Percy Jackson: The Firstborn

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Jotunheim.

In one of the more remote regions of Jotunheim, where the mountains remained covered in snow for most of the year, Loki stood before an enormous frozen lake with both hands clasped behind his back. The Evil God had been staring at a letter between his fingers for several minutes while his gray hair floated slowly behind him like a long tail, accompanied by the two strands that fell over his chest. His yellow eyes moved across the contents of the message again and again, his expression making it perfectly clear that he did not like what he was reading in the slightest.

Several meters behind him rested Fenrir. The enormous ash-gray wolf stood nearly ten meters tall when fully upright, with two large yellowish horns protruding near his shoulders. Even while lying down, his size was enough to make any ordinary creature look insignificant beside him. Fenrir was not simply a powerful beast; he was known throughout the supernatural world as the God-Devouring Wolf, a creature whose strength could rival that of the Two Heavenly Dragons and whose name alone was enough to make even several major deities avoid fighting him without a good reason. To Loki, however, Fenrir was something much simpler: his greatest creation.

”You’ve been staring at that letter for hours,” Fenrir said as he lifted his head slightly and fixed his yellow eyes on his creator.

Loki let out a small scoff before turning the document between his fingers. ”Because the more I read it, the more ridiculous it sounds. I can’t believe Odin has actually been exchanging messages with the angels.”

Fenrir remained silent while Loki looked back down at the letter. ”The same angels belonging to a religion that spent centuries spreading across our lands. Their followers destroyed our temples and converted entire peoples who once spoke our names.” His expression hardened slightly. ”And now the old man intends to grow closer to them as if none of that ever happened. He talks about proving the supremacy of the Norse Pantheon, then goes and does the exact opposite.” Loki slowly shook his head. Seriously, who the hell understood that old man?

”We don’t need the followers of the Biblical God,” Fenrir replied, baring his fangs slightly.

”Exactly.” A small smile appeared on Loki’s face. It wasn’t that the Evil God particularly cared about protecting Asgard’s traditions out of some sense of patriotism; things like that mattered very little to him. But the idea of Odin seeking a closer alliance with the faction whose religion had contributed for centuries to the decline of the old Norse beliefs simply disgusted him. More importantly, however, it was an opportunity.

”Apparently there’s going to be a meeting between the major pantheons,” Loki continued as he allowed the letter to slowly burn between his fingers. ”Odin will be there. So will the Greeks, the angels, probably the Hindus, the Shinto, and anyone else important enough to receive an invitation.”

Fenrir lifted his head a little higher. ”I assume you want to go as well.”

”Of course,” Loki replied with a small laugh as the last ashes of the letter fell onto the snow. ”But obviously I have other plans besides sitting around talking about meaningless nonsense.” Fenrir watched him for several seconds until Loki finally turned toward him, a wider smile slowly spreading across his face. ”This is the perfect opportunity to kill someone important.”

The enormous wolf remained completely still as Loki began pacing slowly in front of him. ”It doesn’t have to be Odin. Actually, the more I think about it, the less necessary that seems. It only has to be someone important enough. Someone dies during a meeting attended by practically every major supernatural faction, and suddenly everyone starts pointing fingers at each other.”

Fenrir narrowed his eyes slightly as Loki raised one hand. ”And Odin will be one of the people responsible for keeping that meeting under control. If something goes wrong, some of the blame will inevitably fall on him. If I can get two pantheons accusing each other, even better.”

The Evil God’s smile became considerably more sinister. ”Maybe Ragnarok doesn’t even have to be limited to us.”

Just imagining it filled Loki with an excitement that was difficult to hide. A war between pantheons. Not simply Asgard collapsing in on itself, but multiple religions dragging one another into conflict. Gods killing gods, old grudges resurfacing, alliances breaking apart, and the entire supernatural world slowly descending into chaos.

”There will be too many gods gathered there,” Fenrir growled. ”Even I would have trouble fighting all of them.”

”I don’t need you to fight all of them,” Loki replied immediately. ”That would be the mistake of an idiot. You are one of the most dangerous creatures in this world, Fenrir, but charging directly into a room full of major gods and expecting to kill them all would simply be a waste of you.”

The massive wolf lowered his head slightly as Loki approached. ”All we need is an opportunity, and the Khaos Brigade can give us that opportunity.” The Evil God placed one hand against Fenrir’s muzzle without showing the slightest concern. ”They want chaos too. They have enemies within those factions, and resources that could prove extremely useful. If we cooperate properly, we might be able to cause something far greater than simply killing Odin.”

Fenrir remained silent for several seconds before baring his fangs slightly. ”Then tell me who I should devour.”

”Not yet,” Loki replied as his smile widened. He stroked the massive muzzle of his creation once before stepping away. ”First, we need to make sure that when someone dies, everyone blames exactly who we want them to blame.”

Fenrir settled back down while Loki turned his gaze toward the mountains once more. For the first time in a very long while, the Evil God felt that things were finally about to become interesting.

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Mexico.

Several days later, the new Aztec camp had made considerable progress. Quetzalcoatl had chosen a location within the Sierra Madre, far enough from the major cities to keep the demigods out of trouble, but still close enough that they would not be completely isolated from the human world. Several structures were already beginning to rise across the area, accompanied by stone walls and different sections that would eventually be used for training, housing, and storage.

Damon watched much of the work from the side alongside Hermes, who was carrying a considerably large stone in both arms. ”They’re showing off,” complained the God of Messengers as he walked past him. ”I’m completely sure that guy moved that huge rock just because he saw you watching.”

Damon looked toward one of the Aztec gods, who had just placed a massive section of stone onto one of the walls with practically one hand. ”Let them. They’ve spent centuries watching everything they built disappear sooner or later. If they want to show off for a few days because they’re finally building something again, I don’t see the problem.”

Hermes stared at him in disbelief before muttering something incomprehensible and continuing on with the rock.

Damon had met several more members of the Aztec Pantheon since construction began, although three in particular had ended up spending quite a bit of time around him. Tlaloc was probably the easiest to recognize. As the God of Rain and Storms, he carried a heavy presence that Damon could feel even when he was not using any power. He was considerably calmer than his domains might suggest, although he had an obvious habit of looking toward the sky whenever anyone mentioned the weather.

Xolotl was practically the opposite. Quetzalcoatl’s twin spoke very little, but at the same time seemed permanently aware of everything happening around him. Damon had noticed that no matter where he was, Xolotl almost always ended up positioning himself somewhere he could watch the main entrances to the camp.

Lastly was Xochiquetzal, Goddess of Flowers, Beauty, and Fertility, who had turned out to be considerably more sociable than either of them. She had spent much of the last few days talking with Damon and Quetzalcoatl while helping organize the camp. The goddess reminded him somewhat of Aphrodite when he had first met her; at the very least, their calm and sociable natures were fairly similar.

By late afternoon, several of them had gathered around an improvised table inside one of the first completed structures. The conversation had been fairly relaxed, with Tlaloc telling old stories while Xochiquetzal occasionally corrected some of the details and Quetzalcoatl argued with Xolotl over where they should place one or two of the cabins around the camp.

Damon decided to take advantage of the moment. ”By the way, there’s something I need to ask you.”

The conversation gradually died down, and Quetzalcoatl turned toward him. ”What is it?”

”I promised something to several of your children,” Damon replied as he rested both arms on the table. That immediately caught the attention of the three deities. ”When I met them, I told them that sooner or later we would figure out who their parents were. I also promised that their gods would personally come see them and claim them, so you’d be doing me a huge favor if you didn’t make me into a liar.”

A brief silence fell over the room before Tlaloc broke it. ”How many of our children are in your camp?” he asked with obvious curiosity.

”About thirty. I still don’t know exactly which one belongs to whom,” Damon replied. ”That’s part of the reason I wanted you to go yourselves.”

Xochiquetzal lowered her gaze slightly. ”Do they really expect us to come?”

”Yes,” Damon answered without the slightest hesitation.

Quetzalcoatl remained silent as she watched her companions until Tlaloc finally nodded. ”Then we’ll go. Of course we’ll go. If any of those children carry my blood, I want to meet them.”

”Me too,” Xochiquetzal added immediately. She remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh. ”I don’t want any of them thinking we simply forgot about them.”

Xolotl, who had remained quiet throughout the entire conversation, finally spoke. ”When do you want us to go?”

Damon gave him a small smile. ”Whenever you want. Camp Half-Blood will be open to you.”

”Then I’ll go soon,” Xolotl replied without hesitation.

Damon nodded in satisfaction. ”That’s all I wanted to hear.” Quetzalcoatl rested one hand on the table as a smile slowly appeared on her face. ”I thought you were going to have to threaten them a little.”

Damon let out a small laugh. ”Well...that was also an option.”

Tlaloc slowly looked toward him. ”Wait, what?”

Xochiquetzal began to laugh. ”Were you actually going to threaten us if we said no?”

”I promised the kids you would show up,” Damon replied with a simple shrug.

Quetzalcoatl immediately burst into laughter while Xolotl simply stared at the King of Olympus as if trying to determine how serious he actually was. ”You certainly are something,” Xochiquetzal commented.

”Thank you,” Damon replied with another small shrug.

”That wasn’t necessarily a compliment,” the Aztec goddess shot back.

”I guess I’ll take it as one anyway,” Damon replied before letting out a small laugh, managing to make even Tlaloc smile at the redhead’s carefree attitude.

Over the next several minutes, the conversation gradually returned to its previous tone. Quetzalcoatl eventually sat down beside Damon while the others discussed when the best time would be to travel to Camp Half-Blood. The goddess looked over the surrounding construction for a few moments before speaking. ”It’s been a long time since I’ve seen everyone like this.”

”Like what?” Damon asked as he turned slightly toward her.

”With something to do. Something that actually feels like it has a future.”

Damon followed her gaze toward the camp. ”You’re not as finished as Hermes tried to make me believe.”

Quetzalcoatl let out a small laugh. ”I already told you, we’re not finished. We’re just tired. There’s a difference.”

Damon remained silent for several seconds before nodding. ”Yeah. I understand the difference.”

Quetzalcoatl watched him for a few moments before lightly resting her shoulder against his. ”You’ve done quite a lot for us in a very short amount of time.”

”Oh, please, it’s not that big a deal,” the redhead dismissed. Honestly, he didn’t even feel like he had done much to begin with. Over the last few days, he had simply helped a little with the camp and, more importantly, spent his time getting to know Quetzalcoatl and some of the other Aztec gods better.

”Maybe not to you.” The goddess looked back toward her companions. ”To them, it means quite a lot.”

Damon gave the blonde goddess a brief glance before a mischievous smile appeared on his face. Without giving her much time to react, he slipped an arm around Quetzalcoatl’s waist and pulled her slightly closer. ”Well... if you’re really that grateful, you can always show me right now.”

Quetzalcoatl blinked for a moment before an equally daring smile slowly appeared on her face. ”Well, well...” The goddess placed one hand against the redhead’s chest without making the slightest attempt to pull away. ”And here I was starting to think the King of Olympus was completely selfless.”

”When did I ever say that?” Damon replied, mock hurt and disbelief clearly present in his tone.

Quetzalcoatl laughed as her eyes moved across Damon’s face. ”Be careful what you offer, redhead. One of these days, I might actually take you up on it.”

Damon raised an eyebrow slightly. ”One of these days?”

The goddess’s smile widened. ”Impatient too. Interesting...”

”I just like keeping things clear,” Damon replied smugly.

Quetzalcoatl slowly shook her head, clearly amused, although she still made no effort to remove Damon’s arm from around her waist.

Damon gave her a small sideways smile and was about to say something else when he suddenly froze. An energy he had not felt in many, many years had just appeared somewhere nearby. It had been far too long since he had sensed it directly, but there was absolutely no possibility of mistaking it for anything else.

Quetzalcoatl noticed the slightest fluctuation in the redhead’s power. ”Damon?”

Damon did not even register what the blonde goddess had said. He simply raised his gaze slowly toward the sky, and upon noticing his reaction, everyone else followed his eyes.

A small figure floated several meters above the camp. More specifically, a young girl with long black hair, extremely pale skin, and a completely dark Gothic dress. She was doing absolutely nothing. She simply remained suspended in the air, staring directly at Damon with a completely blank expression.

Tlaloc stopped smiling at the same moment Xolotl rose to his feet. Xochiquetzal fell silent while Quetzalcoatl slowly stood as well, all of the relaxation she had shown only moments earlier disappearing completely as her eyes locked onto the small figure.

”Ophis.”

Damon did not look away. ”You know her?”

”Not personally,” Quetzalcoatl replied as she narrowed her eyes slightly. Her voice had become completely serious. ”But everyone knows who she is. The Ouroboros Dragon.”

The other Aztec gods remained completely alert, though none of them made the slightest move. Quetzalcoatl briefly glanced toward Damon before looking back at Ophis. ”What the hell is Ophis doing over my territory?”

Damon did not answer because, honestly, he was wondering exactly the same thing.

Ophis continued floating above them, completely motionless, her eyes fixed solely on Damon. After all this time, the Dragon God had finally come looking for him.

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