Chapter 30

Manhattan, New York

August 18th, 11:34 PM

Percy's POV (3rd)

As the last of the monsters retreated, thunder started booming from above. Lightning fell down in the hundreds and a deep laugh echoed throughout the world. Ouranos has awakened.

Lightning struck demigod after demigod, killing them instantly. They immediately took to the buildings, hiding away from the wrath of the primordial of the sky.

Ouranos started to take a physical form, clouds began to condense together in the vague shape of a man. Golden wings made of the wind formed on Ouranos' back and a sword made of thunder appeared in his hands. When the sword landed in his hands, the clouds started to harden and began to resemble pale skin.

When the process was finished, Ouranos could've passed for a human - if he wasn't fifteen feet tall, bulging with muscles, wearing golden wings and holding a sword made of lightning. Ouranos shot up into the sky, going straight through the barrier he constructed and reaching Olympus.

Percy Jackson was hot on his tail, he immediately ran into the Empire State Building and grabbed the key card hidden behind the desk. Percy tried to touch the elevator button going up, but he was knocked back by an impossibly strong gust of wind.

Percy took a better look at the door and realized that there was a continually present wall of wind there, preventing anything from getting near it. Scythe in hand, he slowed time all around him to a near crawl and walked towards the elevator. Even in its slowed state, the wind pushed against Percy, trying to keep him away from the elevator doors. Percy didn't have time for this, he slammed his scythe into the marble floor, further slowing time.

The wind wasn't even strong enough to bother a fly. Percy sprinted towards the elevator and pushed the up button. When the elevator finally arrived, he ran through the doors, inserted the key card and pushed the button to the 600th floor. The elevator started moving painstakingly slow.

Percy spent the next three minutes listening to Apollo singing Led Zepplein's Stairway to Heaven until the doors finally opened, relieving Perseus of his punishment. Percy tried to escape the elevator but ran into a bright blue force field that knocked him back into the elevator car; he assumed this was what kept the gods trapped on Olympus.

He slammed the end of his scythe into the force field, channeling the power of destruction into the ancient weapon. The weapon hit true and cracks spread throughout the barrier. Percy slammed the butt of his scythe into the barrier over and over again, destroying the blue wall piece by piece. With one final shout he slammed the black wood one last time in a powerful overhead strike. The barrier surrounding Olympus collapsed, allowing anyone to come and go as they pleased.

As Percy ran towards the throne room, he looked around the grand city of Olympus and found it in ruins; statues were destroyed and many buildings were nothing more than dust, it reminded him eerily of the time Kronos made his way through Olympus. Percy heard fighting from the throne room and immediately picked up his pace.

As he barged through the throne room doors, he found most of the gods incapacitated; Ares was lying in a pool of his ichor near the door - Aphrodite was next to him. Demeter, Hestia, Dionysus, Hera and Hephaestus were all unconscious in their thrones. Hermes was halfway through one of the marble walls next to Athena, who was also bleeding profusely. Apollo was firing golden arrows into Ouranos while Zeus, Hades and Artemis fought the Primordial hand to hand.

Zeus used his master bolt like a sword, swinging the godly weapon wildly at Ouranos, Hades had summoned his helm of darkness and swung an actual sword made of stygian iron while Artemis used her hunting knives, elegantly dancing around Ouranos with skill only acquired through thousands of years of practice.

The sky god fended off all these attacks with ease, dodging, blocking and parrying their attacks as fast as lighting. Percy just hoped his plan would work. Percy threw his throwing knife at the sky god, hoping to catch him by surprise and maybe get a lucky hit in, evidently, today wasn't his lucky day. Ouranos unleashed a wave of power, knocking all the gods away and sending his knife flying out the throne room, "Perseus Jackson, I'm so glad you could join us."

The blast knocked Zeus and Hades off their feet, sending them back a couple yards. Apparently it wasn't Artemis' lucky day either; she had been too close to Ouranos and had been sent flying into the wall. Apollo immediately dropped his bow and went to check his unconscious twin for any injuries. Ouranos let out a long, maniacal laugh, "I am so excited that you're here. I must say, I am curious, what hope do you cling to young demigod? Even now, away from the sky and my domain, I am more powerful than you can imagine. What drives your never ending ambition to protect these so called gods?

"When I sent you to Tartarus, you could've easily left at any given point, but you stayed. You stayed to slaughter The Horde, an ancient race that even your gods don't even know about. Tell me Perseus, what makes the slaughter of billions worth it? Your fragile mortal mind has been pushed past its limits and beyond, it's a miracle you haven't been driven to insanity. You stayed in Tartarus for longer than you even know," Ouranos started laughing again, "and you're a Lord of Time!

"You - a mere mortal - have slain more immortals than this entire council combined, for what? You Perseus are in a never ending cycle of war and death, and these gods gave you partial immortality, forcing you to walk among the living while your friends and family perish."

Percy allowed for Ouranos to continue his rant while his plan was put into place. The words of the Primordial meant nothing to Perseus, he already told them to himself every night. "Yes but I have seen what these Olympians have not. Behind that helm and visor, and all of those walls you've put up, you're tired. You're tired of fighting, of being the hero, of living, but you never can die, can you? No. Your gods won't allow the one thing you crave the most: Peace. Lay down your weapons and submit to me Perseus, and I will grant you the quick death you desire."

Percy had to admit, Ouranos made him a good offer, but he knew that now wasn't the time to be selfish. Percy stomped his foot, sending a small tremor throughout the entirety of Olympus. Acting on his unspoken cue, two more immortals dropped through the ceiling and onto the battle field. Now was their one chance of defeating Ouranos, "Use the chains!"

Poseidon and Iapetus had came through the roof, both holding godly level celestial bronze chains in each hand. They both landed on Ouranos and wrapped both of his arms in the celestial bronze. Poseidon tossed another chain to Zeus and Iapetus gave one to Hades. Together, the four immortals brought a subdued Ouranos to the ground and wrapped his arms and legs in the celestial bronze chains as Perseus made his way across the throne room, twirling his scythe, "Hold him still."

Perseus took his helmet off and started chanting in a language he didn't understand. As the words flowed off his tongue, his voice amplified a hundred times over, "Ouranos, Guardian of The Heavens, Primordial of The Sky, your existence on this Earth is forbidden. The Laws of The Ancients prohibit your presence in the mortal world; Time has been chosen to remedy this mistake." Percy's eyes had turned golden, pulsing with the barely contained power of Time.

As Kronos had done before him, Percy began cutting Ouranos into pieces.

The Primordial of The Sky howled in pain, his cries shaking the Earth. He was at the complete mercy of Perseus Jackson, the celestial bronze chains restricting any movement or use of his powers. With each slice of his scythe, the unrivaled power of Time ran rampant throughout Ouranos' body, destroying any piece of his being that was removed. With each slash, Ouranos' consciousness was being ripped away as his essence and soul were destroyed.

Percy spent the next hour cutting Ouranos into pieces, removing the essence from his body, piece by piece. When he was finished, Ouranos turned into a black dust, never to walk to mortal world again. Percy dropped his scythe and looked down at his hands, not believing what he had done. Killing someone and sending them to the void was one thing - it was a necessary evil. But slowly ripping a being's soul out his body, removing his essence - the very structure of his immortal body - and destroying his mind, was something completely else.

He stiffly walked over to the Hearth and sat down, not hearing Poseidon or Apollo calling his name. He spent a long time sitting there, coming to terms with what he had done. It took him hours of contemplating to accept what had happened, the power of the Hearth helping him clear his mind.

By the time he came back to reality, the award ceremony was well on its way, "- the Olympian Council had decided to pardon you for all of your past crimes. You, Iapetus, Titan of Mortality, are free to roam the Earth once more." Cheering could be heard from behind Perseus, apparently there was a crowd.

As the applause died down, Zeus started speaking again, "Someone check if Perseus is back yet." Dionysus jumped off his throne, thyrsus in hand. Being poked by a wine god was something Perseus would not stand for, "If you touch me with that stick, I'll shove it so far up your podex Apollo wouldn't be able to get it out."

Percy got up from his spot and walked over to the middle of the room, not bothering to bow to any of the gods. He knew he was more powerful than any of the gods, he had no reason to fear or respect them; Percy assumed the only reason they didn't bow to him was the ichor running through their veins and the blood running through his.

As Percy walked, he had slowed time all around him, making his stroll seem a lot longer than it actually was. He was really sick of the gods, they're mostly assholes, but some of them are cool. Percy didn't want to ruin the friendships he had with any of the decent gods by 'blatantly disrespecting them', so he decided to subtly disrespect them.

"Perseus Jackson. For your heroic acts during and before the war, we - the Olympian Council - have decided to grant you one, undeniable wish - as long as it's within our power." It didn't take Percy long to decide what he wanted, however it did take him a while to decide how he wanted to say it.

He decided on the classic approach, "Leave me alone." Percy turned on his heel and walked out the door, giving Zeus the one finger salute.

"He can't just do that!"

"He can do that?"

"Pedro is leaving?"

"Who does he think he is?"

"What -"

That was all Perseus had heard before the throne room doors closed behind him. Percy went down the elevator one last time before he walked away, Zoë on his heels. That was the last the world would see of Perseus Jackson for a long time