Percy’s POV
I was amazed at that. That power could possibly change the war! I could influence - Styx cut off my thoughts by saying, "And since you're our champion, you are going to have to stay neutral in the war. None of us have chosen a side in the war, and it's going to stay that way. So no fighting for you."
I stared at her for a few seconds hoping she was joking. When her expression didn’t change, I knew she was serious. And I was furious.
“Wait, what?!” I asked incredulously. “I have to fight in the war! My friends need me! And I’m the prophecy child! They’ll die without me!”
“Actually, you aren’t the child of the prophecy anymore.” Styx interrupted.
I paused, staring at her in astonishment. ‘What does she mean?’ Odysseus asked in my head.
“What do you mean?” I repeated.
She rolled her eyes. “I mean exactly what I said. There is a child that fits the prophecy, and it’s not you anymore.”
“How?” I squeaked out.
Zagreus smirked. “Well, when two people love each other very much…”
Everyone, even me, glared at him, and Mnemosyne put her hand over his mouth, muffling his next words and said, “Hades had a child that was born on the exact same day as you, and now she’s the prophecy child, not you.”
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I blinked. That was impossible!
‘It’s not really impossible. One of the gods could have just hid the fact that they broke the oath, and no one would know.’ Odysseus pointed out. I ignored him.
“How do you know?” I asked Styx and Menomsyne.
They looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at me. “Whenever someone swears on my name, I know exactly who is swearing the oath, and what they are swearing. In that respect, I also if someone breaks an oath. I felt it when each of the big three broke their oath, so that is how I know.”
“Oh.” I said stupidly. There was a moment of silence and we all silently watched Zagreus struggle to throw Mnemosyne's hand off his mouth. Then I started to speak again.
“So why can’t I fight in the war? They are still my friends and I want to help them!”
Zagreus finally managed to get Mnemosyne's hand off. He said, “First of all, we need to train you, so your powers don’t get out of control. If they did, that would be catastrophic. And second of all, everyone thinks you are dead. And you would have to explain how you are alive and why. Am I right in assuming you don’t want people to know you are the reincarnation of Odysseus yet?”
When I nodded my head in affirmation, he continued. “Then it would be a lot easier to remain ‘dead’, than coming up with a believable lie of how you are alive. Also, like Styx said, each of us is neutral, and wishes to remain so. Since you are now our champion, you will stay neutral with us as we train you. When you are done training, you may go out on your own, and make your own choices regarding your loyalties, but at the moment, you are loyal to us.”
I scowled and he looked at me sympathetically and said, “I know it will be hard for you because of your fatal flaw, but you will manage. There might be a few… side effects though.”
I looked up, concerned. “What do you mean by side effects?”
Zagreus pressed his lips together, refusing to say anything more. I looked to Mnemosyne and Styx for answers but they stayed quiet.
I sighed in frustration, running my hands through my hair. At that moment Nyx came through the door, looking worried.
She walked toward Mnemosyne, and said something to her that was too low for me to hear. Mnemosyne immediately looked concerned, and glanced toward me.
Zagreus looked at me and then back at them confusedly, and asked Nyx, “What happened to make you look so worried, darling?”
Nyx ignored the nickname, and glanced at me for a second, before turning to Zagreus and saying, “I have just been told that Kronos is planning to put the whole of Manhattan to sleep, with Morpheus’s and Hypnos’s help, to make fighting easier. And they are doing it now.”