Climb (Percy Jackson x Reader)

one

✺ ONE-WAY GLASS ✺

The time had come for fate to unfold.

It was prophesied long ago, and now the gods were meant to watch the story run its course.

As the Son of the Sea pursued his quest for the Golden Fleece, the rulers of Olympus were called by their mighty ruler, the lord of the skies, the all-powerful—

"This is bullshit, Zeus," Poseidon interrupts, lounging in his chair.

Demeter snickers, flicking a straw-gold curl away from her temple. Hera fights a grin, wiping her expression to indifference when her husband shoots her an annoyed glance.

Zeus sighs, ignoring the urge to smite his brother. "I have summoned you all," he restarts, looking over the five other gods in the meeting chamber, "because our services are bound to be necessary. As the Fates declared, 'The power must combine—'"

"Yes, yes, we know," Poseidon brushes off, resting his chin on his fist. "Our power must combine. Somehow. Sometime. Either we save Olympus or we don't. No one should ask you to summarize things."

"All our power," Zeus says, his master bolt crackling gently as he squeezes it in restraint. "And we seem to be missing someone." His gaze flits over Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, and Demeter to look pointedly at the empty chair, onyx-framed with dramatic blood-red cushioning. "Where is Hades?" he asks, turning to Hecate, also present per his request.

She looks at the god of the skies, her eyes distant. "He comes."

Zeus instantly glares at Poseidon to halt the immature response before it escapes.

A fog of shadows creeps under the large doors that mark the room's entrance, and the blazing torches lining the chamber walls darken to purple.

Hera rolls her eyes.

The golden doors slam open, revealing a leather-clad god as he strides into the room. Hades grins, his teeth gleaming. "Hello, my lovely siblings!" he says, extending his arms in greeting. "Ah," he turns to the entryway, gesturing to the goddess behind him.

"Persephone," Demeter breathes, standing. The goddess of the spring walks over, clasping her mother's hands with a smile.

Hecate moves towards them, bowing respectfully to Persephone. "My lady," she says, chuckling at the spring goddess' dismissal of the formality.

Hades nods to Hera in greeting, his eyes skimming over Zeus before landing on Poseidon. "You do know," he starts, pointing accusingly at the sea god, "that your son caused me quite a bit of grief a few years ago."

"I'm aware," Poseidon grins smugly, "but I believe that your stepdaughter did a fair amount of that, as well."

Hades shrugs, waving it off. "Yes, well, here we are, regardless." He waves for Persephone. "Come, love."

The goddess smiles, moving away from her mother and taking Hades' outstretched hand. He guides her to his vacant seat, allowing her to sit. Branches weave upward from the floor, creating a chair for him, and Hades takes it with a grin.

"Thank you, my queen," he says, lightly kissing her knuckles.

Every god, with the exception of Hecate, looks at the Underworld's rulers in disbelief.

"I'm sorry—when, exactly, did this happen?" Hera asks, gesturing between the two.

"I thought you hated him," Hestia says to Persephone, her voice quiet and mystical as always.

"Is everything all right, darling?" Demeter asks, her fingers brushing over the scythe by her armrest.

"I'm fine," Persephone reassures, her hand clasping Hades', "truly. We just . . . we had a few talks, spent some time apart to figure everything out separately, and then . . . he managed to win me over."