First off, here are the results to the poll I made on tumblr:

Yes. You read the second one right. Loki is now officially a love interest! (Don't expect more interactions with him until like chapter 16 tho, cuz i made the decision waaaay after I finished writing this chapter) Also, I have just added him to the list back at the very first chapter!

PERCY'S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN, A small groan leaving her lips as she tried to gain her bearings. There was a weird haziness in her head, keeping her from thinking straight.

Where was she...?

Her head was bowed down, as if she had fallen asleep in a sitting position. Sitting...? Had she fallen asleep in Poseidon's library? No, wait, wasn't she with Beelzebub—?

Her eyesight cleared first and that was when she realized two things:

One, she was completely naked.

And two, she was bound to a chair. Her torso, arms, and legs were strapped down by solidified shadows, keeping her in place.

Her heart nearly lept out of her chest.

"Wha—?!" She shot up, straining against her bindings.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Her blood ran cold at the sound of that dreadful, velvety smooth pur. She looked up; sitting across from her was Beelzebub, his red eyes twinkling and his lips curled up into a wicked smile.

"You!" The shout came out more feeble than she'd like to admit. She quickly tried to shrink into herself, trying to protect whatever was left of her modesty. It was pointless anyway, who knew how long he had been sitting there, staring at her naked body. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" She spat.

"No need to be so upset," he simpered, hands folded over the table in front of them. "I simply took some precautions, I didn't want you trying to avoid answering my questions. You're quite... slippery, after all. I wouldn't bother trying to use your powers against me either. I've drugged you."

She certainly felt like she had been drugged; her mind was working slower than she'd like and her head felt as if someone had stuffed it with cotton balls, but still, she tried to use her powers. To her absolute terror, it didn't work. She recognized the room they were in, his accursed Great Hall and knew that the kitchen was right next door. She should've been able to summon water from the sink, but now she couldn't even sense it.

She was bound and powerless.

"Don't expect any help to come," he added. "Helheim is disconnected from Midgard and Valhalla, your father won't be able to watch over you. As for Hades... well, would you really want him to see you like this?"

His eyes traveled over her body and he gave her a knowing smile.

She swallowed thickly.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Think hard, Percy. Don't you remember the hellhound?"

She tried to recall how she ended up like this. A hellhound? Was there a...? Oh, right, there was. She had been looking for Beelzebub, but a monster attacked her and...

Realization dawned in. She used Riptide to kill it, and Beelzebub saw it all.

His smile widened when he saw the look on her face. "You remember it now?" He asked teasingly.

"Y-you drugged me and tied me up naked to a chair just so you can ask me some stupid questions...?!" She cried out in disbelief.

He shrugged. "You were going to try and run away. I was just taking the necessary precautions. Do you feel ready to answer my questions?"

"Hell no! Let me go! And give me my clothes back! What the hell did you need to strip me naked for anyway?!"

He chuckled, "Like I said before, a mere precaution. I had to make sure you weren't hiding any more weapons. You needn't worry, Percy, as ravishing as you are, I have far better self-control than most gods. You are in safe hands."

He gave her a reassuring smile, as if to comfort her, but she wasn't blind to the excitement in his eyes. He was enjoying every second of this.

"Now," he leaned forward. He reached into the pocket of his cassock and pulled out her pen, Riptide. He set it down on the table. "Tell me about your weapon."

"Weapon? What weapon?" She asked, playing dumb. "I don't see a weapon."

"This weapon," he said, the pen flying into his hand.

"You must be seeing things, dude. That's a pen."

He uncapped it and Riptide formed. He looked at her expectantly like he was saying, 'Now what?'.

She put on a shocked face. "Whoa, I didn't know it could do that!"

"Yes you did. I just saw you do it."

"Stop trying to gaslight me."

"You're trying to gaslight me." He pointed out. "Where did you learn how to fight with a sword, Percy? Where did you even get this?"

She swallowed thickly. Fuck. How was she supposed to get herself out of this one?

He analyzed the sword, running a finger over the blade. "This isn't regular bronze, is it? I can sense that it's enchanted and cursed too. How odd. I've never seen metal like this before."

He capped Riptide and it transformed back into its dormant mode.

"Anaklusmos," he read the name aloud. "That's Ancient Greek for 'riptide' isn't it?"

"Uh, I dunno..." She answered lamely.

"It doesn't look brand new either," he added before finally looking at her. "You've been using this for a while, haven't you? Far longer than a month—which is supposedly how old you are."

Gods she was fucked. Even in this universe the Fates continued to be massive dicks to her. Couldn't she catch a break?

"Where did you get this sword, Percy?"

"At some museum." Technically it was the truth. Chiron first gave it to her in a museum after all.

"Who taught you how to fight?"

"A talking horse." That wasn't exactly a lie either.

"Where did you come from?"

"Your mom."

He let out a heavy sigh, clearly growing tired of her playing around.

He rose up from his chair and started to approach her. Immediately, she squeezed her legs together and tried to readjust her hair so it would fall over her chest. It was a poor attempt to cover up her bare body, but there wasn't anything else she could do.

He reached out and Percy forced herself to keep very still when his hand landed on the top of her head. She could feel his fingers threading through her hair, combing it soothingly. She nervously glanced up to see him smiling down at her.

"Percy," he cooed, petting her hair the way one would comfort a scared puppy. "I really am trying to be nice here, and I would appreciate it if the sentiment is returned. But if you continue to misbehave—"

His voice became harsher, the grip on her hair tighter as he yanked her head back, forcing her to look him in the eye. Her chair tilted back, and if he let go of her now she would come crashing down. Even worse, her whole body was exposed to him; every curve and every goosebump right there for his eyes to see.

"—Then I'm afraid I'll have to hurt you. Do you want me to hurt you?" He finished, the eerie smile still on his face.

Percy was pretty sure she had never felt so scared and vulnerable before in her entire life. But she refused to back down. Instead of cowering away and nodding her head like a good girl, she probably did the craziest thing ever: she spat at his face.

He was no longer smiling now, but he didn't release her either. Eyes closed shut, he used his free hand to wipe the spit away. When he opened his eyes again, he was glaring at her.

Beelzebub let her hair go. At that same second, her chair melted away as did her bindings. She was finally free, but she could hardly do anything since she was now falling.

A startled gasp left her lips, followed by an 'omfh!' when her back hit the floor.

Beelzebub didn't give her any time to recover.

His stare was literally predatory as he slowly walked towards her. Fear coursed through her veins. She tried to crawl back, but he placed his foot on her chest and pushed her down without mercy.

She could hear him let out a chuckle when the back of her head hit the floor. She tried to push his foot off, but he pressed down harder as a warning. Had it not been for the Curse of Achilles, he probably could've slammed his foot entirely through her.

Once she finally stopped struggling, he pulled away, both feet now planted on either side of her naked body. Without breaking eye contact, he slowly lowered himself down until he was straddling her, hands slamming on either side of her head. Percy couldn't look away, even when their faces were inches away from each other. His stare was so intense it was maddening.

"Must I bring your father over here, hmm?" He threatened quietly, hot breath fanning her face. "I am required to tell him about my progress with you so far after all. Or maybe I should go pay Mnemosyne a little visit, try and get the answers from her instead since you refuse to tell me the truth."

She could feel her heart beating wildly. He had too many suspicions piled up against her now, too many things he noticed about her that didn't add up. She couldn't find a way to lie out of this one and even if she did, he could see right through her.

And if she fucked up, he'd go straight to her father who definitely won't help her. Worse, he'd go after Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne practically saved her life by lying to everyone—including her homicidal father—about her. She didn't want to put her in danger.

"Okay, fine!" She gritted out. "I'll tell you the truth! Just... you can't tell anyone, okay? And you can't go after Mnemosyne either!"

The cold glare melted away, and he was back to his usual eerie smile.

"There you go, that's a good girl," he cooed, but he didn't get off of her. His cold hand cupped her cheek, thumb stroking her skin in a mocking attempt of a lover's comfort. "See how easy that was?"

She glowered at him.

He chuckled, barely able to contain his amusement as he retracted his hand back. "Now, the truth, please?"

"Get off of me first," she tried to demand.

His smile turned downright sinful. "No thank you. I'm quite comfortable with this position."

Fucking freak, she thought, before deciding to just get it out. Like ripping out a bandaid.

"My name is Percilla Jackson. I'm sixteen years old. And I'm not from here," she admitted. "I'm the daughter of Poseidon... just not this Poseidon."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not following."

"Okay, look," she let out a heavy sigh. "I know this sounds crazy, but it's the truth. When I say I'm not from here, I mean it literally. I don't come from this world... universe... whatever. I was sleeping back home when the bifrost—this world's bifrost—somehow took me here. Everything just went downhill after that. I just wanna find a way back home. That's all."

Beelzebub was silent for a while. Seconds continued to pass. She watched his expression anxiously. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she knew he was in deep thought.

"You're telling me the multiverse is real." He began.

"Huh?"

"The multiverse, Percy, catch up," he scolded. When all he got was a tilted head and blank eyes, he knew he would need to explain some things.

"There is a difference between worlds and universes," he started. "There can be many worlds in a single universe. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"...I don't get it."

He let out a heavy sigh and pulled away from her, straightening up but still straddling her. He waved a hand. The shadows in his palm started to lift up into the air and take shape. It formed three pieces of a cylinder.

"These are the three worlds of this universe," he stated. "The top is Valhalla. The middle is Midgard. And the bottom is Helheim, where we're at. These three worlds make up one universe. Do you get it now?"

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up. For a moment, she nearly forgot about their position and the fact that she was still naked. "So my universe has at least three worlds too, then! Olympus, Earth, and the Underworld."

"Good, you're getting it. Now a multiverse is a hypothetical collection of universes. But now that I know your universe exists, it's no longer a hypothetical idea. It's a fact. Now, tell me more about your universe." He demanded.

"Alright..." She said wearily before going on. "We have gods there too, but only the Greek ones. I don't know if the other pantheons exist. I don't know if Uncle Adamas exists there either. In my universe, the gods' history is a lot closer to the myths the humans made up than in here. In there, there are demigods like me, biologically half-human and half-god. That's the only kind of demigod from what I know."

"So I was correct then," he murmured. "You're no newborn. The sword, the fighting skills, the Curse of Achilles, you all got those from your universe."

"...Yes..." She hesitantly answered.

It seemed like he was believing her, which was great, but it pained her to have to admit the truth about the Curse of Achilles. She was just glad he wasn't asking for the location of her mortal spot...

"But that's not all, is it?" He said, planting his hands beside her face to lean closer again. "In here, the story of Achilles is nothing but a tale made by humans, but it's real in your world. If the myth I've read is anything like the truth from your universe, then I know that no one just gets the Curse of Achilles for no reason, Percy. It is a blessing, but also a great burden. Why did you need it? Who are you?"

"W-what? I..."

"Remember what I told you before? I can see your soul. You have the soul of a hero. It shines just as brightly as Heracles'. No, it's brighter than that. You're no regular demigod, are you? You're special."

"Not really," she replied awkwardly. Sure she was considered the 'Savior of Olympus' but it felt kind of cringy to say that out loud. Almost like she was bragging. Imagine saying, 'Oh yeah, I'm real special! Back home, they call me the Savior of Olympus! Awesome, right?'. How cringy! "I just... killed a couple of monsters. Saved some people. Stuff like that."

He didn't look like he believed her.

"I have a decent personality too," she added before muttering under her breath, "Unlike some people here..."

Beelzebub ignored the pointed glare she gave him and proceeded with more questions, "And you don't recall how you got here?"

"Like I said, I was asleep," she explained. "I went to bed and the next thing I knew, I was hitting the ground. Then, a bunch of angels were trying to kill me for using the bifrost or whatever."

"And you're certain it was our bifrost who took you here, not yours?" He asked.

"Well... yeah?" She shrugged. "I don't know if there are Norse gods in my world and I'm pretty sure if the Greeks had some way to travel through universes, I'd know about it."

Actually, maybe she wouldn't. Gods did like to keep their secrets so maybe they did have something like that? But wouldn't she be back home by now if that were the case?

Beelzebub was quiet again, his mind running a mile a minute.

He had listened to her claims and knew she wasn't lying.

Once upon a time, he had believed this universe to be the only one. He was a powerful, all-knowing god. Why would he think otherwise? But Percy had shattered this belief.

The multiverse was real and she was clear proof of it.

Questions ran through his head. What sort of beings resided in those other universes? How powerful would they be? Would they be powerful enough to kill a god? Or more specifically, to kill a god cursed to live forever like him?

The possibilities were endless. He could feel hope rekindle.

Suddenly, tears were spilling from his eyes. He was so close. Finally, death would embrace him.

His tears spilled down to Percy's face

"Hey... are you okay?" She asked cautiously. The wide grin nearly splitting his face made him look crazy, but the tears in his eyes... she knew those were tears of joy. She had never seen him look so happy before, but something was amiss.

Then it finally clicked in her head.

Her eyes widened. "Hold on... I know what you're thinking. You're planning to access the multiverse so you can find someone to kill you, aren't you?"

He let out a small laugh. It rattled her bones. The happiness in his laughter... He really wanted to die.

"You don't understand how much hope you've brought me, Percilla Jackson," he smiled. "And for that, I will spare you and help you keep your secret."

She frowned. "But this is..."

"If only you knew how badly I need this. How badly I deserve it," his smile turned sad. "But you ought to rejoice, Percy Jackson. I'm going to help you find a way back home."

The news should've brought her relief, but all it did was make her feel even worse.

"My plan for you hasn't changed, however," he told her. "Should I fail to find a way to access the multiverse, I will ascend you and you will kill me. Now that I know you aren't the result of an incomplete ascension, there should be no risks in turning you into a god."

"I don't want that," she said stiffly, shaking her head. "I don't want to be a god."

She had rejected godhood once before. It wasn't going to change now.

"Oh?" He raised a brow. "A mortal refusing godhood? Would you like to be turned into a demon instead?"

"No," she answered, more firmly this. "Godhood, demonhood, it doesn't matter to me. I don't want any of that. I don't want to be immortal."

He blinked, uncharacteristically stunned by her proclamation. And then he threw his head back and laughed.

"You really never cease to surprise me," he commented, smiling slightly as he reached out to wipe a stray tear away. "Unfortunately, I am not giving you a choice. This is what's going to happen, Percy: I either access the multiverse and send you back home, or I fail to do so and force you to ascend. If the ascension makes you so angry, then you can happily take it out on me."

"I'm not doing that. I'm not killing you. That's just—that's fucked up." Who went around asking kids to commit murder? She had killed enough. She was so done with killing.

His smile turned more sinister as he leaned forward. "You are lucky I'm not forcing your hand through a contract, Percy. Then you'd really have no choice but to go through my demands."

Contracts? Who did this guy think he was? Zhongli from Genshin Impact? A demon from Black Butler?

"I will repeat myself once more: should things fail, I will ascend you and you will kill me. If you try not to, then I'll kill you. Did you honestly think I'd let you just walk away from this? This is kill or be killed."

Her breath hitched. This guy was not only serious, but very much capable of killing her. Some people would be pissed with him for sure—like Hades and Adamas—but it would only work in his favor more because they would surely go after him for revenge. In his eyes, the more opportunities where he could die, the better.

He's a fucking lunatic. She thought, paling. I was wrong! He doesn't need therapy, he needs the whole mental hospital!

Finally, finally, he got off of her and even helped her stand back up. He summoned her chair again and helped her get seated while she tried in vain to cover up.

He sat back down across from her, smiling pleasantly. "Well, that was a nice talk. Thank you for all of this, Percy. I really appreciate it. Now what would you like to eat? I'll let you decide."

Seriously? He forced her to spill her secrets, threatened her with a life of suffering or death, and now he was offering to feed her like none of that ever happened?

Her stomach growled.

"...A cheeseburger," she answered weakly.

He nodded and waved his hand. A plate of cheeseburgers and a nice side of fries with ketchup appeared in front of her. He sat back, hands folded together, as he smiled.

Miserably, she picked up a cheeseburger and started to eat.

"Can I get my clothes back too?" She asked grumpily.

"Oh right. Apologies, I forgot."

Shadows swirled around her and in a flash, her clothes were back on.

He continued to watch her. All happy and creepy.

She looked away from him with a shudder. I need to tell Mnemosyne about this...

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

It turned out that getting to Mnemosyne was going to be easier said than done.

"Uncle Hades," Percy had to put on her best sugary sweet voice. "Can I go visit Lady Mnemosyne? I really miss her."

He furrowed his brows. "Mnemosyne? I didn't realize the two of you were so close. She lives up in Valhalla. Unfortunately, you'll have to ask your father for permission to go there."

This was just fucking great. This was the one thing she wanted to avoid: asking something of Poseidon. She was always too scared to ask him anything, even if it was the littlest thing like, 'where's the bathroom?'. She usually went to Proteus for that, but Proteus had no power over whether she could leave the realm or not.

In her situation, the worst case scenario wasn't a 'no'. It was Poseidon killing her for bothering him.

Right now, she was standing in front of his office, pacing around the hallway. She was too scared to even knock. Her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat.

Can I please go to Valhalla to visit Lady Mnemosyne? She recited in her head over and over again. Can I please go to Valhalla to visit Lady Mnemosyne? Okay. Just that. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this!

Before she could even knock, the door suddenly swung open and all the encouragement she gave herself dwindled away when she was met with her father's icy glare.

"I can hear you swimming back and forth outside the door," he said angrily. "What is it that you want?"

She suppressed the urge to throw up. He was already pissed off with her. Shit, shit, shit!

"I... I, uh..." Her throat felt dry and her head felt like there was a hammer pounding on. What was she supposed to say again?

"Spit it out already."

"C-can I, uh, see—no, I mean go, uh, can I, u-um—"

"Can you what?" He growled in frustration.

"Can I go to Valhalla to see Mnemosyne? Please?" She managed to squeak out.

He scoffed under his breath. "Ask me again once you learn what ⅔ equals to."

And with that, he slammed the door to her face. She flinched back.

Well... that definitely didn't go well.

But she couldn't give up now!

(Even though all she really wanted to do was bury herself in her bed and forget this ever happened.)

So rather than hiding out in her room and admitting defeat, she went straight to the library and poured herself in her studies. Maybe if she impressed him with what she learned, he'd let her go out. He couldn't just keep her here forever right?

Day 1:

"Good morning! I—"

SLAM!

Day 2:

"I—"

SLAM!

Day 3:

"I've been—"

SLAM!

It went on like that for another four days. After a week passed by, she was close to giving up. Proteus could tell too.

"You're very determined to see Lady Mnemosyne, princess," he noted. "You've only met her twice, correct? I didn't think you'd be that close..."

"Oh yeah, we're total besties..." She droned, voice muffled. Her face was planted against the page of a book. She just wanted to pass away at this point.

He hummed in response, casually flipping through a book. He had grown used to her behavior and actually found it quite amusing. It was funny seeing how different she was to her father. Though he did feel bad at how cold the blonde god was with her.

"Let us resume studying, princess." He suggested, just to get her mind off of her father's constant rejections.

She lifted her head up, a page of the book stuck to her cheek. "Sure."

They continued studying for another hour, but her mind wasn't really in it. That was, until the topic became her father.

"As you know, after the Titan War, the worlds were split between the brothers. Lord Zeus ruled Heaven, Lord Hades ruled Helheim with Lord Adamas acting as his warden and punisher." Proteus began.

Percy nodded along. "Yeah, and daddy got to rule the seas of Midgard."

It was pretty similar back in her world too. Zeus got the heavens, Poseidon got the seas in the human world, and Hades was stuck with the Underworld (though this Hades wanted to rule Helheim seeing that he was the only one who could keep the demons under control).

"Not at first."

"Huh?"

"There are seas up in Valhalla," he told her. "A greater amount than down here. That was what Lord Poseidon was initially given and he accepted it. But eventually he noticed how Midgardians were treating their water sources; they were overfishing in the seas, treating lakes and rivers as dumping ground for their waste, and polluting the waters. Such things never happened in Valhalla."

"So Lord Poseidon declared that Midgard needed to be put under control and he decided to reside here in Midgard instead. He would punish mortals for destroying his territory, splitting the lands with earthquakes or flooding civilizations. The punishments have only grown harsher as man evolved; what with their constant oil spills and pollution."

Percy listened on curiously. Hadn't Poseidon mentioned something like this before? How there were barely any issues with the sea because of how often he killed humans for 'taking a step out of line'?

If that was true, then she was beginning to wonder how different the seas here were to the seas back home...

The next morning, after breakfast, she went straight to her father's office to ask him an eighth time.

She knocked on the door. He opened it a second later, his face stoic.

Don't stutter, don't stutter.

She put on a winning smile. "Hi, daddy, can I—"

SLAM!

Poseidon paused. The door didn't close all the way. He looked back down and saw that she had tried to stop him with her hand, only to fail. She now had her hand stuck in-between the door and the doorframe.

"Are you serious." He deadpanned.

"Can we please talk?" She said in a pained voice. She was thankful for the Curse of Achilles, it definitely helped to make the pain bearable.

"Put your hand away or I'll crush it," he threatened.

"Wha—?! No, don't!" She cried out. "I just wanna talk! I'll make it quick! Please?"

"Stubborn brat," he sighed out. "Fine."

He opened the door and let her in. He took a seat and glared at her from the desk.

"You have one minute."

"Can I please go see Lady Mnemosyne?" She blurted out, all proper etiquette flying out the window in her desperation. "I know what ⅔ equals now—it's 0.66 by the way—and I've been studying and everything!"

"You've been studying." He echoed blankly.

She nodded frantically. "Yes! I—"

"—The Atlantean Empire consists of how many kingdoms?" He interrupted her.

Oh shit. This was a pop quiz. She hated pop quizzes.

"Seven," she answered.

"Name them."

"Uh, there's Atlantis—that's the one we're in right now—Nereia, Nautilus, Cetus, Saphilune, Thalicus, and Merlea." She listed them off with her fingers and when she was done, she beamed at him. He only continued to glare.

Her smile faltered. Sheesh. Tough crowd.

"How many pantheons are there?"

She told him the answer, even listing them out in the end. She was almost breathless afterwards.

He proceeded to shoot her with eight more questions. She answered them the best she could. She was starting to lose patience by the tenth question. At this point, she would happily take another rejection than be asked another question.

Fortunately for her, it seemed like Poseidon had enough.

"You've answered... adequately," he said, and what the fuck did that even mean? "The Greek pantheon is holding a meeting tomorrow. I will allow you to go to Valhalla with me, but that is it. I will not take you to see Mnemosyne."

OH COME ON, DUDE! She wanted to scream.

But instead, she forced out a tired smile. "Okay. Thank you, daddy."

He dismissed her.

This is fine, she told herself, feeling a little relieved. She could always just try to catch Mnemosyne after the meeting was finished anyway!

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

The next day, she woke up extra early just in case. She made sure to dress extra nice too in fear that her father might change his mind in letting her come because she 'looked too much for a slob'.

She donned on a two-piece attire: a silky white top with a criss-cross halter top that was attached to a golden corset, along with a matching silky white skirt that hugged her form before flaring out slightly at the end. 

She made sure to have a quick breakfast too, not wanting to make Poseidon wait too long (he would probably kill her for wasting his time).

She met him in the foyer.

"Good. You're ready. We'll be going now." He said, grabbing her by the arm a little too harshly before they were enveloped by seafoam and bubbles.

When it dispersed, Percy found herself standing at a courtyard surrounded by Greek statues. She looked up ahead and found a large building styled with Greek revival architecture.

Still holding onto her arm, he dragged her over to an empty stone bench and finally released her.

"Sit," he ordered, pointing at the bench.

She forced her smile to stay glued onto her face, but inside, she was cussing this guy out. She was starting to get real sick of him treating her like some dog.

"I will be going inside for the meeting. In the meanwhile, you will stay here. Is that understood?" He said firmly.

Seriously? You brought me out here just so I could sit around?

"Yes," she nodded, biting the inside of her cheek and suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. This guy managed to be worse than all the military school teachers she had combined.

Poseidon left with another word. Once he disappeared into the building, Percy allowed her shoulders to drop and her smile to fall.

Alright. This is fine, she told herself. She had no idea how long the meeting would be, but she could totally wait out here until the end and hopefully catch Mnemosyne on her way out... Unless she were to teleport straight home. Fuck. She hadn't thought of that.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared over her head. Before she could look up, a familiar sly voice cooed out, "Awww, Poseidon left his poor baby all alone?"

"Loki," she grumbled, looking up to face him. He was levitating above her, hanging upside down. She pulled her head back to make more space; this scene was a little too close to the iconic upside-down Spiderman kiss for her comfort.

"What's got you so down, little mermaid?" He simpered.

"It's nothing," she lied, trying to ignore him.

"Aww come on!" He whined, lowering himself down so he could sit beside her. He threw an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. "You can tell me! I won't judge! Daddy issues getting to you?"

"No," she said a little too quickly. "And if you really gotta know, I'm just hoping I can talk to Lady Mnemosyne in time before she leaves once the meeting's over. That's all."

"Mnemosyne?" He made a face. "Why her? She's so boring, ugh."

"I just wanna talk to her," she shrugged.

"Oooh, what about?" He whispered, sounding like a giddy high school girl eager to hear the latest gossip.

"None of your business," she deadpanned.

"You're no fun," he pouted, before grinning once again. "But I'll help you anyway!"

"...Huh?" She sent him a wary look.

"Mnemosyne tends to teleport straight home once a meeting's over," which was the one thing she was hoping wouldn't happen. "So I'll just take you to her house!"

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Uh, no thanks. My dad told me to stay put."

"That's boring! You're still a kid! Rebel a little!"

Before she could open her mouth and say 'are you trying to get me killed?!' Loki grabbed her and the next thing she knew, she was free-falling.

Her scream was short lived because she hit the ground all too quickly. Water struck her next and if it hadn't been for her powers, her new outfit would've gotten soaked.

Once she gathered her bearings, she sat up and looked around.

A fountain. Loki dropped her in a fucking fountain.

"What the fuck?!" She cursed up at him where he was floating in the sky.

"Oops! Looks like I took you to the wrong place!" He giggled.

"You WHAT?"

"Hey, kid?" A man's voice said. She turned to the side and gulped. A hulking purple figure stood beside the fountain, all four of his arms crossed as he stared at her in confusion. "What're you doing in my fountain?"

"I-It wasn't me," she stammered, pointing upwards. "It was him! He—"

She looked up, but Loki was already gone.

The color drained from her face. She looked back at the purple man nervously. "I... I swear Loki was right there..."

"Relax, I believe ya. I heard his weird ass giggling around here," he said, before offering her a hand. "Need help?"

She took it gratefully and he helped her out of the fountain.

"So," he began. "You know who I am, kid?"

"Um..." She swallowed thickly and prayed this guy wouldn't kill her for her answer. "No..."

"I'm Shiva," he grinned, jabbing a thumb to himself.

Shiva? Shiva, Shiva... Shit, the only Shiva she knew was the one in the Final Fantasy games, and that one was a woman!

Wait a second! The name finally clicked in her head. "Y-you're the leader of the Hindu pantheon...!" She said shakily. Oh fuck. She was dead. She was so dead.

"Yup!" He said proudly. "And you must be Poseidon's kid, yeah? You feel like him—sorta. Your aura's less homicidal."

Before she could respond, he placed his hands under her arms and lifted her up like a cat. "Man, you're tiny! And you look nothing like your dad either! By the way, is it true he fucked the bifrost? No need to be ashamed if he did—I'm sure your uncle's fucked weirder things!"

"Um—"

As if things couldn't get any worse, more people were entering the garden where they were located.

"Shiva! Who's that you got there?" A beautiful woman called out. She was joined by two other women and a short kid who had an elephant head.

"Parvati! Girls! Ganesha! Guess who Loki just dropped into our fountain?" Shiva grinned, presenting her to them. "Tada! It's Poseidon's kid!"

"Oh hell no," one of the other women immediately brandished her spear.

The third woman, who had blue skin, tilted her head. "She seems nice," she noted.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kali," the woman with the spear glared. "That's Poseidon's kid, remember?"

"I think you're paranoid, Durga," Parvati giggled before waving at Percy. "Hello there! Your name's Percilla, right? Nice to meet you! I'm one of Shiva's wives and this is my son, Ganesha!"

Ganesha, the elephant-head man was hiding behind his mother's leg, looking at her warily as if she was about to pull out a trident and start stabbing everyone.

"Hello..." He said, lacking his mother's enthusiasm. He then ducked behind her leg again. He was so short that he reached her knees.

"Shiva, put her down!" Parvati ordered.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, setting her down.

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to say something. She stared back, feeling like a deer in the headlights. Finally, she forced herself to speak.

"Um... hi," she said lamely, following with an even lamer wave. "You can call me Percy."

"That's a cute nickname!" Parvati cooed.

"And, uh, I'm so sorry for intruding in your home," she bowed, mentally cursing Loki for putting her in this position. "So I'll just be going now—"

She tried to dart off to a random direction, but Shiva grabbed her with one of his many hands and reeled her back in. She felt like ugly-sobbing at this point.

"Oh my gods, did she just bow to us? That's so cute!" Parvati whispered, squealing.

"Stop that, Parvati! She may be doing that to get us to lower our guard!" Durga hissed. "Who knows what that psycho taught her..."

"I think she's being genuine," Kali pointed out.

"I'm not buying it," Durga shook her head. "She's Poseidon's kid, she's gotta be evil."

"She's got working ears, ya know," Shiva snorted, keeping a good grip on her shoulder. He looked down at her. "Are you evil, Percy?"

"Um... no?"

"That doesn't sound convincing," Durga squinted.

"Babe, c'mon," Shiva groaned, squishing Percy's cheeks with one hand. "Just look at her! Does this look like the face of evil?"

She glared down at Percy's smushed face. "Yes."

Shiva rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to be a goddess of war, not paranoia."

She gasped in offense. "I'm not being paranoid! I'm being cautious! She may look cute, but Loki might as well be dropping a Trojan horse into our garden!"

Oh, she thinks I'm cute? Percy couldn't help but feel flattered.

"You should have lunch with us, Percy!" Parvati clapped her hands together.

Ganesha looked like he was about to shit his pants. He let out a feeble trumpet noise. "H-huh?!"

"Have you gone crazy?!" Durga gawked at her.

"I think it's a good idea," Kali shrugged, siding with her... sister-wife? Wife-in-law? (Percy had no clue what the right terminology would be.) "Percy, do you like tandoori chicken? Biryani?"

"Uh, I actually really need to—"

"—It's decided!" Shiva cheered, already beginning to steer her to the grand palace that could put the Taj Mahal to shame.

Percy was panicking. She needed to find a way back to Olympus! "W-wait!"

He stopped, but not to listen to her.

"Oh," he spotted something at the bottom of the fountain. He reached out to grab it. "Is this yours?"

Her eyes widened. Riptide! It must have fallen out of her pocket. She was too close for it to magically return to her.

"Yeah! Thanks!" She took it from him.

"It seems enchanted," he pointed out. Then he tilted his head. "Huh, and cursed."

"A weapon!" Durga gasped.

"No!" She said quickly. "I have the tendency to lose pens all the time, so I got this one. It's enchanted to always come back to me if I were to lose it."

And to prove it, she lobbed it as far away as she could. She waited a few seconds, then reached into her pocket and pulled Riptide out. "See?"

"And the curse?" Shiva pressed on. "You shouldn't be lugging around a cursed object, kid. Does Poseidon know about this?"

Percy cursed Ares in her head. What ancient god goes around cursing twelve year olds?

"Um, what curse?" She tried to play dumb. "I don't think it's cursed..."

They looked at each other like they weren't buying it, but she was more concerned about Durga's reaction. She was a war goddess after all. There was a chance she could tell that Riptide was a weapon in disguise.

Or maybe it didn't work like that here. Back home, her fellow demigods had weapons with dormant forms—Drew's dagger as a comb, Will's bow as a slap-on watch, etc. In here, it didn't seem like it. So far, all the weapons she saw were just pulled out of thin air, but they weren't in disguise.

Durga stared at Riptide in confusion, but she seemed to dismiss the possibility of it being a weapon.

"Fine," she scowled.

Percy relaxed.

"On we go now!" Shiva continued dragging her to his palace. "Percy, you're gonna love our place! It's so much more fun compared to whatever icy trench Poseidon's living in!"

Just the mention of his name made her grimace. He was really gonna kill her once he found out she was gone. And it wasn't even her fault!

Damn you, Loki! She thought as the palace doors closed behind her.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Poseidon's already terrible mood was down in the trenches by the time the meeting was over and everyone was leaving. He watched, irked, as Zeus rose from his throne and stretched his back. The sound of bones cracking grated in his ears.

"This meeting could've been an email," he deadpanned.

"Aww, but I couldn't help it, Poseidon! I just really missed having the family all together!" Zeus pouted, which looked hideous on his saggy wrinkled face.

"I should've let Adamas kill you," he scowled.

"Poseidon," Hades sighed. "What did I tell you about death threats?"

"Don't start with me," he glared at him next.

"What if Percy picks up on that?" Hades scolded him. "She's a good girl. I don't want her going around threatening to kill people because she's seen her father do it and thinks it's okay."

"She's not a complete idiot," he rolled his icy blue eyes. He almost felt insulted on her behalf.

Sure his daughter wasn't the brightest, but she was diligent in her studies and her efforts showed—unless they involved doing the most basic of arithmetic (she still couldn't do fractions). She wasn't stupid enough to copy every single thing he did. In fact, she was the complete opposite of him.

She was too soft. Too nice. Too happy and bright. She was full of flaws and lacking in perfection, but didn't seem to care. Her frail mortality didn't seem to faze her either. He had no idea how someone like her came from him.

"Oh?" A smirk curled over Zeus' lips. "Are you defending her? Finally starting to warm up to her, are we?"

Poseidon scoffed. "I barely tolerate her. She is insolent. And she's lucky to be alive."

"Poseidon," Hades' frown was sharp. "I know you're not fond of other people, but Percy isn't just anyone. She's your daughter. You are her father and the only parent she has. Be kind to her."

Poseidon gritted his teeth together. It had been a very long time since he had been scolded like this by his elder brother. It wasn't a good feeling to experience again.

"If you won't start acting like a better father, then I'll take her in," Hades threatened.

"No," Poseidon said, too quickly for his liking. He nearly bit through his cheek when he heard Zeus snickering. Ugh. Why did that brat have to be here to witness this?

"Then be better. Or I will adopt her." Hades said sternly. He disappeared in a column of dark fumes.

"Oh I love it when it's your turn to get scolded," Zeus smiled.

"Mother should've aborted you," Poseidon said coldly, shooting him a scathing look before leaving the room, ignoring Zeus' dramatic cry of, "I'm telling her you said that!"

Be a better father, Hades had said. Wasn't he doing that already? He hadn't abandoned her. He had given her a home, food, and an excellent education. He wasn't like Kronos.

He entered the courtyard only to stop.

The courtyard was empty.

Percy was gone.

Poseidon remained calm. He looked to the left, then looked to the right. Still no sign of her. Her aura, a more gentler version of his own, couldn't be sensed anywhere in the vicinity.

He felt his eye twitch in annoyance.

Grumbling under his breath about disobedient daughters, he pulled out his phone, and called the one person who he knew would be responsible for this.

"Poseidon?" Hades' voice could be heard from the other end.

"Did you kidnap my daughter again?" He asked in an accusing voice.

"No?"

"Oh."

"Why are you asking me this?" Hades asked, sounding suspicious now.

"...I lost Percilla in Valhalla." He admitted.

— author's note —

I know it's almost been ten chapters, but I SWEAR Poseidon and Percy's relationship is gonna get better soon! Like, very soon! Maybe...

(And for those waiting to see what's going on with pjo!Poseidon, don't worry. I haven't forgotten about him. We will be seeing him later on too!)

Apollo will be meeting her a lot later tho! Percy and Poseidon need to warm up to each other first 💖

I GOT MORE FAN MEMES EVERYONE!!!!

From Noodle_19:

From Luna99:

Thank you for all of them!!!