"To protect you," Morpheus spoke as he spread his wings, "you of all people must understand Thalia."
"What do you mean?!"
The god sighed, "months ago Kronos came to us minor demigods with a deal. An offer, he would give us the attention and respect we deserve, and in return we must support him in the war with the Olympians."
"What?! Why would you do that?!"
"Wouldn't you?" Morpheus shot back, "if you were ridiculed every single day of your existence, if you were called a 'minor' as your official title, though you are a hundred times more important that they claim you to be? If your children were forced to live together, unrecognized for the power they hold within...if they were called nothing more than 'unclaimed'...wouldn't you rebel?"
"I....maybe...but that still wouldn't excuse betraying the world to a, a madman!"
"We thought so as well," Morpheus nodded, "we asked for more time, but we had decided, we would never join Kronos."
"Who's we?"
"The council of minor God."
"You have a council of minor Gods?"
"Yes, or did you think we all just existed for the service of the great Olympians?"
Thalia narrowed her eyes, "so the council members rejected the offer...I'm guessing you didn't?"
"No, I did as well...at first. But then I realised, why should my children suffer for the hubris of the Gods? Why must innocent blood be spilt? Blood of children that have never even gotten a chance to live?"
Thalia stopped glaring, her lighting started to fritze out. She unclenched her fists. She looked at the god, this faceless being and realised that he might in fact have point.
"So I made a deal with Kronos," Morpheus continued, "if I brought every single demigod in the world into my realm and kept them there then he would promised me that he would not hurt them ever again. He would take his fight to the Gods themselves and leave the minor Gods and the demigods out of it, for good."
"Y-you kidnapped us...to protect us?"
Morpheus nodded, "indeed I did. I took your mind and locked them here. Your bodies will be alright, unharmed and untouched. When the war is over you will all awaken and you can begin again, away from the Gods, away from this war."
Thalia looked at the world below here, the world of dreams. The white pods that littered the surface of the world, those were all demigods, Greek and Roman. She understood now, she realized what he had done.
"You...you saved us," Thalia finally said as she looked up with tears in her eyes.
Morpheus nodded, "yes...I did."
Tears fell down Thalia's cheeks, "t-thank you." She walked forward and moved closer to Morpheus.
"You need not thank me child...we are family, this is what family does," Morpheus spread his arms wide as Thalia moved to hug him. She lowered her head and bent down, Morpheus slowly closed his arms around her, when suddenly Thalia brought her elbow up into the man's jaw.
Thalia was surprised to see her elbow go through Morpheus's face, almost like it wasn't there. Thalia quickly moved back and summoned lighting to surround her.
"Why did you do that?" Morpheus asked with a hint of anger in his voice, "I'm trying to save you!"
"Because you're fuckign insane!" Thalia roared back and she charged forward and threw a punch at Morpheus head.
"What do you mean?" Morpheus asked as he dodged the punch, "I saved you! All of you!"
"And what about the world?!" Thalia asked as she swung her leg at his head only the God to flap his wings and dash backwards, "what about the thousands, if not millions of humans that will die because of the battle between the gods and the Titans?!"
"Who cares about the humans?!" Morpheus roared as he snapped his wings forward sending sharp metallic feathers at Thalia.
"I do! I'm one of them!" Thalia ducked to the size of a ball placing Aegis in front of her. The feather bounced off the indestructable weapon, Thalia quickly charged forward sending a bolt of lightning forward.
"Some will die, yes, but you will still live! We will still live!" Morpheus easily dodged the lightning bolt, but Thalia had covered the gap between them quickly as she began fighting him once more.
"So you expect me to just sit by and allow genocide to happen?!" Thalia asked as she pushed Morpheus chest only for the lighting covered fist to pass through unfazed. But just then the lighting started to explode outwards, Thalia smiled, the lighting was draining into the god.
"ARGH!" Morpheus roared in pain as he smacked Thalia with one of his wings sending her flying back.
"You might have saved us, but the rest of the world will suffer for that," Thalia felt pain, all over, how did that little pat from his wings cause so much damage?!'
"So what?!" Morpheus growled as he leaped forward and grabbed THalia by the shoulders.
"Wrong move featherbrain!" Thalia roared as she exploded with lighting shocking the minor god. Morpheus roared in pain, but he pushed through bringing Thalia flying down back to the dream world and into the fancy looking room.
Morpheus slammed Thalia down into the floor breaking the girls back. The room shock, but the floor below didn't break from the impact. Thalia gasped in pain as she laid there motionless.
"Don't worry," Morpheus said as he walked away, "the pain is temporary, remember this isn't even your real body, just a mental projection from your mind. You will heal in minutes."
Thalia gasped through the pain, "I hate you so much."
Morpheus growled, "why? Why do you hate me?! I only did this for you and my family!"
"Because you didn't think about anyone else! The humans-"
"-Will survive!"
"No they won't! Not after Kronos! You know how he is, do you really think he will stand the followers of the Gods to exist long after they have died?! He would kill them just to make sure they don't rise up against him."
"T-they wouldn't do something like, they are only human!"
Thalia groaned, she could feel her body heal already, "yes, and we demigods are half humans. We are strong, not because of our divine side, but because of our human side. I-I was once like you, I couldn't care for what happened to the humans...but now, after living with them, trying to be one of them, I realise I am as much a human as I am god."
"You don't know what you speak off," Morpheus growled, "humanity isn't a blessing, it's a plague. It's the only thing keeping you from realising your potential to be a God. Why do you care for it?"
Thalia slowly got back up, her body was still in pain, but she smiled, "I once had the same question you know. I asked Percy, 'Why should we care? The humans don't care for us, why should we care for them?' And you know what he said? He said, 'because we are them'. He believes in them, I believe in them. Every single demigod, we don't just belong to the divine world, we also belong to the human world. And we would fight to protect both."
Morpheus remained silent. He meet Thalia's eyes and felt them pierce into his soul. Zeus always looked down on Morpheus, but never once did the God fell superior to Morpheus. But now, the way Thalia looked at him, he felt like dirt.
"You can't leave this room, so don't bother trying," Morpheus finally spoke up as he walked away, "the cupboard is filled with books and there is running water, in case you wish for a bath, though you don't really need one, but I find it a common dream to feel refreshed. You don't need to eat or drink, and since you are technically asleep you will not need to do that as well. You will stay here for now until I can find a way to put you back under your dream."
Thalia looked up at the retreating god, "Morpheus, before you go can you answer me something?" The God stopped and looked over his shoulder. Thalia sighed 'guess that's a yes', "you said I was a the strongest demigod you ever meet, tell me does that include Percy Jackson?"
"Correction, I said you were one of the most powerful demigods I have ever meet. And no, it doesn't include Percy Jackson."
"And why not?"
"Because...because I haven't been able to get him here for some time. I have heard stories of his deeds, but have never seen his strength for myself."
Thalia chuckled, she smiled, "oh, well then I guess I won't be staying here for long after all."
"Why is that?"
"Because if Percy isn't here in your 'dream pods', then that means he's awake. And if he is then that means he's coming for me, which means that he's coming for all of us."
"One demigod won't change a thing. In this world I am God."
"So what if your God? He's Percy Jackson. He fought demons from hell and Elder Gods. He traveled across worlds to return to me, you think he won't come here as well? He will, and when he does you will regret ever laying a finger on me or any other demigod!"
Morpheus growled, "we shall see girl," his form then started to fade before disappearing completely. Thalia sighed she looked around the boring room. It wasn't all that bad, the worst part is the room looked like it belonged to an old woman from the 18th century.
'Wherever you are Percy, please hurry up,' Thalia prayed to her father, something she rarely did. But the situation definitely called for it.
With Percy;
Percy sneezed, he rubbed his nose and sniffed, 'either I'm getting a cold for the first time in three years or someone is thinking about me. My guess would be Thalia....don't worry baby, I'm coming.'
"You okay Percy?" Triton asked.
"Fine," Percy nodded.
Hypnos's room had changed, the pillows had been pushed to the side with Hypnos levitating in the center which had been cleared out.
"Hypnos said it would take awhile for him to form the bridge Percy," Iris hald his shoulder, "calm yourself. Worrying will not help."
"I know, but I can't help it, you know," Percy grumbled, "an attack of this scale, and there was no warning. One minutes everyone was fine, the next they dropped like flies."
"Relax baby brother, you will do fine," Triton assured him, "just get in, find Morpheus and get out."
"Yeah, got it. But seriously Triton, the whole compassion thing is kind of freaking me out," Percy chuckled.
Triton nodded, "I understand. I realise that I came off very negative before, it's just that as history tells there haven't really been that many....good demigod sons of Poseidon."
"You mean Orpheus?"
Triton nodded, "him and others like him. So I judged you before I truly got to know you. For that I apologize."
Percy shrugged, "doesn't matter Triton, can't blame you can I?"
Triton nodded, "thank you Percy....how're you must know, this doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to date Mera."
Percy's eyes went wide, "dude, I have a girlfriend!"
"And?"
"I'm in love with her!"
"Still doesn't mean you won't cheat on her."
"Yes! That's exactly what that means!"
"What are you saying my Mera isn't worthy of your love?" Triton glared down at Percy.
"No! I mean, yes? I mean....fuck!"
Iris chuckled into her hands, "you two are the strangest pair of siblings I have ever seen."
Before Percy or Trition could respond Hypnos spoke up, "I'm ready."
Everyone became serious as Percy stepped forward, "what's the plan?"
"Morpheus realm is like any other, it exists outside normal reality, much like other realms of God, but it is accessible to everyone once they sleep. That's the easy part, the difficult part is getting you to dream."
Percy nodded, "okay...and how are we going to do that?"
"Leave that to me Percy. I'll make you a way into Morpheus's realm, once there it is up to you to find and save the demigods."
Percy nodded, "okay, sounds pretty straight forward. What's the catch?"
Hypnos gave a sleepy smile, "you can't bring anything you're not sleepin in with you. So if there is something you need, I suggest you have it with you when you sleep."
Percy nodded, "I see," 'so no inventory huh? I'll be stuck with just Riptide and Waverider, but that should be enough.'
"Percy, why don't you take out father's Pegasus as well?" Triton suggested.
"Wait why? Isn't that a bit overkill?"
"No really. Remember Percy this isn't the real world, it's Morpheus's realm. He controls all, if he wishes he could remove all water in that place limiting your arsenal and taking away your most powerful weapon. Take the Pegasus with you, you will need it's power."
Percy nodded, "alright then...well if I'm going to fight a god, might as well go all out then," Percy said as he opened his inventory and pulled out the sea stone green symbol of power.
The Gods gasped at it's beauty, even they weren't free from it's gaze.
"Amazing," Iris whispered.
"Never in all my years did I think I would see this again," Triton admitted, "father will be pleased Percy."
Percy nodded, "I'm sure he will," Percy then reached into his inventory once more and took out his gauntlet. He put it on his left hand and flexed smiling at the familiar feeling. "Tsunami!"
The gauntlet exploded forward covering Percy with silk and metal. Soon he stood there covered head to toe in black armor with white highlights,
Ping!
Bonuses activated!
+20% MP
+10% HP
+70% Elvish magic
+5 Dex
+2 Str
+3 Vit
+2 levels for water, ice, shadow and earthquake control
Percy opened the helmet and looked to Hypnos, "I'm ready. Send me in."
The god of sleep nodded, "understood. Please, sit down."
Percy sat down cross legged as he held up the staff of Neptune with his right hand. Hypnos floated down and sat in front of Percy. He slowly began to chant in tongues Percy didn't recognize as Percy started to glow white.
Slowly Percy felt his eyes grow heavy. His head started to bob back and forth as he grew more and more sleepy. Percy didn't fight it, he let the sleep take over. Finally Percy's head fell forward, sleep had taken him.
Hypnos sighed, "it is done."
Triton and Iris sighed in relief. "We need to inform the minor council at once," Iris told Triton who nodded in agreement. She snapped her fingers in tending to summon a rainbow. But nothing came out, Iris frowned and tried again and again but still nothing happened.
"What's wrong Iris?" Trition asked.
"My powers, it's not working. I can't seem to contact anyone via my messages."
"But why is this happening?"
"I'm sorry, I believe that' my doing," Hypnos said as he got to his feet smiling, "you see I blocked your powers. This is my little home you see, I have made this place Iris message proof. Don't want unwanted calls while napping."
"Oh, I see," Iris sighed in relief, "thank Chaos. Could you please drop the wards Hypnos? I will be just a minute."
Hypnos shook his head, "no can do Iris. Don't want to risk you and Triton leaking anything. Well I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end, after all you won't be alive to do that."
