Chapter Text
Poseidon never expected to raise Perseus without Sally.
He offered her and Perseus immortality as a gods in Atlantis. Sally rejected that proposal. She didn’t want to be immortal, and while that Poseidon grieved over her he respected her choice. She also didn’t want Perseus to be a god. She was he wasn’t even born yet and that he should a right to chose his own species. Poseidon begrudgingly admitted that she had somewhat of a point. Godhood wasn’t something that could be undone, once one was a god they’d remain that way for all of eternity.
However, the Great Prophecy would still rear its ugly head if Perseus didn’t ascend before his sixteenth birthday. If Perseus didn’t want to be a god, Poseidon would have to find a way to temporarily stop his aging. At least until someone else took the Great Prophecy and died in Perseus’s place.
He adjusted his offer and tried again. This time he suggested that he’d move the both of them to Atlantis and they could remain as mortals unless they chose otherwise. Sally flat out refused. She didn’t want a god to take care of her problems.
The next offer he made her was to live as if he were a mortal man. They’d move to Montauk as all beaches fell under his domain and his brothers could not pry on them. He’d restrain himself from using his powers to solve all of their problems and from using his wealth to shower them with extravagant gifts.
Sally declined once again, choosing to end their relationship. She wanted to live her life on her own.
Poseidon fell into heartbreak. He thought Sally was the love of his life, but she saw him as a fling. Something that was fun for awhile, but not meant to last.
“If that is your choice I will respect it.” He told her, as he let heavy rains pour out upon the world. It was his way of shedding tears. Tears he’d never show to anyone, much less the woman who broke his heart.
He then reached into his pocket and procured a conch shell out of nowhere and handed it to her. Casting his eyes upon the dreary skies he spoke in a monotone voice. “Once Perseus is born he will be moved to Atlantis. Take this conch shell and blow on it whenever you wish to see him and I’ll have you transported there."
Sally’s eyes widened. “Whenever I want to see Perseus? I’m the one who’s keeping him.”
The rain stopped as Poseidon whirled around to face her in an instant. “Excuse me? Did I just hear you say you’re raising Perseus? Alone, without me?” If Sally wasn’t serious he would’ve laughed.
Sally stood her ground defiantly. “I’m his mother and I’m not going to let some god take care of my son.”
Those words cut deeper than Sally could’ve imagined. Poseidon believed Sally saw him as person and not someone to be worshipped or feared. Her eyes widened signaling regret. However, she didn’t take what she said back. Even if she had it wouldn’t matter. The damage was done.
“He’s, our son.” Poseidon said, flashing his fangs. “You have no right to keep him from me. Nor are you capable of doing so.” Sally paled slightly.
Though Poseidon would not back down. He remembered a time his nephew Hermes opened up to him.
He told Poseidon about a lover of his who tried to become the new Oracle. Both Hermes and Chiron heavily warned this woman not to go through with it, especially because she had a newborn. They knew the old Oracle had withered away but the Spirit of Delphi remained inside of her. However, the woman who not heed their counsel and tried to take upon the Spirit of Delphi. The Spirit violently rejected and cursed her to a life of madness and insanity. A life that she condemned her son to by her hubris.
Then there was Poseidon’s older brother Hades. He too had a lover who he tried to warn, named Maria Di Angelo. Hades told Maria that she and their children needed to stay in the Underworld or else Zeus would kill them. Maria refused wanting to raise her children with the rest of her family. Hades’s warning came true when Zeus turned his lover and children to ashes. Poseidon to this day still remembered the raw hatred in Hades wet eyes as he screamed curses upon Zeus's name.
“You are ill equipped to care for our son. His demigod scent will attract a plethora of monsters before he can even crawl. Without me they’ll tear him apart and feast on his blood.” He watched her shudder and thought she was coming to her senses.
Any mortal would’ve backed down by now; most wouldn’t have even started in the first place. However, Sally Jackson was too foolish and prideful to relent. “I’ll keep him safe.” She said softly. “He’s, my baby. He has to stay with me.”
Poseidon scoffed. “You think that because you have the Sight that you can fend off monsters? You who has never used a weapon before in your life.”
She was silent for several minutes, and Poseidon thought she came to her senses. He should’ve known better. Sally was stubborn and refused to be restrained like the sea. It’s one of the things that attracted Poseidon to her, but now it was her undoing.
“I’ll find some way to hide his scent then.” She was as desperate as she was stupid. Denying the truth, because she didn’t like it.
“How? How will you, a mere mortal hide his scent?” He wasn’t asking because he believe she could accomplish such a feat. He just wanted her to see reason and realize how out of her depths she was.
“Y...you mentioned that some humans have scents that repel monsters. I could find someone like that to keep around.”
The winds around them began to pick up shaking every nearby tree so hard that they fell over. Simultaneously the seas became choppy. Waves crashed violently against the shore emanating the sounds of thunder.
The vein’s in Poseidon forehead began to throb, ready to burst at any second. “I’ve told you before that humans who can repel monsters are the most abhorrent creatures with putrid souls.” Sally knew this, yet she still felt she knew better than a god.
“They end up in the Fields of Punishment for abusing, murdering, molesting, and raping people.” He spat at her. “And you, you would bring one of those near my son!”
The meager traces of love that he once held for Sally began to dwindle, like a dying fire. Soon it would be extinguished and all that would remain were ashes. He couldn’t love someone like his father. Someone who would eat their own young to protect themself.
He would not let Sally destroy Perseus.
He would not make the same mistakes as Hermes and Hades did.
He would put an end to this right here, right now.
He breathed in and steeled his resolve, all traces of warmth and compassion gone from his voice. “You leave me no choice then.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Poseidon knew she’d just make excuses again. He silenced her with the snap of his fingers, sewing her mouth shut. He had to do it, for if he didn’t, she'd start screaming bloody murder at what he was about to do.
He let a vast amount of divinity slip through his human form, as he sent his essence into Sally’s womb. His essence was gentle as to not frighten or harm Perseus, when he released him from his prison. Sally fell to the ground clutching her stomach in agony, as blood rushed out of her. It stained the damp sand red, the only color in the entirety of the dark beach.
Now that Perseus was out, Poseidon constructed a bubble to act as an artificial womb to nourish Perseus. Then he turned to deal with Sally.
If she died, she’d descend into the Underworld and she’d be judged. The judges would tell their master that Poseidon broke his oath.
He walked over to her, and she tried to crawl backwards away from him, trembling in terror. He bent down and laid a burning hand on her forehead causing her to wail in pain. “You will live.” He told her. “A very long and lonely life. Though you will have no memories of me or Perseus. Just an intense fear of water, horses and a missing uterus.” He could not permit Sally to find another man and bare him children. Not after how she treated Perseus. That was Poseidon’s mercy to children who would never exist. He removed his hand from Sally’s head, and she fell backwards slipping into a coma.
Sally Jackson would wake up in her apartment able to talk again, believing she had uterine cancer. She would be grateful to be alive, as she should be.
With Sally out of the way, Poseidon gave his undivided attention to Perseus. He was fluttering around in distress, trying to find his mother's heartbeat. The greatest comfort to a baby in the womb. Poseidon cooed at what looked like a transparent avocado. Perseus did not accept his comfort or devotion. He thrashed around even harder.
Poseidon frowned. Perseus would need to be gestated longer, so he could have his brain rewired and remove his connection to Sally. This way Perseus would never question who his mother was or what happened to her.
He'd only want his father.