures together, slaying various beasts and finding tons of treasure like pirates. She used to have an affinity for carving and arts, like she had done in the Hunters of Artemis prior. I kept all her stuff preserved in her room, and left most of it untouched. I had planned to burn it, to sort of figuratively give it back to her in the afterlife perhaps, but then Chaos had arrived and given her soul to me.

I raised my sleeve, looking at my shoulder with Zoe's tattoo on it. Once in a while, I checked up on it, but it looked somewhat auspicious today, like Zoe was satisfied with what I had done with my life after moving on.

Gods, at least I hope that's what she's saying to me.

Those memories are some I'll never forget in a million, no, a billion years. Even if my body withers and fades, I'll keep Zoe's memory alive. Somehow, I will. The person that had given me hope and joy in a place scarce of it. When I was trapped in a world full of darkness and shadows, she was the torch that lit up my life, and made it worth living again.

Without her, I don't know how I would've spent all those decades.

I imagine the little huntress girl in her prime, back when she was young and free of disability. The days when she used to hunt with me, and conquer fortresses of evil monsters alongside me. The maiden that'd eat with me, talk with me, fight with me, argue with me, push me to places I didn't think I would ever go.

And most importantly, she loved me. And I loved her.

Forever and onward, even in death, and to persist beyond eternity, our bond will survive through all. 

That's a promise.