Percy Jackson: An Endless of All

During my time in the dreaming realm, I raised and cared for Orpheus. He is such a handsome baby with his messy blonde hair that sticks up everywhere. His silvery-brown eyes remind me of my own. 

With all my work and duties in the dreaming, and caring for Opheus. I felt a little bit cooped up and needed to stretch my legs. I also think that some fresh air outside will do Orpheus some good as well. So, I decided to set out for a visit to the Waking World.

It might be a bad idea, it is a bad idea. Due to my whole disappearing act from the waking world, with my newborn son. However, I can hardly care about it.

With Orpheus carried within my hands, and a small baby bag attached to me. I went to the waking world.

Next thing you know, I appear in the waking world in a swirl of sand in a secluded area.

If you are wondering, the thing is, I hadn't planned to be seen. But I hadn't exactly hidden either.

Besides, the illusion of Rudious—the beautiful mortal—still wrapped me like a second skin, and I walked again among the olive groves and sun-warmed stones of Delphi.

If Apollo finds me here, He fines me. There is no use in crying over spilled milk, right?

Nevertheless, it was Orpheus's first time in the Waking World. Excluding the day of his birth. He stared wide-eyed at birds overhead, at flowers dancing in the breeze. He cooed in my arms, unaware of the world's tension around him.

He was perfect.

Then I felt it — the soft buzz of divine presence, and the feeling that someone was watching both of us.

Apollo.

Next thing I knew, He appeared a few feet away, golden and breathless, his eyes drinking me in like the first sunrise after a long night. His gaze dropped to the child in my arms.

"...You came back," he said, walking slowly. "You've been gone for—gods, I thought I'd imagined you."

I smiled faintly. "You didn't. But I had to protect him."

"Where did you go?" he asked, softly now. "Rudious… what are you?"

I hesitated. I hadn't meant for him to find me. Not yet. However, I was still dumb enough to come back to the waking world. Even so, why should I fear doing so? But before I could answer—

CRACK—BOOM!

A thunderous lightning strike split the nearby sky, slamming into a hill with burning intensity.

We both looked. We both knew.

Zeus was watching. And he was not pleased. All I thought was that the godly man-child has some anger issues.

Moments later, a familiar shimmer of air revealed Hermes, stepping between realms in winged sandals, scroll in hand, and a look of pure exasperation on his face.

"Zeus commands your presence," Hermes said, already sounding tired. "You, Rudious. And your child. Now. Olympus awaits."

I looked at Apollo.

He clenched his jaw. "They want to talk about the prophecy."

"They're afraid of what they don't understand," I said. "Typical." Paranoid much, I thought.

Still… I nodded.

It was time.

I took Apollo's hand as I carried Orpheus in my other arm so he could flash us to Mount Olympus.

We stood in the center of the Divine Hall, a second later, under marble columns that reached beyond the clouds, surrounded by the Twelve Olympians in full regalia. Their thrones radiated power. Their judgment was sharp in their eyes.

Zeus sat at the head, thunder pulsing from his skin.

Orpheus stirred in my arms, then giggled—completely unfazed.

"Apollo," Zeus said. "You broke the law."

"I just wanted to see them—" Apollo began.

"You were told to stay away from demigods," Hera snapped. "Even ones born under strange circumstances."

"You're all being dramatic," I said coolly.

Zeus's eyes narrowed. "You presume to speak freely, mortal?"

Apollo stepped forward and gently went on to hold Orpheus in his arms. "He's not a threat. He's just a child."

And then — in that moment — something sparked. 

Zeus's eyes widened. His nostrils flared. His throne pulsed with power.

"I felt it," he said. "That wasn't just divine blood. That was magic. The kind no demi-god outside of Hacete's should have."

Hecate's blessing, the thought appears in everyone's thoughts. The raw potential of arcane might was woven into my child at birth.

Zeus stood. "Apollo… give the child back."

Apollo froze. "What?"

"Give him back," Zeus repeated. "Or I will strike him down. Now."

That was when I moved. He shouldn't piss off the unknown, ever, so he believes that I was just a mortal.

Then my Illusion Shatters.

I stepped forward, sand swirling from my feet, black as ink, gold-flecked like stars. My aura bled out in waves, suffocating silence washing over the chamber.

The illusion of Rudious dissolved and lay to rest, till the next time I needed it, and in its place stood Dream of the Endless.

Eyes like silver twilight. My short, messy, dark hair waved in the air like a crown of shadow and starlight. Power ancient, vast, and unknowable.

I did not shout.

I just whispered.

"Touch one hair on his head, Zeus… and you will know what it means to have dreams torn from your skull and fed back to you screaming."

The chamber trembled.

The gods recoiled. Even Ares flinched. Athena leaned forward with wide, calculating eyes.

"What… are you?" she breathed.

I turned my head slowly, every movement echoing through the stillness.

"I am Dream.

Of the Endless.

I existed before Olympus. Before Tartarus. Before Chaos breathed creation into your little sandbox. I am not mortal. I am not god. I am inevitable."

The room was silent but for the fluttering of my sand.

Then Apollo stepped forward, his voice soft. "Then… what does that make him? Our son?"

I turned my gaze to him — kinder now, softer.

"He is still mortal. A demigod, yes. But as mortal as any other child born from divine hands. The only difference is what he carries:

– A spark of my essence.– A voice that can move gods and men through music.– Skill in archery that rivals even Artemis.– And he is my Oracle. He sees through dreams what others cannot."

The Gods Fall Silent

The Olympians absorbed my words. Poseidon was the first to speak.

"…so the prophecy doesn't threaten Olympus?"

"No," I said. "It never did."

Zeus stared hard at me, then at Orpheus. The boy, now quietly suckling his fingers and looking back with eyes like distant stars.

Finally, Zeus sank back into his throne.

"Fine," he said. "But if he ever threatens Olympus…"

I turned my eyes on him.

"You'll never see me coming." I left those words linger.

After that, Apollo returned Orpheus to my arms. His expression was unreadable.

"I didn't know," he whispered. "I never could have guessed."

"You weren't meant to," I said gently.

He placed a hand on our son's cheek, kissed his forehead, then looked into my eyes.

"He's going to be extraordinary."

"I know."

And with that, I stepped away — sand rising once more — and vanished with Orpheus into the Dreaming.

Safe.

Hidden.

and Home.