No memes today 🥲 the last two weeks were so draining I couldn't even think of any memes to make 

THE GREEK GODS GATHERED IN the Conference Hall of Olympus. Every Grecian god was here, except for one.

Mnemosyne's green eyes darted to the radiant golden throne that was just a few seats away from Zeus'. Apollo's throne was, as usual, empty. He rarely ever attended meetings like these, and being Zeus' 'Golden Boy' allowed him to get away with it.

Not that Mnemosyne minded. Zeus rarely called for his pantheon to gather in council and only ever did it for important reasons. Today's topic? Percy Jackson.

The thought of Apollo being here when she was the topic of the conference made Mnemosyne feel a little... anxious. While the Curse of Achilles didn't exist here, it existed back in Percy's world and the original bearer of the curse had been taken down by Apollo. He always had a knack for finding weaknesses after all. So as long as he kept his distance, as long as he wasn't interested in her, Percy would be safe.

(From him, at least. There were still many dangers in this world after all.)

"Hmm, looks like Apollo's the only one absent," Zeus murmured, looking around at all the occupied thrones.

"As always..." Hermes sighed, shaking his head in disapproval.

(It astounded Mnemosyne how different this Hermes was compared to the one Percy knew. She idly wondered how he would feel if he were to learn that he had a counterpart out there who wore tracksuits rather than formal butler attire...)

"It's fine," Zeus waved a hand dismissively. He pounded his gavel against the wooden block, signaling that the meeting was about to start.

Soon, everything fell into a quiet hush.

"My fellow gods," he greeted all of them with a wobbly smile. "I've called you here today to talk about an interesting new development. First of all, my big brother Poseidon has finally entered fatherhood! Let's give him a round of applause!"

No one clapped.

Instead, everyone—aside from the handful that already heard of the news (probably through gossip or meeting the child in person)—dropped their mouths in horror. Some of them even looked like they were about to cry.

Mnemosyne winced. She really couldn't blame them for the reaction. If she never knew about Percy and was told point-blank that the most fearsome god in all the pantheons had sired a demon spawn of his own, she'd be pissing in her toga too.

Because let's be honest, one Poseidon was bad enough. Now add on a miniature version of him that would soon grow up to be just as terrifying as their father? No thanks. She nearly fainted when she first heard of it herself.

One god managed to cut through the silence.

"That's great!" Heracles, sweet, wonderful Heracles, beamed up at his adoptive uncle. "Congrats, Lord Uncle Poseidon! When will they debut?*"

Ah, the debut ball. It was customary for every newborn godling to have a debut party once they reached adulthood (which, for a god, only took a few years to achieve). In Percy's case however...

Zeus cleared his throat, sensing that the blonde wouldn't respond. "Before we get into that, there's a few other things we must discuss. Most of you may remember an incident around two weeks ago about an intruder using the bifrost. Well, there was no intruder. What actually happened that night was the birth of Poseidon's daughter, Percilla, who was created via the bifrost. She was also born fully grown."

At this, Athena straightened up in interest. Other gods began murmuring to themselves as well, curious.

"However..." He trailed off. "We have recently discovered that Percilla is a demigod, but not like my Heracles once was or like the Valkyries. When I say 'demigod', I mean it quite literally in her case. She is biologically half-human and half-god."

The curious mutters quickly turned into cries of dissent. Gods wore looks of disgust while only some looked genuinely confused on how such a thing could happen. It all stopped when Poseidon looked over, and the whole room fell quiet again.

Hades glanced over to the side. "Beelzebub."

Summoned, Beelzebub rose from the shadows beside the King of the Netherworld's throne. The already tense conference room became even more tense at his presence. Beelzebub was a widely feared god just like Poseidon was, but Poseidon, at least, was respected. Beelzebub was feared and hated.

Wary glares were sent his way as he stepped forward to speak.

"With permission from Lord Poseidon, I was able to study his daughter. Through a saliva sample I got from her, I discovered that half of Percilla's DNA is purely mortal while the other half is made up of divine ichor," he began. "I don't have answers as to why this is, but I do have a theory. The bifrost was nearly destroyed centuries ago and has yet to be fully repaired. If the bifrost truly did create her, then the damages it sustained could have led to her ascension being incomplete."

Heracles raised a hand. "Has the child been hurt in any way from this?" He asked, genuinely concerned. He seemed to be the only god, aside from Mnemosyne, who didn't care about Percy's half-blood status.

"So far, Percilla seems to suffer no physical impairments." But she may be lacking neurologically, Beelzebub mentally added, remembering her many, many weird antics. And he had only met the girl three times. Perhaps the incomplete ascension fried a couple of brain cells.

Heracles seemed relieved by the answer and settled back down on his throne.

Another silence befell them, each god trying to register every word that was being said.

Everyone was too afraid to speak up, but Mnemosyne could tell what they were all thinking: how could someone as perfect as Poseidon have such an imperfect offspring?

A few weeks ago, she would've thought the same thing. But watching every second of Percy's awful life had humbled her, made her kinder, more human in a way. Looking through the memories of someone was like a double-edged sword; she got to know all the ways to break a person but it also made her empathize with them on a more personal level because it was like she had lived their life alongside them. She knew of their pain because she had felt it herself.

Percy Jackson was not 'Poseidon's defective daughter'. She was a shining beacon of light, and Mnemosyne did not want that light to be tampered with in any way. She did not want it to dim, to die out, to fade away. Because she knew very well that if Percy remained here in this cruel world any longer, there would be no saving that light. The Savior of Olympus would become just another victim of the gods.

(Ever since she met Percy, she had been feeling like one of those foster mothers back in Midgard who adopted a child from an abusive home; the kind of mother who wanted to shelter their new child and bring back the innocence that had been snatched away from them so unfairly.)

"Do not be mistaken," Poseidon finally spoke, pulling her away from her thoughts. Everyone was listening on with rapt attention now. Zeus may be the ruler of everyone in Valhalla, but Poseidon was the one everyone obeyed without question. "My daughter may be half human, but no one is to touch her. She is mine."

Hearing him say this made Mnemosyne inwardly scoff bitterly. His eyes lacked any warmth, there was no fatherly love evident anywhere. He didn't speak like a father wanting to protect his daughter, but an emperor trying to protect his territory. Percy meant nothing to him. It wasn't surprising, but Mnemosyne could feel a pang of pity in her heart; she knew how badly Percy yearned for the love of her real father back home. This would be like another rejection to her.

Heracles bravely spoke up, "When will we get to meet her, Lord Uncle?" Despite being threatened, he sounded eager to meet his new cousin.

"That may not be possible... since my brother refuses to return her." Poseidon's voice came out venomous at the end. To everyone's surprise, his glare wasn't directed at Zeus this time, but at Hades.

"Oh?" Zeus grinned, sensing that drama about to unfold. "What's this about, brothers?"

Beelzebub sighed. "After I broke the news about Percilla's half-blood status to them, Hades took it upon himself to take Percy to his home in Helheim and keep her there for an indefinite amount of time for her safety."

Oh, the gods immediately straightened up. This is gonna be good. The Greeks were always suckers for drama after all.

"Can I have my daughter back now?" Poseidon scowled. "Or have you decided that you want to keep this niece too?"

"Percy makes a wonderful addition to my family," Hades mused, a happy smile on his face. He laced his fingers together, his lavender eyes glinting darkly. "Perhaps, I should keep her around longer."

The armrests on Poseidon's chair cracked loudly under his strong grip.

"You have been keeping her in your palace for a week now," he growled. "Return her."

Demeter harrumphed loudly and crossed her arms. "I bet he raped this one too," she muttered bitterly.

The armrests finally shattered. "Have you?" Poseidon demanded from his brother.

"Of course not," Hades replied calmly, still smiling.

Mnemosyne watched on worriedly. This was why she wanted Percy to leave as quickly as possible. This world was not like her own. Her gods were jerks and neglectful parents at worst, but time had clearly tempered them.

But in this world, time had only made the gods crueler.

Gods couldn't care less about what was right and wrong. They did whatever they wanted and they didn't care about such frivolous things like consent. It was a laughable concept to them. Meanwhile, Percy was raised amongst the humans. Her morals centered around human values. To live amongst the gods while raised in such a sheltered way... Mnemosyne worried it might break her like it had done to countless other mortals who had been forced into the gods' sights.

Hades chuckled at Poseidon's irritated expression. "Relax, brother. I will return your daughter at once. You shall expect her back today."

"Good," however, Poseidon did not relax. "I will go back to Helheim with you to retrieve her then."

He nodded. "If that's what you wish."

And that seemed to be the end of it, much to the disappointment of many.

"Percilla's debut ball shall be held sometime within the year! In the meantime, everyone is dismissed!" Zeus announced, slamming his gavel down with finality.

The gods started to rise from their thrones to leave the room. Poseidon had yet to leave. In fact, he looked to be having a one-sided glare off with an innocently smiling Hades.

This is my chance, Mnemosyne thought. She got up and strode to the front of the room, where the Big Three brothers' thrones resided.

"Lord Poseidon," she called out, which was pretty brave of her considering that he clearly was not in the mood for chatter.

His stare was cold, but she could sense the annoyance radiating off of him in waves.

"What is it." He asked in a clipped tone.

"It's about Percy," she began. In the corner of her eye, she could see Hades and Zeus pause to watch them in interest. "I was wondering when I can see her again? Perhaps she could visit me this time?"

Poseidon was quick to dismiss her. "I'm uninterested in scheduling my daughter's playdates. Goodbye now," before she could say another word, he disappeared in a geyser of water.

She suppressed the urge to groan. Well, she tried. At least he didn't kill her.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

SVARGA
SHIVA'S PALACE

The second the words left his beloved Parvati's lips, Shiva spat out the water he had been in the middle of drinking. "POSEIDON REPRODUCED?!"

Parvati nodded enthusiastically, all the jewelry she was wearing jingling loudly. "Uh huh!"

"No way," Durga was wide-eyed. "The guy's good-looking and all—"

Shiva let out a dramatic gasp as he sputtered in denial, "—He is not that good-looking—"

"—Hush, Shiva," Durga was quick to shut him up before continuing to where she left off, "But no woman's crazy enough to reproduce with that asshole."

"How did you even learn about this, Parvati?" Kali asked curiously, tilting her head.

"I heard from Amaterasu, who heard from Guanyin, who heard from Sif, who heard from Aphrodite who was at the meeting the Greeks had, and Zeus announced it himself that Poseidon had sired a female child with the bifrost!" She explained all in one breath.

"Poseidon fucked the bifrost?!" Shiva said incredulously.

"No—well, yes? Maybe? I think so? I don't really know."

"How do you even fuck the bifrost?" He wondered aloud.

"You better not try to find out," Durga gave him some serious side-eye.

He raised all four of his hands in defense, "Relax, babe! I'm not gonna go around having sex with... supposedly sentient gates. Geez, even saying it out loud sounds weird. Why would Poseidon fuck a gate?"

"We don't know for sure," Kali corrected.

"But listen! That's not all!" Parvati leaned forward. "Apparently, Hades—"

ASGARD
ODIN'S PALACE

"—tried to keep his niece in Helheim!" Loki giggled maniacally. He hovered over his uncle's throne, legs dangling playfully as he continued to laugh.

"Loki..." Odin let out a heavy sigh.

Odin wasn't fond of rumors and gossip and he certainly didn't want to partake in such frivolous activities. Unfortunately for him, Thor was gone and Loki didn't have anyone else to annoy but him. Even worse was that his two trusted ravens were eating it all up too.

"According to 'dite, Poseidon was sooo pissed," he snickered. "I don't blame him. Hades does have a track record of kidnapping his brother's daughters."

Huginn squawked, "Track record? He's literally only done it once before."

Loki waved that off. "Whatever. Anyway, Hades held her in Helheim for a week without her father's permission."

"And did he return her?" Huginn asked.

"Unmolested?" Muninn added.

He shrugged. "Supposedly, Hades didn't touch her, but her purity is still in question. I heard from Hermes that Poseidon sent a missive to Artemis to come to Atlantis to see if Hades was telling the truth."

"Why was the child with Hades and not her father?" Odin couldn't help but ask.

Loki's grin widened. "Well, you see—"

THE ISLAND OF DELOS
APOLLO'S FOUNTAIN

"—it's because Poseidon's daughter is half-human and half-god so Hades kept her in Helheim in fear of Poseidon's reaction!" A beautiful naiad finished. Most of her naked body was submerged under the steaming water, her breasts pressed against a beautiful god's arm.

Apollo, who had been in the middle of gathering up his rose gold hair into a towel, paused. He wasn't sure if he heard that right. "She's what?"

"Half-human and half-god," she repeated, nodding rapidly. "It's biological and everything!"

"That creepy Devil confirmed it himself!" Another nymph chimed in.

"Poseidon's daughter... is a half-breed?" He gagged in disgust. "How did such a thing even happen? I thought that sort of demigod was impossible!"

"I don't know either, but Lord Beelzebub was certain of it." A dryad shrugged. "Apparently, the girl—her name's Percilla by the way—was the cause of the ruckus with the bifrost two weeks ago."

"They think the bifrost created her alongside Poseidon's essence! But because it was nearly destroyed by that awful human a long time ago, it messed with her ascension!" An aurae let out a dramatically sad sigh. "That poor thing... To be half-human... I heard from Loki that Hades said she had a mortal soul. I can't imagine having such a pitiful lifespan."

"I'm surprised my uncle hasn't killed her yet!" Apollo exclaimed as he pinned his long hair up above the water (while also making a mental note to apply Aphrodite's hair oil on it afterwards). "Is she truly not dead?"

"Mmhmm. Her debut ball should be sometime within the year, I heard," another naiad nodded. "It's because she was born fully grown."

"Not exactly," a dryad shook her head. "I heard from another pond nymph that she managed to catch a glimpse of the girl when she first arrived in Valhalla. She was neither an adult or child. She was a... what do humans call it again?"

"A senior citizen?"

"No, no, younger than that... Tee... tee... Oh! Teenager! She is a teenager!" She snapped her fingers. "She said the botched ascension could've gotten in the way of her growth as well!"

A nymph whispered, "What is a teenager?"

"It's a silly term the humans made up," Apollo rolled his eyes. "Apparently it's the 'in-between' of childhood and adulthood. Or something like that. Honestly, humans and their many useless words..."

The girls giggled.

"I am rather curious about the girl," Apollo mused, leaning back against the side of the pool. "If she's Poseidon's daughter, then she must be beautiful. But then again, she's also half-human, which means she could be hideous as well. Perhaps she's just average..."

"Heey," one of the nymphs whined. "Lord Apollo! Don't talk about other girls when we're here!"

"Oh forgive me, my beautiful ladies. I didn't mean to make you jealous," he crooned sweetly, his melodious voice making the women clench their thighs together.

He drew one of them close to his chest while another was already latching her lips to his neck.

He'll have to sate his curiosity over Poseidon's daughter later. For now, he wanted to indulge himself.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Percy was trying very hard not to show how eager she was to leave when Persephone told her that Poseidon was coming to take her back home, but that all went flying out the window the second she saw him teleport into the foyer alongside Hades.

She couldn't help it. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around Poseidon. An irked expression appeared on his face. He reached out to yank her away, but something made him pause. Usually Percy would've greeted him with an annoying 'hi daddy!' before hugging him, but now she was oddly... quiet.

Her grip was tight around him, and her body seemed to tense when Hades chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.

Instead, he tugged at the back of her top. She got the message and slowly pulled away. He was quick to notice the lack of brightness in her expression.

"What is wrong with you." He asked blankly.

"Nothing," she replied, her voice strangely subdued and lacking a cheery tone. "Just ready to come home."

"Before that," Hades spoke up. "Zagreus. Girls. Come say goodbye to your cousin."

Percy tried not to wince. Shit. She was hoping to avoid any more interaction with Zagreus before she left.

She said her goodbyes, giving Melinoe and Makaria a genuine smile which then became forced when she turned to Zagreus. Over his shoulder, she could spy Persephone watching them closely, like she was hoping for a romantic moment to occur between them.

Not gonna happen.

"Bye, Zagreus," she said, smiling forcefully.

"Goodbye, Percy," he replied back. His hand twitched, as if he was holding himself back from grasping her hand to kiss her knuckles. He seemed to hesitate due to Poseidon's presence.

"Come," Poseidon ordered, pulling her closer to him. "Someone is waiting for us back at the palace."

She was about to ask who but they were immediately teleported away. She nearly cried once her skin was met with cool water. She was back under the sea at last.

I've never been so happy to be here again, she thought in relief.

She swam alongside Poseidon, using her powers to help keep up with the speed of his tail. He was leading her to the throne room, probably to meet with whoever this guest was.

The doors opened and they went in. There were already two figures waiting for them. One was Proteus who was speaking quietly with a woman who had a silvery tail.

"Lord Uncle," the goddess bowed in respect.

"Artemis," he acknowledged. He turned to Percy and motioned for her to swim forward.

She did, still wondering what this was about.

"Hello Percilla," Artemis smiled gently at her. "I am Artemis, daughter of Zeus and the eldest of the Archer Twins. Your father requested that I come see you to verify your maidenhood."

"My... my what?" Her eyes widened.

"It's just a precaution," she reassured. "He believes you may have been defiled while in Helheim. However," she looked up at Poseidon. "I am happy to report she has not."

Percy could feel her face, neck, and ears turn red. She realized if she hadn't been a virgin prior to coming here, Artemis would've reported it to Poseidon and he would've assumed Hades or someone else had assaulted her.

(Plus, having your dad ask someone to confirm whether or not your kid was a virgin was just straight up embarrassing. Especially when it was happening right in front of you!)

She stole a glance up at her 'father'. There was no relief in his eyes, just cold disinterest. She tried not to let it get to her, but this just confirmed that her father was not someone she could go to if things were to go... bad. Nor was he someone she could confide in about what Zagreus had attempted to do.

Suddenly it felt like she had been doused with cold water. Realization hit her like a truck.

She was all on her own in this world.

She couldn't rely on her 'father'. She thought she could rely on her uncle, but that turned out to be a mistake. She couldn't rely on her cousins either nor her aunt. Beelzebub was a big 'no' too. The only ones who she could probably trust were Mnemosyne and Brunhilde, but she couldn't even see them whenever she wanted.

If she got hurt, in any way, there was nobody for her to go to for help.

The realization was making her heart pound and her head go dizzy.

Poseidon was in the middle of dismissing Artemis when Percy suddenly left the throne room. The two gods went quiet.

"Is she quite alright?" Artemis asked curiously.

"..." Poseidon didn't reply.

She sighed. "I'll be taking my leave then, Lord Uncle. Good day."

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

It took Percy a couple of days to find out that there was a library here. She shouldn't have been surprised. This was a palace and her 'father' did seem like the quiet, nerdy type after all.

She was never really fond of reading—it was such a bore in her opinion—but she was beginning to take sanctuary in it. Her room was nice, but there wasn't really much to do aside from laying in bed and counting the seashells. Walking around the palace was out of the question too—she was too scared that she may run into Poseidon one day.

The good news was that most of the books she found were in Ancient Greek, the only language she could read without complication. She decided she might as well try to learn the difference between her world and this one.

She was just in the middle of learning about the creation of the universe when a shadow loomed over her.

Shit, she inwardly cursed, knowing who that shadow belonged to. She looked up and forced herself to smile. "Good afternoon, daddy."

"Finally decided to get out of your room, hmm," he drawled, cold blue eyes trailing over to the book in front of her. "I wasn't aware you could read."

Ouch.

He took the book from her and closed it (which was kinda rude since she didn't have a bookmark), then scanned the front cover.

"You're reading about us," he commented. 'Us' being the Greek pantheon.

"Yeah, uh..." She swallowed thickly. You're here to get information, she reminded herself. Might as well try and get it from the best source. "Why don't I have a mom?"

Translation: where the hell are Amphitrite and Triton? She didn't have much of a relationship with her... step-relatives and had only met them once, but it was weird not having them around in Atlantis. There was no mention of them either. Zeus had his wife and kids, so did Hades. But Poseidon... surely he wasn't ruling the empire on his own, right?

"Because you don't," was his unhelpful answer. "You are my child, created by the bifrost. There was no need for a mother."

"But... but what about Amphitrite? And Triton?"

He narrowed his eyes. "How do you know of those names?"

"I read about them," she lied swiftly. "From books at Beelzebub's house."

She sent a mental apology at Beelzebub for throwing him under the bus.

He scowled a bit. "I wasn't aware he was keeping those foolish human mythology books."

"I read a lot of those books, but they're all so different compared to what's really happening here..." She trailed off. "Can you, um, tell me about our history? So I can know what the humans got right and wrong?"

She wasn't doing this to get him to warm up to her, or to warm up to him. She was simply trying to gather information. That was all. Because this guy wasn't her father and he didn't really give a shit about her regardless.

To her absolute surprise, he actually relented to her request. She watched in stunned silence as he pulled out the chair across from her, and sat down.

"I killed Amphitrite eons ago. As for Triton, he was never my son," he said.

Her heart nearly stopped.

"You—huh? You killed Amphitrite?"

She had to have heard wrong. Amphitrite was a nymph turned goddess. She couldn't simply be killed. She could only fade away and that wasn't an easy thing to do either. But Poseidon sounded so certain of it, as if he really was responsible for erasing her existence. Of killing her.

"Are you not listening?" He sent her an annoyed look. "Yes. I killed her soon after the Titanomachy."

"The war...?"

"What? No, don't be ridiculous. It wasn't a war, it was a tournament."

"Huh?!"

He sighed in frustration. "Honestly, you need to stop reading those stories the humans wrote... It was called the Titanomachy Tournament. The Greek gods vs the Titans. Our side won, naturally. I went against Oceanus and killed him. Amphitrite was the granddaughter of Oceanus and wasn't pleased. She tried to overthrow me, wretched nereid, so I killed her. I killed her parents too and as for the other 49 nereids, I had no use for them so I enslaved them and gave them away to other men to be used."

That last part made her breath hitch. She knew what he was implying and it sent terror to her bones.

Amphitrite was gone. So were her parents, Doris and Nereus, and she didn't even want to think about the grim fate Poseidon had forced upon the remaining nereid sisters. All of them were just... gone. Even Oceanus, who was a Titan. Neither of them should've been killed—it shouldn't have been possible!

"B-but they're all immortal," she pointed out in disbelief. "Gods can't die!"

This wasn't right. Gods were immortal, they faded away! They weren't supposed to die like a human would!

"Incorrect," he stated factually, emotionless. "A god can only be killed by divine powers, or through a Divine Weapon."

His trident, she realized. She briefly wondered if her own weapon, Riptide, would be considered a Divine Weapon. Back home, it could hurt immortals. But would it be able to hurt the immortals here?

"And a Divine Weapon can only be forged by gods. Therefore, only a god can kill another god."

Well, shit.

"Can they reform?" She blurted out.

"Reform? No, of course not. Gods, demons, and other immortal beings are sent to Niflhel after they're destroyed. Where did you get that idea?"

"Another book I read," she lied. "In the book, I, um, read that gods can fade away from existence if people don't worship them anymore or if their domains are destroyed." Unless their will to live was strong enough, like Kronos', she thought bitterly.

"What?" Poseidon looked greatly offended, or as offended as he could look with that apathetic attitude of his. "Such drivel. Gods are the creators of the universe, we were born years before humanity was even created, why would our existence rely on their paltry worship? And if a god were to allow their domains to be diminished then they deserve to die."

"But that's not their fault!" She protested, incensed, remembering when she and her friends met the god Pan and remembering having to watch him fade away. It wasn't his fault that humans were wrecking the environment. He didn't deserve to fade away from that. "Some nature gods get their domains destroyed by humanity, you shouldn't say they deserve to die for something out of their control!"

"But you see, daughter, it is within their control." He said lowly, leaning forward. His eyes glowed with intensity. "They are a god. They should know better than to let filthy humans defile their domains. Are you aware of the state of Midgard right now?"

Quietly, she shook her head.

"My seas are untouched. Any human that dares to sully my territory will feel my wrath. I punish anyone who steps out of line. But the other nature gods?" He let out a scoff. "They let the humans do whatever they want. They complain about them cutting too many trees down, poisoning the air, or killing their animals. But that is all they do; complain while lavishing up in Valhalla. They let their domains be destroyed. I do not."

Oil spills. Water pollution. Overfishing. Was he saying that those issues didn't exist in this world? Because of him? She couldn't help but think back to the state of her dad's seas back home; all of those issues were so rampant that not even Poseidon could fix it with a snap of his fingers.

Poseidon leaned back, his fiercely glowing eyes returning to their normal frigid blue. "The very idea that gods need to rely on humans—the wretched beings that we created—to continue existing would be laughable were it not offensive. So no, daughter, we do not need them to live. In fact, we would be better off without them."

Percy was quiet.

Back home, the gods relied on demigods to stay alive or else they'd cease to exist. Mortals had already dismissed them as myths, but demigods knew that they were real. It was why gods continued to have half-bloods despite the grim fate they would be giving them.

But in here, demigods weren't necessary, they didn't even exist the same way they existed back home. Gods didn't need them to do their dirty work, they did it on their own, and they definitely didn't need humans to worship them. Nor did they need to rely on keeping the Western Civilization alive to keep themselves alive. In fact, from how Poseidon worded it, the gods could destroy all of humanity and be completely unaffected by it.

"You seem to be getting so much misinformation from those books," he murmured, rising up from the chair. "You may be a newborn, but I will not allow you to be ignorant. Proteus."

Not even a second later, Proteus was swimming through the doors of the library and making his way to the table.

"Yes, my lord?" He said.

"Teach Percilla our history," Poseidon ordered. "Also... she needs to start learning how to act like a proper princess. You are in charge of that as well."

He bowed his head. "Of course, my lord."

Poseidon finally swam out, but Percy was still gawking at the space he once occupied.

He wanted her to learn more about their history and how to act like a princess? But... but didn't that mean he was planning on keeping her around longer? Even though he clearly wanted to kill her for being 'defective'?

"I'm glad you're taking an interest in our history, my princess!" Proteus beamed, taking a seat in front of her. "And I'm honored to be your teacher. Let us begin the lesson right away! Firstly: The Creation of the Universe!"

Aw shit, she thought. And to think she managed to escape from school...

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

"You think she's been WHAT?!" Brunhilde's furious voice made the other Valkyrie sisters wince.

The Valkyries were at Mnemosyne's palace, looking through her library while also studying books that they had brought from Odin's palace. They have been trying to find any piece of information they could find to help bring Percy back to her original world, only for it all to come to a halt when Mnemosyne mentioned what had transpired in the Greeks' meeting a few days ago.

"Calm down. Don't worry, Percy hasn't been raped. Poseidon asked Artemis to confirm it and I just had a talk with her about it this morning," Mnemosyne explained.

"But why did Hades keep her in Helheim for so long?" The eldest Valkyrie wondered aloud, beginning to pace around the marble floors of the library.

"Sister, relax before you burn a hole on the floor with all your frequent walking," Hlokk huffed. "And what kinda question is that? You know what Lord Hades is like! He's a freakin' family-con or whatever they call it!"

"A what?" Thrud crinkled her nose.

"Family-con," Hlokk repeated. "No, seriously. That guy's obsessed with his family! He's a brocon the same way Lady Hestia's a siscon!"

"He's also a son-con, a daughter-con, and a niece-con too," Alvitr added, disgusted.

"A hardcore niece-con," Hrist mumbled under her breath. Hades really needed to stop abducting his brother's daughters because this was just getting ridiculous. How would he like it if someone went and kidnapped his daughters?

"Yes, yes, we get it. There's a lot of weird incest going on in the Greek pantheon, but let's not forget that there's a healthy dose of that in our own pantheon too, sisters," Reginleif reminded them, pushing her glasses up.

"I was hoping Percy and I would get a chance to speak again, but," Mnemosyne let out a disappointed sigh. "Poseidon won't let me see her."

"Even for a little visit?" Goll frowned. She was beginning to like Percy a lot after meeting her.

She shook her head. "His exact words were 'I'm uninterested in scheduling my daughter's playdates'," she repeated, mocking his deep, apathetic voice.

Thrud grimaced. "That guy sounds like a real piece of work."

"We don't call him the Tyrant of the Seas for nothing," Brunhilde snorted. "Anyway, back to the main objective: have we found anything yet?"

"I'm afraid not," Gondul reported softly. "Should we return to Odin's palace? There are still more books we have yet to read."

"But there's so much to read," Randgriz pointed out worryingly. "It would certainly help us loads if we could just... go to the bifrost ourselves. Surely there is something amiss with it. The bifrost has never done dimensional travel before."

Or at least, not they they know of. It was the whole reason they were here trying to gather information; to see if the bifrost has been capable of dimensional travel and how to make it do it again. They were also trying to see if there was another way to send her back if the bifrost idea wouldn't work. Teleportation spells, ancient magic—anything that could potentially help.

"We can't," Brunhilde sighed. "Only the Supreme Gods are allowed near the bifrost and I doubt they would give us permission to investigate the place."

"Could we... maybe ask Lord Odin?" Hlokk suggested.

Odin was known to be quite soft with the Valkyries, some would even say he treated them like his own daughters. But Brunhilde doubted he would allow them to be near the bifrost. He would be suspicious too, and they couldn't afford to have him asking questions about their intentions.

"Lady Mnemosyne?" Goll shyly spoke up. "You looked through Percy's memories right? Maybe she saw something wrong with the bifrost and just didn't realize it?"

Mnemosyne fell quiet and began to recall Percy's memories. She went back to the night of December 12. She had dinner with her mother and stepfather and most of the night was spent FaceTiming Anthonius Chase—a son of Athena and a boy she was harboring feelings for. It was late when she decided to sleep, around eleven o'clock.

Percy went to bed... and then promptly woke up after falling face-first in front of the bifrost.

She let out a sigh of frustration. "Unfortunately, she didn't get to see how she got here since she was asleep."

"But what about after?" Goll pressed.

Let's see... after the rough landing, Percy woke up. She managed to catch a glimpse of rainbow light from the bifrost before she got attacked by the guards.

"Nothing," she answered. "She caught a glimpse of the bifrost light disappearing which confirms that the bifrost is indeed responsible for sending her here but—"

"—Wait," Brunhilde blinked. "Does Percy's world have Norse gods too?"

"Percy doesn't have a clue," she replied. "Why are you aski—oh. Oh."

Goll looked between them. "Uh, what's 'oh'? What do you mean by 'oh'? Did you figure something out?!"

"If there are Norse gods in Percy's world, then that means there's a bifrost there too," Mnemosyne realized. "They could send her back home using that bifrost!"

"Would her demigod friends be able to figure that out?" Goll asked eagerly.

"Mmm... possibly not. I doubt they even know whether there are other pantheons in existence."

"That means we'll have to put our hopes into the gods of Percy's world," Brunhilde said grimly. "Mnemosyne, you've seen them in her memories. Do you think they're capable of piecing this together and getting her back on their own?"

Mnemosyne thought back to Percy's Olympians. The Big Three couldn't even hold a proper conversation without starting petty arguments, Zeus was a paranoid idiot, Hades probably wouldn't even be invited to any important discussions, and the other gods were either just as chaotic, or simply wouldn't care.

Brunhilde saw the look on her face and already knew what the answer would be.

"I take it we're back to square one then," she deadpanned.

"Oh yes, definitely." 

— author's note —

* You know how WMMAP had a debutante ball chapter? We're having that here too! (Some important stuff is gonna happen during the ball hehe)

Yes, Hades was actually keeping Percy in his home longer than he should've. Poseidon thought she would come back after she stayed the night, but Hades was like "nope! You're not getting her back! Teehee! 💖" He was lying to her about "keeping her safe from Poseidon", he just wanted an excuse to have her stay longer lol

And yes he was fully ready to keep Percy in Helheim forever with him whether she liked it or not. Thankfully, Percy was smart enough not to eat the food on her first night there and had Hades remove the curse

ALSO! The whole "we don't need to rely on humanity to keep existing" is going to be VERY important in this book :)