Location: Olympus

Characters:

Present - Poseidon, Hera

In flashback – Percy, Sally, Gabe, Poseidon

Mentioned – Annabeth, Zeus

Storyline: What if Hera wasn't the first god to steal Percy's memories?

Story type: Oneshot

Words: Approx. 3,500

Warnings: Rated T for a semi-graphic scene involving abuse

Le Onde ~ The Waves

Poseidon stormed across the clouds of Olympus in a tempest of fury. Normally, he was the laid back brother of the Big Three. Sure, every now and then he got a little angry at Zeus and suddenly all of the East Coast was under a flood from a massive hurricane, but otherwise, he deemed himself to be pretty "chill."

But oh no, not today. The gods had been locked up in Olympus for gods only know—scratch that, even he didn't know—how many days. It was torture really, to be kept so far away from his domain, his home: the ocean. Within the first few hours of being stuck with his insufferable family, chaos had broken loose. Now, an innumerable amount of days had passed and he was ready to ask Zeus to zap him with as many volts as it would take to tranquilize his godly butt.

However, even that wasn't his biggest problem. Sure, Gaea was rising. Sure, Zeus didn't believe that he needed heroes to fight this war. Sure, that was kind of an insult to his heroic son, Percy. But none of that was the real problem.

No, his true problem was that moronic, peacock headed sister of his. So he continued his path of destruction across Olympus before his logic—what little he had, according to the ever lovely Athena—pushed through all of his wrath.

Why in Echidna's name was he walking? It was just like Sally Jackson had told him many years before: Once he was angry, it was like boiling water. Nothing could reason with him until he cooled down. Now that he had taken a moment to let common sense enter his mind again, he sighed and snapped his fingers.

The Temple of Hera materialized around him, and suddenly all of his rage hit him again full-force. He charged through the house until he found Hera in her little garden just outside her bed chamber. She looked up upon hearing his powerful stomps, her face showing a small bit of fear before it was masked under confidence.

"Poseidon, darling! To what do I owe such an unexpected surprise? Really, you would assume that being locked up here like this would mean that I would run into you more often! How's Amphitrite been doing?"

"Cut the act, Bird Brain. You and I both know why I'm here," he said impatiently.

"What act, Brother? I'm simply trying to tend to my rose bu—"

"What did you do to my son?" Poseidon asked, reaching his boiling point again.

"Oh, that . . ." she laughed nervously. "It'll all work out in the end, you'll see."

"You stole his memory! You put him to sleep far away from Camp Half Blood! He'll wake up and have no idea who he is! You . . . I – I can't believe you. As Olympians, we've all done some pretty vile things, but this is a new low."

"It had to be done," she responded while standing up from her position by the rose bush to meet his eyes.

"And can you explain why you had to strip my son of everything in his past? He saved every single one of us not six months ago! Is this his reward; being shipped off to a strange place with a mind as ignorant as a baby's? Do you think I will let this continue to happen to my son? You do not want me as an enemy, Hera. Mark my words."

"Oh, hush, you overdramatic fool. If I had known that you would give me a lecture I would've made sure to keep you in the dark. Really, though, your son will prove to be a hero again. It is just going to take a little sacrifice on his part. And I swear, taking away his memory is the only way to accomplish this task. If you want to live to see the next century, let my plan go untouched. Zeus thinks we can fight this war on our own, but we've always needed half-bloods to do our bidding, and now we will need them more than ever. This is going to be the riskiest move we've ever made, but we have to try if we want any chance of survival. Understand?"

The now deflated Poseidon asked, "Will you allow him his memory of Annabeth?"

Hera shrugged. "It'll be the only thing he remembers when he wakes up in a few months. Aphrodite already forced me to swear upon the Styx that I wouldn't mess with their 'harmonic connection.' She is really such an airhead at times."

"You're keeping him asleep for months? Hera, have you gone completely insane? Did Zeus zap you with a bit too much electricity whenever you returned from your imprisonment? You can't leave everyone who loves him waiting for months while he sleeps the days away wherever you've managed to hide him! His friends, Annabeth, his mother . . . Oh, Sally! She must be so distraught over his disappearance! You owe it to her to tell her that he is safe."

"No, no, no, we will have none of that," she said in a disapproving tone while wagging her finger in his face like he was a three year old. "If anyone finds out about his location or my plan, it might spoil everything before it can play out, and then it will all be a wasted effort. Percy's mother and sweet little Annabeth—my favorite of all the demigods, as you're probably aware of—will just have to wait . . . erm, about seven or eight months. It's no matter, really. They'll find him eventually. Like those silly humans say: 'absence makes the heart grow fonder!'"

"HERA!"

"I'm not going to fight you on this. He will get his glory and his girl and all of his pathetic human memories back when the time is right. Until then, he is performing a service to us that is absolutely required if we want western civilization to survive. You're simply going to have to let it be until it is acceptable to begin interfering again. It's going to take time to make sure that this all works out, so allow me to do my job. If you keep fighting me on this, I'll make sure he is absolutely defenseless during his first encounter with a monster. Got it?"

Poseidon put his head into his hands and tried to wrap his mind around the situation. "How could you do this?" He asked in a voice no louder than a meek whisper.

"It needed to be done. Just," she paused, "well, just like the time you did it."

Poseidon gasped and tried unsuccessfully to ask how in the name of Zeus did she know that, but the harsh memories hit him in a wave of pain.

—Flashback to New York, New York: December 24—

—Percy: Age Six—

"Mommy, is Santa really gonna come tonight?" A wide-eyed Percy Jackson asked his mother.

"Of course, my silly little boy. Santa would never forget his number one favorite kid!"

"Do you think that he remembered to make the Thomas trains I asked for?" He asked, pulling his blue baby blanket into his lap.

Sally smiled knowingly before saying, "You wrote the letter months ago. I'm sure Santa will have it under the tree for you when you wake up."

"Can I tell you a secret, Mommy?"

"Anything, angel. What's on your mind?" She said as she ran her hand soothingly through his messy black hair.

"I really wanted a nidtedo DS for Christmas, because it has a game that helps you learn to read! Gabe kept making fun of my delixia, and I wanted to show him that I can learn! I can, honest! But I didn't want to burden Santa, so I didn't ask for it. Will you help me with reading instead?" Percy asked, stumbling over the words Nintendo and dyslexia.

Sally frowned, knowing that Percy would not be finding a Nintendo DS under the tree in the morning. "I would love to help you start reading. How about we practice every day after I get home from work? And maybe Santa will you bring you the game next Christmas. It'll be okay, honey."

"I love you, Momma," he said while snuggling into a hug.

"I love you too, my sweet angel. Now get some sleep, because Santa only comes when you're sleeping!" He pulled away from the hug and giggled before settling into his pillows. She turned on his nightlight prior to standing up and making her exit. "Goodnight, Percy."

"Wait, Mommy! I have one more question," he said, holding up his index finger to prove his point. "Do you really think Santa will bring me presents?"

"Why wouldn't he? You're on the nice list, silly Percy."

"Are you sure? Gabe said that I was so bad that Santa was gonna bring me coal. I don't think I will like coal."

"Oh, no. Percy, Gabe was just joking. Santa has you on the permanent nice list because he knows how wonderful you are. You'll see tomorrow when there are lots of presents!"

"Okay, Mommy. Goodnight. You need to go to sleep so Santa can bring your presents." He yawned. "You must be on the permanent nice list too."

"Goodnight," she said once more before shutting the door behind her.

—Around 2:00 a.m. on Christmas morning—

The sound of boots against the living room floor woke him up. Those certainly weren't his mother's dainty footsteps, nor did they particularly sound like Gabe's dingy bunny slippers that he always wore to get beer in the middle of the night.

That, naturally, meant only one thing for Percy. It must be Santa coming to deliver his presents! He had been a good boy after all!

He slipped out of bed and opened his door a crack. It was too dark in the dimly lit apartment, but the still blazing Christmas tree lights did help to illuminate it a bit. He saw the silhouette of a rather large man. Santa was large, wasn't he?

The shadowed figure took a cookie from the plate the he had left out and began to eat it. Of course! This must be Santa!

Without even thinking about the fact that Santa only delivered to sleeping children, Percy bolted out of his room with an excited squeal. "Santa!" he whisper-shouted, so as to not wake up his mother, who deserved to get her gifts too. "I knew you wouldn't forget me!"

He grabbed onto Santa's legs and smiled his toothy grin, hugging him around the knees.

Suddenly, before he could even understand what had happened, Percy was on the other side of the room. His head smacked roughly against the wall before he fell to the floor. He could feel the sticky blood oozing out of the wound on his head.

"What was that about Santa, kid?" Said a voice that, even in his dazed state, Percy could recognize.

Suddenly it all made sense. Gabe must've spent his evening playing poker and getting drunk at someone's house. He'd only just gotten home, and stupid Percy had assumed that it was Santa.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He could've hit himself for being so dumb, but it seemed that his step-father was going to beat him to it.

"The little rat's looking for a Christmas present, hm?" Gabe lifted Percy from his crumpled position by his hair. Percy tried not to scream out, because he didn't want his mom to wake up, but this caused his eyes to tear up in pain. "Don't worry, Perce, I'll give you a Christmas gift!"

That was the last thing he heard before the drunken Gabe delivered a punch to his body that caused two of his ribs to crack.

And then, Percy wasn't in the room anymore. He wasn't even anywhere near his apartment. All he could see around him was . . . water. He took a deep, painful breath into his lungs before trying to figure out what was going on.

The he realized that he wasn't drowning. Surely this was a dream though. He must've been knocked unconscious by the punch, because this couldn't exist.

"Hello, Percy," said an older man who dark hair and green eyes, much like his own. "I've been watching over you as much as possible. You're growing up so fast. I do hope that one day I will get to talk with you without it being in secret, but this will do for now."

"Wha- ah!" Percy said, feeling the pain immense in his body when he tried to ask this man what on earth he was talking about.

"No, son. All you have to do is rest. The amount of water around you will probably be enough to heal you on its own. I would give you some ambrosia, but I fear it would burn you up at such a young age. Maybe nectar will be a little less dangerous."

By now, Percy was absolutely positive that he was dreaming. This man seemed to be talking in a completely different language, judging by how much of it Percy actually understood.

"Here," the man said, pouring a liquid into his mouth. "Drink this, and you should be healed within the hour. I need to get you back in time for Christmas, don't I?" He smiled.

The strange drink tasted like everything Percy loved. His mother's cookies fresh from the oven, the ice cream that they sometimes got after school at a little corner ice cream parlor, and the special blue cakes that she always made for his birthdays (even the one that he accidentally made explode all over the kitchen when he turned five). He felt warm inside, like his mother was giving him a hug before bed.

And suddenly, at the thought of bed, he felt tired. His eyelids seemed to weigh a jillion pounds at that moment, but he couldn't take his eyes off the man sitting at his bedside.

"Sleep, little one. You will see me again, no doubt. You will have a hard life, but you will learn to fight. You will be great, just as so many were before you. And, if your mother's superstition with your name proves correct, you may just get a happy ending."

Before Percy could question the oddity of the man's words, he was lulled to sleep by his hypnotic voice.

—Around 8:00 a.m. Christmas morning—

Poseidon stared down at his son for one last moment before zapping him back to his bed. His wounds were healed, and his broken bones had been mended. Sally would be waking up in approximately two minutes, and he absolutely had to speak with her before Percy woke up. He kissed his son's forehead before pulling his blanket over his body and leaving the room.

He took a seat on the couch and waited for Sally to emerge from her room. The ticking clock hanging on the wall adjacent to him only seemed to intensify the anger he had been trying to suppress. The intoxicated bastard who had attacked his defenseless six year old son was only one room away, and he genuinely wanted to turn him into a fish and watch as sharks devoured him.

Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . tock . . .

He was growing more anxious to explain what had happened. Sally needed to know what trouble Gabe was. She wasn't safe here, and neither was young Perseus.

. . . Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . tock . . .

Finally, as if an entire eternity had passed (although it had really only been 94 agonizing seconds), Sally Jackson emerged from her room. He was so impatient that he nearly ran to her side and grabbed her wrist.

Before she could react, he quickly said, "Sally, we need to talk."

Her face first looked blank, then it morphed into confusion, and finally it held nothing but pure fear.

"Yes," she nodded her head. "Let's sit down."

And so he told her the story of Gabe's brutal attack and watched as her tears spilled down her delicate cheeks.

"Why . . . why didn't I hear this? Why didn't I wake up and stop him?" She muttered to herself.

"Perseus is as much of a martyr as his mother, Sally. He refused to scream, because he was afraid that you would wake up, and then Santa wouldn't bring you gifts."

She chuckled at the thought of his silly mind. "Is he still hurt? Does he need to be taken to a hospital? I'll get my purse and we can go to the emergency room . . ."

Poseidon took Sally's hand in his and held it tightly. "No, darling, he'll be fine. I healed him in my underwater palace. And don't worry; I wiped his memory of everything. All he remembers is going to bed last night after you tucked him in. But really, I need to be going. I don't want Zeus finding out about Percy. Merry Christmas, Sally."

He kissed her cheek and stood up.

"Thank you for watching over him," Sally said quietly.

"You're welcome. Please reconsider my offer. I would build you and kingdom in the sea. You would never have to see Mr. Ugliano again. You and Percy would be safe."

"I will think about it. Merry Christmas."

—Around 8:45 a.m. on Christmas morning—

Wrapping paper in many shades of blue littered the floor of the small apartment. Percy had eagerly ripped into every gift as if they would start disappearing. He showed no sign of pain from any wounds, so Sally allowed herself to smile.

Gabe missed the entire ordeal because he was sleeping through what would probably be a terrible hangover. Gods, Sally really wished she could just kick him out and never let him back in her apartment, but she needed his repulsive odor. She needed her son, and that meant that Gabe Ugliano had to stay.

"Mommy!" Percy said, putting his Thomas the train toy down. "Look! There's another gift under the tree that we missed!"

Percy crawled under the tree and reached for a box that was nearly hidden. Sally mentally went through every gift she bought, but Percy had opened every single one.

He made his way back out from the tree carrying a sea green rectangular box.

Poseidon.

Of course.

He tore the paper off eagerly and was delighted to see that there was a blue Nintendo DS on the cover of the package.

"Mommy! Mommy! Santa knew! I didn't even ask him for it but he knew how much I wanted to learn reading!"

Sally smiled at her joyful little boy. "Santa must be extra proud of you for being such a wonderful child."

"Hey, Mommy, there is a note on the back. Will you read it to me?"

Sally took the box from Percy and saw the sea green post it note on the back. It said:

Dear Sally,

There is $500 in the box along with the game for Percy. Don't let Gabe know about the money. Use it if you ever need to get away from him, or if you're ever in a tough spot. I'll be watching over you and Percy. Don't worry.

Love,

Poseidon

Sally looked up at her son. "Oh, my silly Percy, it's a note from Santa! It says 'Merry Christmas to my favorite little boy!' That's you!" She said, poking his belly.

He giggled. "Did Santa bring you a present?" He asked, looking back under the empty tree.

"I told Santa that I didn't need anything this year, because I already have the best gift in the whole wide world."

Percy crawled into his mother lap and started playing with her hand. "What's that?"

"My sweet angel, it's you!" She said, tickling him all over.

—End Flashback—

"Hera, that . . . that was for his own good! I had to heal him, but I couldn't let him remember me," Poseidon said painfully.

"Believe it or not, Brother, but this is for the good of all of us. Perseus Jackson will undergo just as many hardships as during the last war, but he will gain as well. Don't fret. Only the Fates know what is in store for Percy, but for now we just have to pray that he can save us again."

Fin.