Coming of Age Ch. 66 (Percy Jackson)

A/N: The Great Prophecy is revealed in full.

-x-X-x-

Those upon Mount Olympus truly did love their loopholes and doublespeak. Sure, sometimes you could extract a direct oath out of them, but most of the time, they preferred to lay down the law in such a way that it wouldn’t apply to them so much as it would apply to everyone else.

In the case of the Great Prophecy, there’d been something of a compromise put in place. Nobody wanted to be restricted on what they could do or say. But if they wanted to keep the Great Prophecy from coming to pass or at least push it back for as long as feasibly possible, both were necessary.

Still, it was already considered a big sacrifice for Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades to all agree to no longer bear demigod children. That they would swear that oath was no small matter, in the end… even if swearing said oath on the River Styx would have made it far stronger. But that was, of course, a step too far for Gods with egos the size of mountains.

As a compromise, it was decided that no Olympian would actually be forbidden from speaking about the Great Prophecy. Instead, it would simply be forbidden for demigods to seek out information about said prophecy, keeping them in the dark about its contents. Given what the Great Prophecy said, it was generally assumed that no god or goddess upon Mount Olympus would ever be foolishness to spill the beans regardless.

… But Hestia had to admit, she’d been struggling with this secret ever since last year, when she’d inadvertently sprayed Zeus’ blood all over Percy Jackson and in the process made him susceptible to joining the distribution of the Sky King’s domains mere moments later. Percy’s ascension to godhood had been relatively slow so far, but even in the past year he’d already gone through some changes. He was growing in ways that went beyond being a mere demigod, and his coalescing Domain of Kinghood was attracting all sorts of attention.

But more than that… he was perhaps the most likely candidate for the Great Prophecy at this point in time. Something that the other gods and goddesses had to be aware of by now. Something that she suspected some of them were going to try to do something about, eventually.

So far, she’d extracted promises from both Poseidon and Hades to leave Percy be. In Poseidon’s case, that had been simple enough… but Hades had also agreed with suspicious ease. At the time, Hestia had assumed this was because the Lord of the Dead saw himself at a disadvantage given Hestia and Poseidon were presenting a united front. However, now she knew that Hades was merely playing the long game.

Roping Percy into retrieving his children for him had been Hades setting things up in such a way that no matter what the outcome, he would win. Either Percy would get drawn into the games of the Lotus Hotel and stay there for decades or even centuries, prolonging his ascension and the Great Prophecy for a while longer… or he would successfully retrieve Hades’ demigod offspring and bring them back into play as potential candidates for the Great Prophecy as well.

If Hestia wasn’t fully confident that Zeus was dead and buried, she would even assume Thalia’s return to be similar machinations on the part of the deceased Sky God. But no… no, she knew better. That bit… she suspected Kronos’ hand in that. The Titan of Time, despite being reduced to pieces of himself that were scattered to all four corners of the Earth, was always trying to come back. Luke’s betrayal last year made that obvious, as did his attempt on foiling Annabeth and Clarisse’s quest this year.

But Hestia suspected that Kronos approved of this outcome all the same, because even if he didn’t get the Golden Fleece for himself… he did get another potential claimant of the Great Prophecy. Of course, that implied that somehow the Titan King knew the contents of the Great Prophecy… but at this point, Hestia wouldn’t put anything past him.

All of this flashes through Hestia’s mind in a split second, even as Percy stares her down. In the end, she lets out a deep sigh and repeats her previous words.

“You deserve to know, Percy.”

Then, sucking in a deep breath… the Goddess of the Hearth intones the Great Prophecy for both Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase to hear.

“A Half-Blood of the Eldest Gods,

Shall reach Godhood against all odds,

An Eternal Age to be bought,

For the cost of countless thoughts,

A single choice to decide it all,

For Olympus to rise or fall”

Silence falls over the room as she finishes speaking. Hestia swallows thickly and rubs her throat… truth be told, voicing prophecies out loud took a bit out of deities such as herself. It was why she’d been so surprised that Circe was willing to give Percy even part of the Great Prophecy… and perhaps why Circe thought Hestia would just blow Percy off if he came to her for the rest.

Voicing a prophecy, especially one that would have such an all-encompassing impact on their world like this one, carried weight to it. It created pressure, almost like by speaking it, a divinity was willing it into existence all the sooner.

… But Percy needed to know. He needed to be aware of what might lie ahead.

Of course, as she expected, the initial reaction to the Great Prophecy is… confusion. Both Percy and Annabeth furrow their brows as they mull over her words, slowly processing them. In the end, Annabeth is the first to speak, though that’s not surprising. The Daughter of Athena is nothing if not inquisitive, just like her godly parent.

“… I can understand why the last two lines would give Olympus pause. I get why you all would be rather worried about the prospect of triggering the conditions for a prophecy that might lead to your downfall. But… what in the world do the middle two lines mean?”

Hestia smiles softly, a little amused but also commiserating with the demigoddess before her.

“No idea.”

Both Annabeth and Percy jolt at that, causing Hestia to shrug somewhat helplessly.

“Prophecies tend to be vague like that. This one, I will admit, is far more blunt than most. You’re right that it gave us Olympians great pause when it first reached our divine ears. Just going off of the first two, we could act with swiftness by having Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades stop producing offspring in order to prevent the last two lines from coming true. But the middle two lines…”

Again, Hestia shrugs. An Eternal Age didn’t seem so bad, but the price for it being ‘countless thoughts’ was undeniably ominous. Indeed, what COULD it mean? The death of every human being? The death of every deity? Or maybe just the death of their minds themselves? Would one rise above all else to destroy all sense of individuality and independence? Would they come to exist under one single umbrella with no choice in the matter?

Needless to say, the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus had long argued the potential meaning of the Great Prophecy. As direct as it was at certain parts, it was dreadfully obtuse in others. Hestia can see in Annabeth’s scrunched up nose and furrowed brow that the Daughter of Athena is considering these very same options now, picking up theories and then discarding them just as fast.

Given how clever Annabeth has proven herself to be so far, Hestia doesn’t doubt that she’ll go through most of Olympus’ theory crafting and hypothesizing over the last several decades and have disproved the lot of them by the end of the week.

… But that won’t give them any more answers than they already have, now will it? Looking away from Annabeth, Hestia instead regards Percy, feeling nothing but guilt and shame for how long she kept this from him.

“I am sorry, Percy. I should have told you immediately. The moment that you were bathed in Zeus’ blood, I should have told you what it might mean. I have no excuse other than that I was scared. Scared for you, yes… but also scared of you. Of what you might become.”

It was especially bad given the domain that Percy had wound up with. Zeus had always been a rather terrible King. In hindsight, it was a wonder that they hadn’t rebelled against him MORE, rather than that they’d rebelled against him at all. As the King of the Gods, Zeus had failed them over and over again, continuously and utterly. He was a terrible monarch, and one that they should have thrown down ages ago.

… But they hadn’t. Partially because most of them were no better than him, Hestia supposed. But also because of the power of the Domain of Kingship. Being King was part of the very essence of Zeus’ divinity. Only after what happened had Hestia realized… the only way to overthrow Zeus permanently WAS to kill him, strip him of his divine essence, and split his domains among others in such a way that he would never come back.

Otherwise, he would have simply risen back to the top inexorably, like any other unstoppable force in the universe. It would have been… inevitable.

Not anymore though. Because Zeus wasn’t just dead, he no longer had the Domain of Kingship. Percy did now… and that might be bad. Hestia couldn’t say for sure, but even the possibility of what it might mean could be bad.

There was a common misconception that new gods were weak gods. Or at least, weaker than the older gods. But this misconception was mostly brought about by two factors. First was experience… there was no denying that older deities had far more experience with godhood and thus were usually far more skilled at exercising their divine power upon the world at large.

The second factor, however, was HOW most new gods became gods. Specifically, in the past several thousand years, most newer gods were made gods by the older gods. Hercules was an excellent example of this, for instance. The Son of Zeus was famous the world over as one of the greatest Greek Heroes of all time. Even now, his Legend had yet to fade from the human consciousness.

After everything Hercules had done, after everything he achieved in his long life, if he had managed to ascend to godhood on his own, he would have likely been a very powerful god indeed. That had not happened, however. Instead, when Hercules had met his demise at the hands of his own wife through treachery most foul, he had been raised as a minor god by Zeus. This was to appease Hera as well as protect Zeus’ own interests, for if Hercules had been allowed the full power his Legend entitled him to, he might have given the King of the Gods a run for his money.

To this day, Hercules was nothing more than a minor god tasked with guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. The gatekeeper to the ancient lands of the Greeks.

Percy on the other hand, was more likely than not to ascend to godhood entirely on his own with no direct help from any of the Olympians. Oh sure, it was technically by Hestia’s hand that he had been bathed in divine ichor and granted one of Zeus’ domains, but she hadn’t done so intentionally, nor with purpose.

The Son of Poseidon winding up drenched in Zeus’ blood had been an accident… and when Hestia had split the King of the Gods’ domains, she had done so without trying to guide any of them in any specific direction. Though she’d done her best to hide it, she’d been just as surprised as Poseidon and Hades when Percy had wound up taking one for himself.

All of this was to say… when Zeus had still been alive, he had wielded his Domain of Kingship like a tyrant, using it to browbeat all of them into submission countless times over the eons. Hestia didn’t like to think that Percy would do the same… and technically the Great Prophecy provided multiple options for how things might pan out. There was every chance that Olympus would rise instead of fall, after all. The only question was… what form would that Olympus take? And what role would Percy play in what was to come?

“I forgive you, Hestia.”

Hestia’s eyes snap open at that. She hadn’t even realized they were shut, but when Percy’s words reach her ears, she finds them flying open as she stares at the ascending demigod in shock. Percy just smiles at her, shaking his head.

“I get it. And I forgive you. You say you were scared of what I might become… but you never once let that fear stop you from helping me. You’ve never once turned me away because you were afraid. Seems to me that in the end, you didn’t let your fear consume you.”

Blushing, Hestia squirms under his warm eyes and proud smile. Her heart swells at his praise and she feels a little light-headed in response to the string of compliments.

“… There might be others who try to kill me for this though. That’s the real reason you didn’t want me to go on the Quest with Clarisse and Annabeth, isn’t it? Not just because I might have some Goddesses hunting for me because of my past life, but also because there will be deities who think killing me is the best way to avert the fulfillment of the Great Prophecy.”

That brings an angry scowl to Hestia’s face.

“Any who try will have to answer to me! I swear it, Percy. I won’t let them hurt you!”

… But yes, he was right. There were some who thought it for the best. Even a couple of truly foolish souls who had brought the idea up at the meetings that now regularly took place up on Mount Olympus. Without an actual King of the Gods, they’d been ruling by Council for quite a while now.

Fortunately, between her, Poseidon and Hades… and certain other members of the Council, the proposal to just kill Percy hadn’t gone anywhere. Still, he should probably know…

“Of those who have openly voiced a desire to take your head, the ones you must truly be careful of… are Ares and Artemis.”

Percy blinks at that, but Hestia forges right on ahead.

“Despite being freed of the Crooked One’s control, Ares holds grudges. More than that, he likely wishes you dead so that Aphrodite might turn her attention back to him. As for Artemis… she has long despised men and made no secret of it. I do not know if she will make an actual attempt on your life, but she seemed to see no problem with the idea of you dying before you can ascend.”

Percy slowly nods, contemplating Hestia’s words before finally letting out an explosive sigh.

“Thank you for being honest with me, Goddess. I will keep an eye out for any of their machinations. And… Circe?”

Hestia scowls at the mention of the Goddess of Magic. Truth be told, she still didn’t fully understand what Circe was playing at or what she thought she could accomplish with Hestia keeping such a watchful eye on her.

“Do not worry, Percy. I will keep Circe in check, no matter what. I will keep them all in check, if I have to. I won’t let any harm come to you, regardless of what comes to pass.”