A short drabble about Poseidon, and why he is a paradox.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Paradox

He is a god, of course, an immortal being. Because of this, he is prone to anger. However, unlike most of the other gods and goddesses, he refuses to allow anger to completely consume his entire system. For there is center of every storm, a calm, an eye of the storm.

Nevertheless, at other instances, he seems excessively calm and peaceful, comparable to the ocean before a tsunami, where the ocean suddenly recedes, before coming back in a wave of fury and devastation. Appearances can be deceiving.

Poseidon keeps his stress and bottles it up, although he must vent from time to time, when the pressure is too much for him to handle. For is it not earthquakes, underwater tectonic plates releasing pressure, that cause tsunamis?

Poseidon is a god, he can be angry, but he can also be calm at the same time, in a paradoxical way.

Poseidon is predictable, to a certain extent. Like the gods, he never really changes; he stays as the immortal god of the seas. He can be expected to stay that way- he is a god.

At times, he can be as predictable as the tides; he can be soothing in his regularity, even boring. However, without warning, a strong current, a riptide, can arise unexpectedly, and take you by surprise, then disappear without another notice. He is unlike the majority of the Olympians-he is open to change, but at the same time, he can also be stubborn, refusing to do things another way, he will only do things his way.

Poseidon is a god, he can be predictable, but also extremely volatile at the same time, in a paradoxical way.

To an ordinary mortal, Poseidon would just appear as a well-tanned fisherman, or perhaps surfer. To a clear-sighted mortal, he would appear to be holding a trident. To a half-blood or god, he would be Poseidon, the father of Horses, the Lord of Earthquakes, Storms, and the Ruler of the Sea. Even though he appears to be a powerful and amazing god, Poseidon is traumatized. His emotions are crushed inside him, like a rock at the very bottom of the sea, crushed by the water pressure. His emotions cannot escape easily, and there are only shallow reservoirs near the surface, emotions that he permits to escape.

It is funny how most people never look past a small barrier, only at the pretense that he puts up. Maybe they only see what they want to see. If they would wait for the water to settle, if they would look for another moment, if they would see with open eyes, they would see all of the bottled emotions that he has.

They would see the anger and betrayal at being swallowed by Kronos, his own father. The helplessness and humiliation of being in someone's stomach, and not being able to do anything about it. The feeling of victory and revenge when Kronos was cut up and sent to Tartarus. The joy of finding a wife of his own- Amphitrite, the Nereid. The regret and despair when Theseus held him to his word and he was forced to kill his own grandson. If they looked past the barrier, they would feel his joy when he learned that his own son, Perseus Jackson, saved Olympus from Kronos, forever ensuring his name in history.

However, no one has looked past that barrier that he puts up. So the emotions stay where they are, bottled up inside him.

Poseidon is a god, he is innocent, but also deeply traumatized at the same time, in a paradoxical way.

Poseidon is like the ocean that he governs, he can be two opposing things at once but no one cares; maybe he is, like the ocean, too vast to fully understand, or care about. However, having two emotions at the same time, emotions that are the polar opposites of each other, is impossible. Poseidon exists, and just by existing, he is a paradox, a contradiction.

Thanks to all of my reviewers and alerters! Sorry for the long wait and short drabble, I ran out of ideas, and I'm a slow writer. I'm still working on my multi-chaptered story ideas, the first chapter of one of them should go up in a couple weeks or so. Please review, as it helps me improve my writing. Flames are okay, although I would prefer CC.