19 Chapter 18: How to Weave a Thread

Important A/N

Just a reminder that after the next 1-2 chapters, updates will be biweekly due to lack of time on account of me starting my internship. Thanks for understanding!

Do join the discord I created. I would really love to interact with all of you there! If the link isn't working, drop a comment or add me @ mhc#7844 and I'll send you an invite. Looking forward to seeing you there!

d i s c o r d . g g / P Z P b B 5 S f 7 2

Lastly, don't forget to check out my patron under the name - mhc007! Again, this won't affect the fic in any manner whatsoever. The timeline for the updates will still be the same. This isn't for supporting myself or boosting my earnings. It's more of a thing for me to reaffirm that my writing is good enough for people to actually support me. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no obligation to support me if you can't, just your words will be enough!

...

Disclaimer : I do not own PJO or any of its characters.

x.x

Chapter 18: How to Weave a Thread

~Hestia's Palace, Olympus~

Percy found himself outside a familiar palace/temple as soon as his vision cleared. He turned to look at Hestia, only to see that she had already started walking towards the door.

"Come on, Perseus", Hestia called over her shoulder without turning to look at him.

Percy knew that he was in trouble since Hestia only used his actual name when he had messed up things or somehow they did on their own accord with him being completely innocent as was the case currently. It wasn't his fault that the damned skeleton decided to pay him a visit and subsequently stab him in the gut. It wasn't like he went out of his way to ask people to stab him for the heck of it. But alas, Percy was slowly coming to terms with the fact that his life was one huge joke to the Fates and things like these were bound to happen as much as he wanted to avoid them in the first place. So with a heavy sigh he followed Hestia inside her home.

When Percy came upon the doors, he was blown away by its sheer simplicity. The doors were made of celestial bronze with her symbol carved into it on either side. The symbol itself was the same as the one on Percy's arm. Percy, on his part, had expected something more intricate but now that he thought about it, it was Hestia he was talking about. She was the most down to earth goddess so he couldn't see her as an ostentatious person.

Back to the topic in hand, the doors started opening automatically as though the house felt its master return. Percy walked in behind Hestia and entered the lobby. It was a bit wide, short and decorated with various paintings which eventually then opened up to the hall. He wanted to admire the interior a bit more but decided against it since he had something more important to attend to. So Percy kept following Hestia as she took a series of turns before they finally reached their destination.

The room in front of Percy had huge glass windows which provided a view of Hestia's gardens and the beautiful night sky above.

"Come and sit, Perseus. I will summon some food for you whilst you tell me what exactly happened after I dropped you at camp", Hestia said, leaving no room for any argument. She then proceeded to summon a pizza and a magical glass for her champion.

Percy wasted no time in devouring the pizza as he started recounting his tale. He omitted the bit related to his time travel since he did not want to alarm Hestia even further. Plus, he had a feeling that the deity would not appreciate it if he told this part to anyone.

After a short while once he was done, Hestia could hardly hold herself back. Her fiery eyes gained a harsher shade to them and parts of her hair even caught fire. She was pissed! How dare someone hurt Percy just to show how weak he was right now? The boy had just entered this side of the world, who in their right mind would expect someone to become powerful so quickly? Only a mad person would.

"Perseus Jackson", Hestia started, "If you ever come across such situations again, you'd better inform me about it instantly if not, pray to the gods for help because it will be nothing compared to what I'd do to you if I find out that you jumped into an extremely dangerous situation like that once again. Is. That. Understood?", Hestia growled as she emphasised each word at the end.

Percy quickly nodded, not wanting to further aggravate the already furious goddess in front of him. He knew she was always protective of him but he never imagined that she'd be this furious and concerned. To avoid any more trouble and placate the goddess, his mind was running through countless ways to make things better but unfortunately he had never read a guide for 'how to handle an angry goddess'. So he did what came to him naturally – he simply hugged her whilst letting his eyes burst into their true form. However, Hestia was still angry with Percy and refused to hug him back which made the demigod hug her even tighter and apologise for his actions. Eventually, she relented as her eyes returned to their normal shade and hugged him back with equal fervour.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was when I found you on the ground, stabbed and bleeding to death?", Hestia asked in a sad tone, "You are my first champion ever. I have waited for millennia to find someone worthy enough and when I do, he almost goes and dies on me, not to mention, he is only twelve years old. How do you expect me to not be worried?"

"I'm sorry Hestia. It's just that things just keep happening on their own and I too try my best to stay out of trouble but I can hardly help it. Guess the gift by the fates came with their own set of problems."

Hestia tightened her grip around Percy upon hearing that. The Fates were truly horrible to have this boy a hard life right from the start.

"Don't worry Percy, I will always be there with you. I will always be there to help you when you need it, lift you up when you're down and be by your side. Regardless of what the Fates have in store for you, I will brave it with you. This, I promise as a friend and as your patron", Hestia said.

Percy couldn't help but tear up a bit. All his life, except for his mom, there was no one who cared for him as much as Hestia did. He could not help but be thankful for what he had. Besides, he too had a promise to uphold for which he would train and become strong.

"Hestia, can we start with the training for Bond Manipulation like you said? I really don't want to accidentally mess things up between other people", Percy said as soon as he realised that he was on Olympus for another reason.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about it. Come, let's go outside, the fresh air will do you some good as well", Hestia said as she just flashed the two of them to the garden outside. What? She was a goddess and she could do that so why bother taking the long route unnecessarily?

...

~Midnight: Cabin 3, Camp Half Blood~

Chiron had tick marks on his head as he clutched the note that he held in his hands. Hestia had told him that she was taking Percy to Olympus and that everything was fine. Nothing more, nothing less. He believed the goddess but still he came to recheck once whether it was true and sure enough, he was greeted to an empty cabin.

All he could do was sometimes lament his luck when it came to the children of the big three. Why oh, why did they have to be troublesome at times? Don't take it wrongly, he loved his job. It's just that, sometimes it was hard to control campers but it came nowhere close to what it was when it came to the children of the big three.

Chiron let out a sigh as he closed the door and trotted back to the big house wondering how was he going to explain this one to the cabin councillors during the meeting tomorrow especially a certain daughter of Athena.

...

~Somewhere in a forest~

Artemis sat on a tree branch, overlooking the celestial body which she had divine control over. Her mind was still wondering about the boy. Her thoughts were in utter conflict at the moment.

All her life, she had seen men deceive and mistreat women. It did not matter how old they were, even kids the same age as that boy were capable of things like that as she had seen in several instances in the past few years. Millennia of believing and seeing these events transpire had led her to cement the belief that men were scum regardless of who they were – whether a son of a god or a mortal, they were all the same in their nature. Not to forget, the events with Orion, a son of Poseidon, didn't sit well for her in the least. She already disliked children of Poseidon since most of them were power hungry or nutjobs in their own right but Orion was the final nail in the coffin. After that day, she held a special dislike towards the children of the god of the seas.

But on the other hand, she knew Hestia, Athena as well as Hecate. All 3 goddesses were extremely intelligent and knew how to look after themselves not to mention that two of them were virgins like her and knew the indicators to look out for if someone was trying to deceive them. She knew that none of them had a misguided sense of judgement. Even if she could come up with reasons for Athena and Hecate, what of Hestia? Hestia had been around far longer than her and had come across far more people than her since she spent most of her time in the forests with her hunters. So it was difficult to fault the goddess of the hearth as well.

Thus, she sat in the forest looking at the moon whilst her hunters slept below her, unaware of the raging thoughts going on in their mistress' head.

...

~Hestia's Palace, Olympus~

Percy and Hestia were standing in the garden of her palace. Before starting with Percy's training, Hestia had decided to tell Percy the basics of her powers so that he could understand what he would be doing and if in case he did anything unintentionally, he would know how to stop or revert things immediately.

"Percy, every living thing – be it animals, mortal, demigod or god – have a bond or connection with someone in some manner. If two people are in love, there's a bond between them, if two people hate each other, there's still a connection between them and so on. My point is that as long as there's a connection between people, my powers can influence them and change them as I desire. Moreover, the hearth or home, is something that is inherent to every living being out there of which they are a part of. Since I am the goddess of the hearth, I have control over every single person out there", Hestia said as she stopped momentarily to ensure that Percy understood what she was saying.

Percy, on the other hand, was shocked. He never thought that the seemingly common domain that Hestia had was one of such power and importance!

On a side note, Gamer's Mind had become more adaptive thanks to Chaos' fine tuning. It wouldn't suppress every emotion Percy had, but would instead utilise it in a manner that would benefit Percy the most. Since the children of the sea always had strong emotions and found strength in family, Chaos opted for this option knowing full well how advantageous it would be for the young demigod; not that he was aware of it.

"Did you understand what I just said, Percy?", Hestia asked.

"Yes, I did. Basically there's always a connection between people regardless of the way one sees it. Love or hate, as long as there's some emotion to it between two people, there's a connection which can be manipulated."

"Quite right. Now that you have understood the basics of it, there's another one important aspect that I wanted you to know. Connections or bonds don't always have to be from both sides. Sometimes, these can be one sided as well. For example, you may meet some stranger for the first time on the streets and have an opinion about him/her. The opinion is driven by your own emotion of how you feel about that person. Now connect that with the basics that I taught you. There is an emotion coming from you so naturally there's a connection from you to that stranger. You can manipulate that as well or in simpler words, manipulate the perception of one person for someone else. This is a far more delicate process since you have to have meticulous control over the power and be extremely careful with the strand that you select to change. Were you able to follow what I said?"

"Yes, I got that Hestia."

"Now you understand why I was shocked when I got to know that you have this power? This is something that I did not wish anyone would ever inherit since this power is dangerous in its own way. But if it had to be passed, I am glad that you got it Percy. I know this will make you stronger, you won't ever misuse it and would only use it when necessary so I am fine with this as well. Now that you have understood the basics, let's start with your training."

"Sure but how exactly will I be able to train? I don't think you'd want me to practice on the bond between other people or animals."

"Correct. We will be practicing on the bond between us."

"What?! But what if I messed up and changed things, what would happen then?", Percy asked worriedly.

Hestia laughed a little at that as she said, "Percy, aren't you forgetting something important? I am the GODDESS of the hearth. If you make any mistakes, I would be there to rectify them or prevent any mishaps from happening. Don't worry."

"Oh", was all that Percy could say just as the realisation dawned upon him.

"Now, let's start. First, focus on your power and feel it in yourself. That's the first step for using it."

Percy stayed quiet now and listened to Hestia's interactions and did as she instructed. He started focusing within himself and dived deep in his being. There were quite a few threads which were connected across in his body in different hues. Most were sea-green whilst two to three of them were orange in colour which Percy realised were his powers from Poseidon and Hestia respectively. He kept on searching within himself until he found an orange thread which wasn't glowing like the others. It was connected but not reinforced which Percy thought was the recently unlocked Bond Manipulation skill.

...

~Hestia~

Outwardly, Hestia could feel Percy's power flare as he started glowing a little which meant that he had completed the first stage.

"Now, call for it to come to the surface and make it rise slowly. If you make it jerk up all of a sudden, you will lose control of it and might end up disrupting the bonds of people around you. Since this is your first time, you must be absolutely careful", Hestia said. She was happy to see that Percy was utterly focused on his task and was obeying her.

...

~Percy~

Percy heard Hestia's voice in his mind as he did as she instructed him. He held on to the string and slowly started calling for it towards the surface. It was somewhat at the bottom so it took awhile for it to rise. He made sure not to call for it too quickly and kept it at a decent pace.

...

~Hestia~

Hestia felt Percy's power rise steadily which meant that he had a good grip on the initial phase and was soon going to be ready to use the power.

"Call for it to burst forth outside your body and follow your instincts", Hestia instructed once again.

...

~Percy~

Percy then let it rise until it was ready to burst forth and with a final grunt, he connected the string to his body more securely and let out the power building within him.

Percy then opened his eyes and looked at Hestia who was looking at him with pride in her eyes.

"You have done the first step properly Percy! Controlling a power is difficult in its own right especially when using it for the first time but it seems that you have a knack for it. Now, since these are bonds that we are talking about and manipulating, open your feelings to everything around you and truly feel your surroundings."

The demigod complied as he closed his eyes and became more aware of his feelings and sensations around himself. As soon as he opened his fiery eyes, unbeknownst to him, they started glowing as they revealed something that no one, save for a few individuals could ever see. The entire sky above Olympus was criss-crossed with threads of different colours and complexities as some glowed whilst some were dull. The colours banded beautifully and ran in all directions. Some seemed to start in Olympus and travel endlessly whilst some passed over the city of the gods. Combine it with the night sky with the moon and stars blanketing the dark canvas above, and it was truly a sight to behold. Percy couldn't help but gaze at it in wonder and admiration. He then turned to Hestia to see that her orange flames were glowing beautifully as she too was staring at the sky just as he was.

"As many times as I see this, this sight never gets old, not in the least. If anything, it becomes even more breath-taking every time I see it", she said. She then shifted her attention to Percy and was immediately mesmerised with his eyes. They always looked dazzling in their fiery form but right now, they had gained an ethereal glow to it, making them even more profound which made Hestia lost in them.

Unbeknownst to Hestia, Percy was entranced in the same manner as her and was gazing into her eyes with equal fervour. Time seemed to slow down and it looked as though only the two of them were there in the world and that's all that mattered. They subconsciously moved closer to gaze deeper into each other's eyes until they were just a breath away from each other. Their close proximity eventually snapped both of them out of their stupor as they realised their current position. They quickly took a step back to create a bit of distance.

Hestia felt her cheeks heat up a little as a slight blush dusted her face. While Hestia was aware of such things, she had never felt this emotion before and it was all foreign to her. She didn't know why this was happening after all this time but she let it be. She needed to train Percy first. She would deal with this later.

The same could be said for Percy as well. He felt his cheeks heat up and felt a little more warm than usual when he was in the presence of the goddess. He felt warm with his mother as well but this felt different for some reason. He just could not understand it for some reason.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Hestia talk again, "You see the amount of lines going through the sky? This is but a small glimpse of the bonds between different people. As my champion, you have complete control over all of them with restrictions of course. You won't be able to change bonds of gods of course and other stronger divine beings. Except for that, I don't see you having any other trouble."

"I understand. But do these different colours mean anything Hestia?" Percy asked as he kept his eyes peeled on the sky.

"They do. Each colour represents something about a bond. There will always be two colours to a bond – one for each person. Think of it as this way, if you look at someone as your friend, you would emit a particular colour. On the other hand, if that person hates you, that person would emit a different colour. These two then blend to show the relationship status between two different people. Got that?"

"Yes. So, what do the different colours represent?"

"There are 5 major colours that you will look out for. Purple represents romantic feelings for someone. Brown represents familial feelings. Red represents dislike / hatred. Blue represents friendship and finally, grey represents a neutral feeling. Commit these two memory Percy because if you forget this whilst manipulating the bond, it can have horrible repercussions since it would go against your intended goal. Are you following me till now?"

"Yes. Basically, there are 5 major colours that represent different feelings of bonds between people. Bonds between two people will have two sides to it. The feelings between the two people can or cannot be the same. And this will work on everybody except for gods and those who are stronger than me by a large margin. Correct?"

"Quite right. Now, try to focus on all the bonds that you have and let it float out from yourself. It will take a lot more practice for you to focus on one bond so we are going to start with seeing all your bonds first", Hestia advised.

Percy nodded and repeated the same process as last time and focused on his gut instincts. Instead of feeling his surroundings, Percy kept his senses restricted to himself and soon felt something in him expand. He slowly opened his eyes to see the results and was rewarded with the sight of his bonds. Intrigued, he looked at each one of them. Most of them were brown and blue whilst a few rare grey ones could be seen. However, that was not what caught his attention. No, what caught his attention was a sea-green thread going from him towards Hestia. He turned to Hestia to ask her about it but was surprised to see her mouth open in shock.

Hestia kept blinking her eyes to make sure that what she was seeing was indeed true. Never in all this time had she ever seen something like this happen. Not even the gods or the Olympians themselves, herself included, exuded this type of thread. She was truly at a loss of words. Just what was Percy? He was something extraordinary indeed. Her mind kept drifting to different conclusions that could come up for this but she could not find an answer at all until she entertained a thought that was prodding in her mind. Hestia then closed her eyes and brought out her bonds as well to have a look at them. Like Percy, most of her were the same but what caught her eye was an orange thread heading towards Percy which met his sea-green thread in the middle and went on to weave with each other in intricate patterns, mixing together in a way that she had never seen. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she brought her hand to her mouth in shock. Just what was happening?

Percy was observing Hestia when he felt her power rise a little as well as her bonds were made available for him to see as well. As soon as his eyes fell on the orange thread connecting with his, he was quite confused. Didn't Hestia tell him there were 5 types of colours? Then what did these two represent? He dismissed these thoughts as soon as he looked at Hestia and the expression on her face. The normally composed goddess had her eyes transfixed on the bond between the two of them and it worried Percy greatly. Was it something bad that made her lose her calm?

"Hestia, are you alright? What happened? Why are there two different colours for the both of us but everything else is the same?", Percy asked.

"I-I-I have never seen this happen. This is the first time ever that I have seen a colour other than the ones that I had listed to you. I am not sure myself. The only reason that seems most plausible at this point of time is the fact that you're my champion and I, your patron and since I have this domain under my control and you have access to my powers, this has been created. Again, this is but a thought. I would need to come up with something more concrete before I can say anything", Hestia said.

"Alright. Can we start with the training now?", Percy asked. He knew not to prod too much into the matter since the goddess clearly needed some time on her own to comprehend what exactly happened so he changed the topic to get her mind off it for a while.

"Of course", Hestia said.

And so Hestia began training her champion in one of the most dangerous powers known in the Greek world.

x.x

Percy's Stats

Perseus Jackson

Species : Demigod

(gives +2 STR and +2 DEX)

Title : Son of Poseidon

Perseus is the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. Blessed by Elpis, the spirit of hope, he has a natural affinity with water due to his heritage which grants him control over water, horses, storms and earthquakes. He is also Hestia's champion which grants him control over fire and lets him summon meals.

…

Level - 17

Exp – 4,596 / 7,290

…

HP : 900 / 900 (+ 2,000)

MP : 1,000 / 1,000 (+ 2,000)

…

STR : 23 (+ 2 + 20) (Bonus : Weapon damage - Damage + STR | Unarmed damage - STR * 2)

VIT : 18 (+ 20) (Bonus : 50 HP per 10 levels)

DEX : 18 (+2 + 20) (Bonus : +10% HP regenerated / min)

INT : 22 (Bonus : 50 MP per 10 levels)

WIS : 18 (Bonus : +10% MP regenerated / min)

LUC : 26 (Bonus : +14% chance of better loot)

Points : 22

Money : $37,200 / D520

…

Status : Demigod

…

Skills

…

Combat :

Sword Fighting (Level 17)

…

Inherited :

Ancient Greek (Max)

Tongue of the Old Times (Max)

Modern English (Level 25)

Swimming (Level 7 - 9 km/hr)

Breathe Underwater (Max)

Akachan Shiru no Me (Max)

Running (Level 7 - 34 km / hr)

Storms (Level 3)

Earth Shaker (Level 1)

…

General :

Observe (Level 4)

Sneaking (Level 6)

Critical Strike (Level 5)

Taunt (Level 1)

Mark of the Furies (Level 8)

Mage Armor (Level 5)

Summon Meals (Max)

Makarios tis Elpis (Level 3)

Battle Strategy (Level 5)

Bond Manipulation (Level 1)

…

Chores :

Cleaning Dishes (Max)

…

Passive :

Gamer's Mind (Max)

Son of the Sea God (Gives +20 STR, VIT & DEX as well as +2000 HP and +2000 MP when in water)

Battle Instincts (Max)

Champion of Hestia (to be declared)

…

Abilities :

Water Control (Level 17)

Water Spikes (Level 4)

Blood Control (Level 1)

Water Spear (Level 3)

Dimension Create (Max)

Ice Control (Level 4)

Steam Control (Level 3)

Fire Control (Level 8)