Chapter 4: The Spar

Four years have passed since the gods learned of the threat that could lead to their downfall. However all is not well on Olympus. In a time where cooperation is needed, there is none. Instead petty arguments are fought and grudges are being held. All of this malcontent is stemming from Zeus, his ego has grown and rationality shrunk forcing away his siblings to varying degrees.

Hades began to spend more and more time in the underworld, distancing himself more and more from his family. Poseidon also spent more time in his domain. Unlike Hades however he made an effort to keep in contact with the ones he still cared for on Olympus. Demeter spent much of her time watching over the mortals and caring for her recently born child, Persephone, ignoring the ongoing conflicts of Olympus. Hestia, well Hestia did what she has always done and tended the hearth. The hearth was not what it once was though. It was a shadow of what it once was, dimmer and colder than ever before.

Then there was Hera who has changed the most, the caring and family oriented person she was is no more. She has become bitter and spiteful from Zeus's unfaithfulness to her. He was given a second chance but had recently gone back on his word again, this time with some mortal! Not even another goddess, making this the worst betrayal yet. On top of that she recently had birthed Zeus another son, a son he subsequently threw off of Olympus because he wasn't what Zeus "wanted". That was the same night she found out about his affair. Hera was broken, and as much as her other siblings tried they couldn't pull her out of her depression.

There was still one person that had the ability to brighten up everyone's day. Even if it was only temporarily, everyone was able to forget about the problems of Olympus when Perseus was around.

"HA! You are going to have to do better than that little brother! Boasted Poseidon as he sent a wave of water to knock Perseus back.

A now very wet and frowning Percy was in the process of picking himself up off the sandy white beach him and his brother were sparring on.

"No fair brother! You said no powers this time." Whined Percy, giving his older brother an indignant look.

Poseidon just chuckled at his brother's frustration, "All is fair in love and war Percy!"

"This is isn't love or war! This is a spar!" Percy cried out.

Not giving Percy a chance to fully recover, Poseidon dashed at him attempting to catch him of guard with a powerful thrust from his trident. In the nick of time Percy was able to swing his blade up, just barely redirecting the oncoming trident.

Just as quickly Percy rolled away from Poseidon, creating some space between the two. Giving him some time to catch his breath.

Poseidon had his classic crazy eyed, mischievous smile look on his face as he turned to face Percy "Now that's more like it Percy!"

"You are just lucky we happen to be fighting on the beach brother!" Percy retorted, as he mindlessly spun his sword; waiting for Poseidon to make the next move.

"Well it's not my fault you choose to fight here oh wise warrior! Teased Poseidon.

Percy narrowed his eyes at his brother, clearly irritated. "You know darn well why we had to fight here! Mom won't let us fight inside the house anymore because of what happened last time….She grounded me for a month because of that!"

This being heard caused Poseidon to breakdown in a laugh holding his stomach. Seeing an opportunity Percy made his move. Abruptly closing the gap between the two, slashing at Poseidon's trident arm attempting to disarm him.

The hit never came, before Percy's attacked landed another burst of water hit him in the side knocking him many feet away. Once again Poseidon was rushing at Percy attempting to thrust his trident at him. Restarting battle sequence that had just ended.

Unknown to the pair of sparring brothers was a triad of women observing them from a distance. Rhea, Hestia and Hera had decided that today they would relax by watching two of their favorite people spar.

"I just can't get over how fast Percy is growing!" Commented Hera, while watching Poseidon and Percy go head to head.

Rhea herself was quite astonished at how fast her son was developing. At five years of age he was already looking like a young mortal teenager. Even for a godling, this was an incredibly fast pace. Perseus physically had grown several feet over the past four years, putting on a decent amount of muscle as well. The most distinguishing change however was his eyes, once black with swirls of gold. Now were a deep black. They may now be as black as a moonless, cloudy night, yet one could see all the emotions Percy felt through those eyes. Making them rather intriguing and very breath taking. Besides that Perseus was the same as ever, with his constantly messed up hair, lopsided grins, energetic and carefree personality.

"Yeah before we know it Percy is gonna be all grown up and have his own set of domains." Hestia added.

Hera looked at her sister curiously, "I wonder what his domains will be? It irks me not being able to know for another five years."

Hearing her daughters talking about her Perseus brought a few tears to Rhea's eyes. These tears were a combination of happiness and sadness. Happy because her perfect little boy would be all grown up. On the other hand he would no longer want to be her baby boy and would probably go on to live his own life. Sighing slightly to herself as she returned her gaze to the sparring brothers.

Percy was drenched, he was working up quite the sweat fighting his brother but it was mostly just from Poseidon continuously blasting him with water. At the moment they were at a standstill. Both watching the other through narrowed and focused eyes as they circled around each other waiting for the other to make a move. Not wanting to wait anymore Percy decided to do what he has learned to do best. Wing it.

Charging at his raven haired elder brother, Percy began to bombard Poseidon with a mix of slashes and thrusts. Poseidon wouldn't budge however and kept Percy at a distance with the superior range of his trident while blocking all of his attacks.

"Come on brother, is that all you got!" Taunted Poseidon while continuously blocking all of Percy's attacks.

A look of frustration crossed Percy's face as he redoubled his assault even faster than before. Pushing Poseidon back, but not making any real progress as Poseidon masterfully blocked his attacks.

Percy was growing tired and it was beginning to show as his attacks were becoming slower and wilder. He knew if he wanted to win this now would be his last shot. That's when a lightbulb went off in his head causing a small but sneaky smile to appear on his face.

Raising his blade above his head he dashed at Poseidon going in for a downward slash. As Poseidon moved to catch the blade in between the prongs of his trident Percy made his move. With incredible speed he stopped his swing and in one motion harmlessly spun past the prongs of the trident.

Faster than the now wide eyed Poseidon could follow Percy had spun past his trident and continued to disarm him with the flat end of his sword. Following up with a strong kick to the chest. The next thing Poseidon knew he was on his back in the sand, feeling the cold edge of a blade against his next.

"Who's laughing now aqua man?" mocked Percy with a confident smirk present on his face, "Yield?"

"That's funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." Jokingly said Poseidon.

Percy just rolled his eyes but kept his sword against his brother's neck.

"Come on…." Was all Percy managed to get out before yet another wave knocked him clear off his feet, landing flat on his back a few feet away. Followed by the sensation of feeling of two sharp points on both sides of his neck. Opening his eyes to see the business end of his brother's trident positioned at his neck. Even worse he saw his brothers face. Complete with a wide smile and mirthful sea green eyes staring down at him.

"So LITTLE brother," Poseidon beamed, putting extra emphasis on little. "Would you like to yield now?"

Percy, in response indistinguishably grumbled some words before nodding his head ever so slightly.

"Ha-ha Yes I still got it!" Poseidon exclaimed as he started doing a cheesy victory jig.

Sitting up now, Percy shook his head at his older brother's antics. Trying to stay upset at such a happy go lucky person like Poseidon is impossible, before long Percy was chuckling watching his brother dance away.

Finally, after a few minutes of Poseidon breaking it down he managed to get himself under control. Still grinning like a fool he walked over to help Percy off the sandy ground.

Percy gratefully accepted his brother's hand as he was heaved up onto his feet.

"Thanks Poseidon, but just you wait till I get my domains. We'll see who is the one dancing is then!" Percy said half-joking.

In response Poseidon firmly patted Percy on the back, causing him to stumble some. Before giving him a mischievous grin, "Good, I can stop taking it easy on you then…Come on let's get out here, I think I see some nosy family members in the distance."

Next thing Percy knew Poseidon was sprinting off towards three womanly figures off in the distance.

"WAIT! You weren't really taking it easy on me?" Percy yelled, "Poseidon!"

Poseidon looked back just long enough to give his black eyed, little brother a wink that didn't give away anything.

Sighing to himself Percy raced after his elder brother.

Rhea was deep in thought staring across the sea as the sun was beginning to set, it was beautiful she thought. Absolutely mezmorizing, the dimming light reflected off the sea it was so very tranquil. It helped take away her worries.

Deep down she felt like something was off, not just the fact about the impending war for Olympus. Something just wasn't right, she still hasn't been at full power since Percy's birth, and if anything it was dwindling at a slow pace. She didn't want to worry any of her children about this, they all have enough on their plates.

Rhea was brought back to the world by the sound of her daughters cheering. Looking up to see her two most fun-loving sons sprinting up the hill from the beach towards them. The chemistry between the two brought a small smile to her face. Poseidon was the care-free older brother that was always giving him a hard time, but was always there when it matter. Percy definitely looked up to him, always striving to one up as well. At the end of the day she knew that both of them would put their life on the line if the other was in danger.

"WHOOP WHOOP, Poseidon wins again!" Yelled Poseidon into the sky.

A few seconds later an out of breath Perseus caught up, immediately putting his hands on his knees breathing heavy.

"You….cheated…..again!" Hissed Perseus in between his breaths.

Poseidon strolled over to Hestia resting his arm on his shoulder before looking back at Percy, "Like I said before, all is fair in love and war. Plus there is no shame in losing to the best trident user on Olympus!"

Hestia rolled her eyes while gently removing Poseidon's arm from her shoulder, "You are the only trident using Olympian on Olympus Poseidon."

"Not for long dear sister, Amphitrite is expecting any week now. Boy or girl no child of mine will be going through life without my awesome trident skills." Said Poseidon proudly.

Everyone rolled their eyes and chuckled a little bit hearing this.

"Hey brother if you are done basing in your own glory, could you dry me off real quick?" asked Percy.

Smirking slightly Poseidon snapped his fingers and Percy became dry immediately.

Sending Poseidon a thankful smile, he ran towards Hestia to give her a quick hug. Followed up by a long, loving embrace with Hera.

The two have really bonded since Hera was introduced to him the day after she learned of Zeus's cheating ways from the Fates. Perseus's loving nature took over immediately, becoming a rock for Hera to lean on and vent her feelings to. While Hera took an immediate likening to Percy, he was practically the son she always wanted. She and Hestia had pretty much become his surrogate mothers just as much as they were his sisters.

"Hello there Perseus." Said a smiling Hera.

"Heraaaaaa, no one calls me Perseus but mother." Complained a now pouting Percy.

Giving Percy a gleeful smile while ruffling his hair, "Now Perseus big sisters always know best! Isn't that right Hestia?"

"Of course dear sister." Hestia responded with a wide smile and playful twinkle in her eyes.

"Ugh you guys are ridicules." Protested Percy, "Poseidon aren't you gonna lend your bro some support?"

Poseidon's eyes widened at the thought of it, "Yeah right brother, I have learned my lesson. A women's wrath is nothing to trifle with, especially these two."

Rhea, Hestia and Hera started uncontrollably laughing at the sound of Poseidon's words in combination with the scared look on his face.

Frowning in defeat Percy sat on the ground and looked up at the slowly darkening sky. Becoming lost in its beauty. Not finding his way back to the real world till felt someone sit down beside him.

Percy looked over to see his lovely mother looking up at the sky as well.

"It's beautiful isn't?" Rhea whispered just loud enough to be audible.

"Yes, yes it is mother." Agreed Perseus as he returned his gaze to the sky as more and more stars began to appear.

Not breaking his gaze from the night Percy asked, "Where did everyone else go ma?"

"Ha-ha they left when you were busy star gazing. You missed another one of Poseidon and Hestia's, classic arguments about which is better, fire or water. Oh and by the way I have a surprise for you tomorrow." Stated Rhea continuing to look up into the night to not give away anything.

The whole surprise thing caught Perseus's attention. Quickly breaking his gaze from the sky, turning to face his mother with a curious expression, "Surprise, oh oh what kind of surprise!?"

Rhea ignored her son for a few more seconds before his pleas for an answer got to her, "An old friend Perseus, on the island of Delos."

A.N: Well that's another chapter down! Hope everyone likes it. Took me a little longer than i would of liked, but hey writers block. Some things to note i guess, Percy will be turning into a full god and what not at age ten aka five years from this scene. Also next chapter plan to elaborate more on what good ole Zeus has been up to. On top of that going to be introducing a certain silver eyed female godling next chapter if ya catch my drift. Think that's everything? Anyway love all the supportive and kind reviews, you all are the best!

Have a great day,

NMR