Perseus Jackson's Fate shifted when he was a mere eight years old.
The cause was simple, far simpler than a Fate rending cause ought to be. The catalyst was a Television show, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Truly, it could be viewed as strange that something as simple as a mere TV show could change a person's Fate, but it did.
For without this show, Perseus Jackson would have lived a far different life.
The boy, Percy, had stumbled upon the show by chance, when his step-father was out one day. It had him hooked from the start.
A world of powers, of children wanting adventure, a boy with a scar who was tossed aside by his father, a girl who loved water, a boy who was so happy and kind.
Yes, for Perseus Jackson this show was truly remarkable. It was a show that captured his attention and shaped his life.
He adored Aang, the main character who could control all of the elements (air, water, earth, and fire). He loved Sokka, with no powers but a quick wit and a skill with weapons. He was in awe of Toph, who was firm and determined and turned her disability into her greatest strength. He found delight in Suki, who wielded her fans fiercely and was herself through all danger.
And then there was the one he loved the most, his favorite character Katara.
Katara was the big sister, the one who protected all the others. She was kind, but she was fierce. She fought against all those that harmed her friends, and used her powers to do good.
And she did so much good. Perseus was in awe of her, a figure that could raise the sea, stop the rain, command a tsunami, wield daggers of ice, or even heal with water. She could turn water into blades, form bridges of woven ice, control vines, and so much more.
Perseus looked to her in awe, she was truly remarkable.
And after this Fateful, Fate-shaping, day… she became his role model as well.
OO OO OO OO
Today Percy was at the beach, Montauk. His mom had brought him, just the two of them. There was no Gabe to ruin the day, just him and his mom having fun at the beach.
He hadn't been in a few years, and he was delighted to be back.
It was a lovely day to be at the beach, with a shining sun and warm breeze. The water was perfect, though it always was for Percy. He'd made a lovely sandcastle, his mom helped him decorate it, and now that that was done and his mom was working on dinner, he was playing in the waves.
He didn't mind being alone, there were plenty of games he could play on his own.
Like waterbending! He liked to pretend he was Katara at home, but didn't really have the water to do it. Bath time was to clean mom always said.
But the ocean wasn't to clean, it was to play, and he wanted to be a waterbender. Like Katara!
He'd seen the finale today, and it was incredible. Katara had just frozen Azula, tricked her into getting over the water and froze her and used that breathing trick (one from Aang , he loved the way they could also use each others tricks) and tied her up. She made it look so easy.
He waved his hand over the water, grinning as the waves rocked. He wanted to be like her, he wished so much he was like her.
Being able to control the waves, to freeze water, to know that as long as there was water he would be safe.
He swung his arm out, imagining the way the ocean would sweep and ripple into a wave, just like it did for Katara. Curling and crashing, the ocean obeying his command-
And then it did.
He bit back a scream, gaping at the water that had returned to lapping gently at his feet.
Had he imagined it? The ocean actually… listening?
Percy tried again, pushing forward this time, like that first move Katara learned.
Nothing happened.
He bit his lip, staring at the water. Maybe he'd imagined it?
He tried again, eyes narrow as he pushed . He commanded the ocean in his mind, imagining it flowing back and holding there, pressure building as it pushed back and back and-
There was a small swell in front of him.
His breath caught, eyes widening.
That wasn't normal.
That was-
The water crashed into him making him yelp, almost knocking him over. He steadied himself, a slow grin stretching across his lips.
He hadn't imagined it!
DId that mean he was-
Could he be a-
He needed more. He needed to see- needed to test-
What did Katara do when she was learning bending? There was the push and pull thing- he'd sorta done that so… do it more?
He thought back to the waterbending scroll episode, remembering what she said.
Push and pull the water, in and out.
His heart was pounding, his hands shaking, but he did his best to mimic what he remembered. His feet were spread, turning slightly to the side. He raised his hands, bit his lip, and pushed .
He focused on the water, willing it to move back, and when he pulled he willed it to come in. To curl and raise and spiral back and forward.
He couldn't help the gasp when it did. He grinned, bouncing. It did it! It listened to him! He did it !
He whooped, spinning happily, then turned back to the water to make it go back out, only to realize he'd stopped doing the movement so the water had stopped moving.
He quickly picked it up again, vibrating as he pushed out, pulled in, then pushed, pulled, pushed, pulled-
The water followed his movements.
His cheeks hurt from grinning, and he was resisting the urge to squeal.
He was a waterbender.
This was the best day of his life.
He had the first step down, there were others though.
Percy was going to master them all!
So uh…. Next was… He thought for a long moment, remembering what Katara had done. First push and pull, the water a big hump. Then- it was all thin and spinny.
He nodded, she called it… streaming. It was streaming the water.
It was pulled in a thin bit and then made into a ball! Then she made it other shapes he thought.
He could do that.
He definitely could.
So he focused on the water once more. He raised his hands carefully, pulling at the water and willing it up .
He chewed his lip and pulled high and- the water seemed to reach up- just a little-
He wanted to stop to cheer, but he didn't want it to stop, so he kept pulling, standing on his tippy toes.
It wasn't much but it was a stream… albeit a shaky one…
He narrowed his eyes and pulled it to him, separating it from the ocean and calling it to his arms.
A thrill went through him when he had the ball of water in his hands, and he couldn't resist the cheer that time.
He did it!
The water fell as his attention shifted and he pouted.
But he'd already proven to himself he could do this, it wasn't his imagination.
He was going to do it!
Time passed quickly for him as he continued his practice.
He spent ages pulling the water up and up from the ocean, then spinning it and making a ball. It took so many tries, he lost count forever ago. But eventually he managed to keep a steady ball that didn't fall away the moment he grinned.
He tried making a new shape, a square, or was it a cube… he couldn't remember. It was squareish though. He tried a star next, with points.
It was kinda working, but was very… mushy.
He tried to make it tighter, sharp points, he wanted it to be sharp and neat.
"Percy!"
He blinked, his attention gone as his mom called for him.
Then he realized he could show his mom his waterbending.
"Mom!" he yelled, racing towards her with a big grin. "Mom, mom, mom!"
She raised an eyebrow, holding paper plates with hot dogs. He wondered why dinner took so long for just a moment, then decided that was not important.
"Guess what? Guess what, guess what, guess what?"
She laughed, ruffling his hair, "What?"
"Guess!"
She hummed, "You're hungry?"
He giggled as she booped his nose, but shook his head.
"Nope!" His stomach growled and he pouted. "Okay yes, but that's not it!"
"What is is then?"
He bounced, grin wide, "I'm a waterbender!"
She grinned, "Are you?"
"Yeah! Come see, come see, look, look, look!"
He dragged her to the water, ignoring her giggles at his excitement. She'd see!
"Okay Percy," she said, stopping just short of the lapping waves. "So why don't you show me the waterbending?"
He let go of her hand, eagerly hopping closer ot the water, and raised his hands. He focused hard, determined to show her his new power. He raised his hands up slowly, and willed the water to rise as he did.
In a shaky but steady movement, a line of water spiraled up and up, then towards him when he pulled his hands in. He tongue poked out as he carefully shaped a wobbly star, then beamed at his success.
"See, Mom!"
He turned to her with a wide grin, but faltered at how pale she looked.
Her hands were shaking.
"Mom?"
She stared at the water in his hands, the water that dropped with a splash as he turned his focus away from it, with wide eyes and a pale face.
"Mom? What's wrong?"
She swallowed, focusing on him now, eyes burning. "How did you do that?"
He blinked, confused and a little scared, "I just- I copied Katara… I'm a waterbender."
She let out a shaky breath that made him tremble.
"Mom?"
She gently grabbed Percy's hands, the food dropped to the ground. "Percy, I need you to promise me something. Okay?"
He nodded quickly, not liking the fear on her face.
"I need you to promise me you will never do this in front of anyone else."
He blinked, frowning now. "But… why?"
"It's not safe Percy," she said. "You have to promise me."
He didn't want to promise that. He didn't want to not waterbender, to not do it in front of anyone. Katara had to hide it to be safe, but she showed it quickly too. She… there was a war then, there wasn't one now . He didn't understand.
His lips curled into a frown. His mom was scared though. Maybe there was something going on? He didn't think so but… mom was so scared and serious and-
He didn't want to upset her.
"Okay mom, I promise."
He relaxed a bit as she let out a breath, relief on her face.
"Okay… okay, let's… let's go eat some dinner, okay?"
He nodded, taking her hand.
"Can I still practice more waterbending though?"
She grimaced, her eyes lingering on him, filled with worry. "Yeah… as long as you always make sure no one sees you."
He beamed. At least he wasn't being forced to stop all together. He might not like hiding it, but he was still a waterbender .
This was going to be amazing .