Percy found himself in that odd dream again. Hovering bodiless in front of an older tyrant version of himself. He did not recognize the building but rather than rewatch what he had seen before with a few new and changed details, Percy instead floated around the room looking at things scattered about. There were wires and strange devices all throughout the room's edges. Percy headed to a window and looked out at the area around it. Percy actually recognized a few buildings. “The three city area?” He would have said out loud but he didn't really have a mouth. He was more like a moving camera in this dream. “So this is my home town?” By looking at various landmarks Percy does his best to figure out where the building was. Though he was hard pressed to think of a building this tall in the three cities considering how it was made. Only building that came close was… “Olympic Tower?” he thought.
The Three Cities area refers to three cities built nestled into one area with the city borders being roads rather than the normal set up for the state with miles of farmland and tiny towns and villages between major cities. Though each city was barely a city on its own, put all three together and it was even bigger than Madison or Milwaukee. There was only one really tall building that could be called a skyscraper despite the size since it was actually three towns built right on top of one another. That was Olympic Tower. Owned by an eccentric millionaire known to most only as Mr. Olympic, the building has floors dedicated to various offices to a number of companies as well as apartments. The place was a practical fortress. This was, in fact, partly due to Percy and an old highschool friend he had by the name of Clark Gallows.
Mr. Olympic was known for being odd and collecting various artifacts, rumored even to be an occultist. He was a bit paranoid and as such hired the best code guy in town to buff his digital network’s security. That guy was Clark Gallows. However he wasn't that great when it came to hardware and physical defenses. To help with that he got Percy to help him. Together they created one of the greatest security setups ever devised. The Tartarus Protocol. Basically a lockdown on steroids with extra safeties to help those stuck inside. Percy wrote up the placement of various lockout mesures and safeties for the staff to go with them as well as personally doing some of the wire work and Clark coded the cyber defense and the isolated computer system that helped run the protocols. Mr. Olympic was so impressed with Clark he got hired on with an exclusivity contract that has him living and working from inside the tower with only family and Olympic Tower staff allowed to visit with the only exception being Percy.
It was the most and only logical place to build an evil fortress in the three cities. Modified with some sort of tech for who knows what. To Percy it looked like a faraday cage comboed with some sort of device for creating a kind of EMP outside the tower. With this setup if activated the tower would be safe from the pulse. The readings however were not those of a standard EMP, it was set to some weird energy wavelength Percy did not recognize. All he knew was it would probably only mess with the power of the city a little with some flickering lights but other than that it would do nothing despite the large radius the wave would cover.
It made no sense. Why protect the tower or this room from a pulse not even strong enough to knock out anything? Sure it went really far, had more range than a strong pulse could. It must have had some specific purpose. Percy knew himself, even if he went full darkside he was still strategic and even methodical at times. “I’ll figure this out later, maybe.” he thought before going back over to the conversation between this other him and the woman with “Hecate” as her partner.
The Hacate woman was definitely not happy with evil Percy. She screamed at him about him becoming a tyrant, she pleaded with him to stop his plot, whatever it was. And when he spoke back he gave some whole thing of a speech. Percy had a hard time focusing on it and just got bits of what he was saying. ‘Something something Armatus users, something something power corrupts. Something something something and that’s why I modified this tower to emit a pulse that disrupts the ‘divine’ energy of an Armarus that is without a host. To create a world without gods. No human should be trusted with that kind of power and even if one became a full god, then what? Lose power from having no worshipers and start over?”
Wait, what? That frequency… kills the armatus when they leave a host to prevent them from getting a new one? It just wipes them from existence?! What was his plan then, off himself after all others were dead to erase the gods? I mean, sure, not everyone uses their power in a moral way. Humans are inherently flawed. But to not even give them a chance, to take out the good and the bad just because there is a risk? That’s insane. Percy had already swore to never be like this, but now his resolve grew even more. Screw this guy and the high horse he rode in on. Him and everything he represents. “I think I'm done here, wake me up now.”
Percy tries to force himself out of the dream, though he has done this with other dreams but never this one. Wasn't going to stop him from trying. He felt a sort of tug and everything went black and he felt himself falling. He had a body now and could move freely. ‘Better than not being able to get out at all. Even if I'm still dreaming.’ He thought to himself as he fell in the blackness. Eventually a room formed around him and he landed on a bed. After looking around he realized he was at home, in his own bed. He gets up and looks around. ‘Am I… Awake?’ He looks at himself, still fully dressed. ‘Nope, still asleep.’ Having nothing to do he wandered around his house.
He looked out a window expecting to see the city but saw only a white light. “This is weird…” he then goes to the front door and opens it before walking out and finding himself floating in blackness again. But this time he feels something. Something in the black. Coming closer. Whatever it was felt powerful, but its power wasn't like that of a gods. Percy could hear it breathing, feel it breathing. It spoke in an extremely deep and gravelly voice. “I've already told you once to leave me be dream god. I am not in the mood for your games.”
Percy faced the direction of the voice but could not see who was talking. “I’m… not a dream god. I’m just a mortal. I uhhh… kinda stumbled on you by mistake. I was trying to get out of a bad dream.” There was a long awkward pause before he spoke again. “So they are torturing you as well? Those damned Oneiroi.” Percy responded with a shrug saying “I don’t know.” out loud just in case. “I didn't even think they were still active at their full power. I had just assumed… but I guess they can just use dreams to… I uhh… I’m not going to go into detail since I have no idea who you are or if this is real.” There was only a deep hum for a while before Percy was finally awoken.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Percy sat up quickly. “(The hell even was that? Was that even real? Did I jump into someone else's dream? If so, how and why?”) he thought to himself before speaking out loud. “Hey Neptuna?” She pops up as soon as he calls her name and he continues. “Do you know what that was?” Neptuna shrugged. “I wasn't watching your dream this time. So I have no idea.” Percy then had a semi-related question. ”I can call on you in my dreams right?” She simply nodded. “Are the dream gods still at full power? I mean I had assumed they either faded or beame like you.” Neptuna sighed. “They can get enough energy from dreams to stay gods. So yeah. They are just as active now as ever.”
Percy let this sit for a bit before getting up and getting ready. Normally he doesn't call Neptuna till after because he doesn't want her around as he showers and changes. She was already out and about and Percy was unsure whether he should ask her to pop out again. He decided to trust her and just went about the routine. After getting ready he remembered today was Sunday and he had all day and nothing to do at all. He decided to text Hector to see if he was free so the two could hang out and talk a bit. Get some info and tips from another Armata user. Luckily he was free so the two decided to go for a walk and talk at one of the parks in the area. Percy insisted on a different park then the one he was ambushed in, just in case.
After some casual talk Percy gets to asking the questions he really wants to. “Okay, so I know souls are a thing, and reincarnation is a part of many lores so is that real too?” Hector nods. “Normal people get some sense of it, but it's mostly just feelings. If someone is a natural at something they likely did it in a previous life. Armaus users can get benefits like recovering muscle memory from the last life. If you had an Armata before use comes more naturally. If you had some sort of association with the same god that picked you you can even get full on memories and bonus powers. Like if you were a demi-god you can get the powers you had in that life.” Percy let this sink in before saying “Great, so if Heracles is reincarnated and gets chosen by Zeus and he comes after me, I’m basically boned. Good thing the odds of that are very low.”
Hector starts kinda looking around avoiding looking at Perseus. “Yeah… about that...'' Percy looks at him with a “Wait… really? Guess I better hope I don't end up on his bad side then.” Hector tries to lighten the mood with “He's a bit bulky for my taste, too much muscle. I mean I like my men to be fit but he’s ninety percent bulk muscle and meat. I prefer the lean muscle of a martial artist. Like you.” Hector winks at Percy who responds with “You know I don’t swing that way man. But thanks, I guess.” Percy was used to advances from men, he wasn't sure why people often mistook him for being gay but he tried his best to not let it bother him.
“So what about monsters? Surely normal people would have noticed if there were mythical beasts running round.” Hector looks at Percy once more. “Oh yeah, most monsters became extinct long ago with only a few existing as urban myths and cryptids. Apparently humans drove the bulk of them out with a few major cullings. One after Typhon was imprisoned, and then a number of smaller ones.” Percy knew mythology pretty well, Typhon was a sort of king of monsters. Stronger than a Titan or even Giant. Took all the Olympian counsel to simply imprison him. Locked him away in some mountain. “Wait… is Typhon still just locked away inside some mountain?” Hector is a bit shocked at this question. “Well, no. The Olympian gods later took his soul and split it up into pieces, put those in proto-Armata like objects and hid those away.”
Percy knew what this meant right away. Unlike normal Armatus that chose a user, these could be found. That could be problematic. Though he figured the odds of just finding one must be astronomical. So for now he will try his best not to think about it. “I think that's all the questions I have for now. Anything you want to know?” Hector couldn't think of anything important to ask him and before now they had mostly just been talking. Hector knew little of Percy other than the fact his mom has Delirium and he has a brother that gets in trouble with the law a lot. “So uhh… tell me about your family.”
Percy didn't really want to go into too much detail so he just gave a quick run down. “Dad hit the road with an RV after mom took a turn for the worst. Mom is at some mental health place slash lab. My eldest Sister Liberty manages a number of health supplement stores. Theseus is a mechanic and works out of town. Chrysaor keeps going in and out of the city holding.” Hector asked “Why” just to get a simple “Drugs.” There is a pause before Percy goes “He either keeps trying to get into McGonagall’s crew or horn in on his business.” Hector responded with “That’s bad.”
Percy looked at him and said “It’s definitely not good. Especially since he has Demeter.” Hector gave a surprised “What?!” shortly followed with “Wait, that actually makes sense.” Hector wasn't sure why he had not thought of it before now. It's so obvious. Though maybe that was why. “Hey, want to get something to eat?” Percy was really hungry. “Alright, I’ll buy. But you can’t try or say anything funny. You know what I mean.” Hector smiles “I mean you are buying me dinner. Is it really too much to hope for a little dessert?” Percy makes a ’pfft’ sound before saying “unless you want to dress like and be treated like a girl, it’s not happening.” Hector scoffs “So you’re not into men but crossdressers are fine?”
Percy has always been very honest with people. “Y-yeah. I mean if a guy looks feminine enough to pull it off I wouldn't mind it. Guy, girl, whatever. For me it’s less about the gender I guess. I mean I still say ‘I’m straight’ mostly cause it’s easier to say and understand then ‘If it looks enough like a girl, I’m down. I’m not picky.’ You know?” Hector laughs. “Yeah, I guess. But I don’t think I could pull that off. So...” he shrugs and the two enter a fast food taco place and get a few burritos and drinks. Hector broke the silence “I have a sister you know. Three years younger. I think she would like you.” Percy laughed. “You trying to set me up now? Sorry but I don’t really do blind dates.” Hector chuckles “Not exactly what I meant. I mean if it happened I would not object. Just saying, one could never have too many friends you know. She’s out of town right now though. Besides, she’s one of us. Nix is her partner. She called me all in a huff and had no idea what was going on. Was shocked to find out I’d been doing this for a few years. She’s only had a few weeks like you. Though you are a bit of a natural. You were probably an Armata host before.”
Percy nods. He’s thought of this before. They finish up and they head out. “This was nice. We should do this again. Maybe bring more people. You can meet my other friends. One of them knows about us thanks to an attack, but the other does not. You know Ginger already so you two should get along fine.” Hector looked shocked. “Ginger knows?” Percy chuckled “No, my other friend knows. Anyway, see you next time Hector.” And with proper goodbyes and a wave the two part ways and Percy goes home and hops in bed.
“Hey Neptuna?” “Yes Percy?” “Can you… lay in the bed till I fall asleep?” Neptuna was taken aback by this request. “Uhh… sure.” She lays down, her image above the covers Percy is under. She looks him over, knowing just under those covers he is in his unders. She can’t hop under them, even if she wanted to. So she just waits there till he falls asleep. She takes a few moments watching him sleep before finally vanishing with a sigh.