Percy woke again to another sound of a door opening. His head shook, trying to see who it was, but he couldn't reach around far enough.
Aphrodite moved into Percy's line of sight, carrying a small box. She placed it on a glass table, opening and putting on gloves.
"Please, Ms. Aphrodite, just let me go. My mom has gotta be worried." Percy pleaded, "It's not my fault. Why do I have to be punished.?"
She pursed her lips, but turned, holding a syringe, "Try not to flex, or this will hurt."
Aphrodite inserted the needle into his bicep, flushing all of the drug into his system. She turned around again, stripping off the white gloves.
"I know it isn't your fault, but I'm being forced to do this. All I am is a biochemist. I don't have the power to get you out of here."
Percy sighed, and leaned his head back. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head, when Aphrodite spoke.
"Hey, you okay?"
Percy opened his eyes, "No I'm not okay. I'm being held captive and drugged for God's sake."
Aphrodite turned, "I'm sorry?"
"Yeah you should be. You're doing this to me after all," Percy snarled, pulling on his restraints.
"No, I-. Oh, I see."
Percy snorted, "Yeah, you see. My mom is probably going crazy about me, and you're holding me captive- Hey!" He interjected.
Aphrodite was typing extremely quickly into a cell phone, then shut it.
"I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."
"What?" Was all Percy could get out before Aphrodite clicked a button on a large remote, and his world exploded into pain.
Percy screamed, his entire body burning. "What are you do-AGH-ing!" He exclaimed, tears running down his face.
Aphrodite wiped her own tears, "I'm sorry."
Percy continued to scream his voice hoarse, until he could no longer scream. He collapsed onto his platform, relaxing his previously arched back. The pain had stopped.
Percy gasped for breath, trying to recover from the body wide assault, "What - huff - did you do?"
"The first drug. The first of many. It has sequences, to make the change. We are trying to hone you, make you stronger, better. Please, understand!"
Percy stared into her eyes, his own eyes still watering, "Are you all doing this, or just them?"
Aphrodite sobbed, gathered her things, and sprinted out of the room.
He sighed, then gasped as the movement caused irritation all over his body. Percy gritted his teeth, "This is gonna be a long night," and settled in for just that.
An hour later the same thing happened. Another burst of pain that left him gasping for breath, pulling so tightly against the restraints he cut one of his wrists and bruised the other.
"Please! Stop this!" He called, then screamed again.
No one came.
Thirty more minutes passed, Percy drenched in sweat. The metal platform he laid upon was dripping in it, his hair plastered to his forehead.
The pain subsided, and when Percy was recovering, although breathing heavy, a voice spoke.
"Hey."
Percy slammed his head against his makeshift bed, "Go away Aphrodite. I don't want you here."
"Who's Aphrodite?"
Percy was taken aback, "Aren't you? The woman who put me through this God damn torture? Ring any bells?"
"Nope. I'm Fins."
He snorted, "Fins? Like the fins on a fish?"
"Yeah. That's what I am." The voice spoke, a smile in the sentence.
Percy blinked, "Excuse me?"
"Yep. I'm a fish, you're a human, and that pretty lady is crying outside my tank."
"Great. Now I'm insane. How could this day get any worse?" Percy deadpanned.
A bubbly laugh, "Actually, your day just got a lot better. You see, I'm located juuust outside your holding cell, and I've heard everything that pretty lady's got to say about you."
That caught Percy's attention, "Okay. If you are actually real, describe her. Aphrodite."
A pause, "Well, she's got pretty blue eyes, although the tears kinda ruin that, and shining blonde hair. Whadya'll call 'em? Oh yeah! She's what you two legs call a supermodel. The pretty lady's pretty pretty." The voice laughed at itself.
Percy breathed deeply, wincing at his burning skin, "What exactly is blonde? Blue?"
"... You're kidding me right? Y'all two legs don't see color?" The voice paused, then said suspiciously, "Are you sure you aren't a dog or something?"
Percy laughed despite his situation, "No, I'm a human. We don't see color, it's some 'magical force' or all that jazz. I don't believe it myself, but supposedly it's all a spell cast by a big powerful magician."
The voice laughed, "Wow, you two legs have some interesting stories."
Percy smiled. It was almost like talking to a real human… "Wait a minute, you're actually a fish?" Percy exclaimed. He winced as his hoarse voice sounded terrible to even his own ears.
"Um, yeah. Pretty sure. I ain't got two fins for nothin'."
"Then how exactly am I talking to you?" Percy questioned, then proceeded to question his sanity again.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. That whole plan to make you better was phooey. They just want to test their drugs on you to make sure they don't kill themselves. Well, except for that pretty lady. She genuinely feels bad for ya, I'm sorry to say, but she actually feels bad."
Percy paused, taking in all the information. 'Okay. So I'm basically Aquaman at this point. Fun.' He remarked to himself.
The silence continued for a while, Percy enjoying the fact that someone was stuck there with him. Meanwhile, someone was particularly worried about Percy.
Someone who wanted to help.
Frank laughed at Hazel's quiet joke. Over the past two days he had befriended Hazel, the quiet black girl from some of his classes. She had pretty light eyes, really pretty actually…
Frank shook his head, 'Not now man. Don't mess up another friendship.'
Hazel had introduced him formally to Nico, the pale kid from Spanish. While Frank and Nico has a quiet acquaintanceship, they were mostly held together by Hazel, the glue between the two.
Nico had a light smile on his face, for once not clenching onto the Hades figurine from Mythomagic. He had parted with his normal black jeans and black sweatshirt, and had opted for a pair of dark shorts with a slightly lighter sweater.
Hazel sat adjacent to both Nico and Frank, watching the Mythomagic game unfold. It was the third in three days, Nico coincidentally holding a three win streak. She watched as Nico surveyed the cards laid out, with three figurines stood up on each side.
Frank attacked one of Nico's statues with all three of his, KO'ing the enemy. Hazel cheered and clapped, a bright smile on her face.
Nico made his move, using Hades' special move to summon a skeleton army, and ended Frank's entire side, the weakened warriors falling easily.
"Ahh, well played. I'll beat you someday Neeks."
Hazel laughed brilliantly, "I knew that name would catch on eventually!"
Nico shook his head, "I'm sure you'll beat me one day, oh best player in all of Goode High."
Frank rubbed his head, blushing a dark gray. The trio stood up, ready to make the trip to their respective homes. They all lived relatively close to one another, and so they could all walk home from school together.
The trio walked out of the courtyard, when they heard a clacking behind them.
Frank turned, "Oh hey Grover!"
Grover breathed heavily for a moment, not used to moving that quickly on his crutches, "Hey - huff - Frank, Hazel, Nico. I - puff - 've got a question to ask you guys."
Hazel spoke, pitying the clearly out of breath boy, "Ok sure, what do you need, Grover?"
He caught his breath, "Have any of you seen Percy lately? He hasn't been at school and I was wondering if any of you had seen his around the city."
The trio shook their heads. "Why? Something wrong?" Frank asked with a furrowed brow.
"Well, he hasn't been to my house lately, and we were gonna study for his retake for math. He missed it Monday, so he was gonna do it Friday."
Frank shook his head, "Maybe he was sick. I don't really know, sorry man."
Grover half-smiled, "Nah it's fine. He was probably playing hooky for all we know." Grover lightly laughed, "Alright, well I'll see you guys tomorrow." He nodded goodbye.
Frank and Hazel waved, Nico staring contemplatively at Grover's back.
'Maybe those bruises were worse than I thought.'
Nico shook his head, and turned to catch up with the other two thirds of their group.
Grover clacked away, brow furrowed, 'Perce, what did you get yourself into now?' Grover continued home, but couldn't stop worrying for what his friend could be doing, and where he could be.
Annabeth walked into her large home, taking off her shoes at the door, and nearly sprinted upstairs. Her mom wouldn't be home for another hour since she had a staff meeting, and her dad was out of town.
Her brothers had gone with her dad as well, leaving her alone.
Or not.
Annabeth looked in her full body mirror in the corner of her room, messing with her hair, messing it up, then fluffing her shirt, and sprinted back downstairs.
Just as she got back downstairs, the doorbell rang, and she hurried to open it.
Luke had gone by his house to let his folks know he was studying at a friends house. His dad had nodded, holding a conversation over the phone, and his mom was upstairs, so he was free to go.
Luke stepped inside, "Wow, quite a place you've got here."
The elegant interior of the house was a product of her father's business as a manufactory owner, making airplane parts for commercial and other uses.
"Yeah, dad always had a knack for decoration." She responded, 'When he isn't stuffed away in the garage building his stupid airplane'.
Luke smiled, and slipped out of his shoes. He began exploring the house, near mansion. He wandered up the stairs, Annabeth closely behind.
Eventually, Annabeth got impatient and lead Luke to her room. He smiled as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall.
She gestured to the space behind her, "This is my room."
The walls were a light gray, the bed a dark contrast. The queen size bed was large, and took up about a third of the room. A dresser was tucked in the corner, with the closet just next to that.
"Cool. Not bad looking." Luke remarked, choosing not to bring up why he had been summoned here.
Annabeth nodded, "Well, I've been meaning to tell you something."
Luke turned his head, and took a seat on the bed, "Shoot."
She took a deep breath, "Well, I've been nervous. About us. We've been friends for so long, and you're really funny, and handsome, and, well, forward. I can tell that you want… more… from us, and I haven't been open to that."
Luke's eyes widened, "Beth, I'm fine with waiting. You're not ready for a relationship, I get that."
She breathed, "No. I realize that I have feeling for you too. I've been really nervous about this, about me being… unresponsive… so I'm going to make it up to you."
Annabeth's face darkened as she summoned all her courage, and reached towards the end of her t-shirt. Luke's mouth opened, going to interrupt, but she pulled off her shirt in one swift motion.
Luke's words died in his mouth, and he was perversely grateful he didn't interrupt. A black bra contrasted greatly against her light gray skin. Her smooth stomach inflated and deflated with the extremely deep breaths she was taking.
"Wow." Luke murmured, "You're beautiful." He stood, grabbing her hands, "Annabeth, I want you to know that you never have to be pressured into anything you don't like, okay?"
She blushed a dark gray, "I know, but…"
"No buts." He interrupted, "Well, except for yours that is…" and as he said the words, he groped her rear quite forcefully, making her squeal.
"Luke," she moaned, before clutching her hands over her mouth, horrified.
Luke laughed lightly, "It's fine. Just go with the flow, Beth."
He leaned in closely, lying his lips upon hers. Annabeth responded with fervor, and increased the pace of the kiss, slipping her tongue out and pressing against his lips.
Luke was taken aback by the role of leader taken by his now girlfriend, but opened his mouth, letting her tongue explore.
The kiss heated up, the metaphorical temperature rising. Luke's shirt was thrown across the room, followed quickly by Annabeth's jeans.
Luke separated, and placed his mouth on her neck, sucking hard, then biting lightly. Annabeth moaned loudly, unrestrained this time. She arched her back as he moved lower, then to her chest.
Taking the pause to her advantage, she quickly unclipped her bra and revealed her small bust to Luke. He paused, looking up at her, "You sure?"
Annabeth nodded, biting her lip to muffle whatever was going to come next.
Well, know what comes next.
Mrs. Chase was not a woman to be trifled with. She was punctual to the cross of a 't', and strict to the dot of an 'i'. While to her students she was cordial and pleasant, anywhere outside the classroom she was a woman of scorn.
Athena was, to put it simply, smart.
She majored in teaching, following her young passion for spreading knowledge, and regretted that decision for the rest of her life.
Athena never got to pursue the vast fields of science, medicine, engineering. She was stuck in a classroom teaching students that knew a quarter of what she did.
She enjoyed her job, don't doubt that, but teaching got old quickly, and some excitement was needed. It was ironic that her least favorite student, Leo Valdez, managed to be her most favorite at the same time.
Athena slammed the door of her car, making the brisk walk up the path to her front door. She had left the meeting early after realizing it wasn't necessary for her to be there.
Fiddling with the handle, she opened the front door, before dropping her bag into the chair right inside. She stretched her hands, calling out to Annabeth.
There was no response.
Athena frowned, calling out again, "Annabeth, I'm home!"
Once again no response.
'She must have her headphones in. Never turns down the volume, no matter how many times I tell her.' Athena sighed, before making her way to Annabeth's room.
Right before she opened the door, she swore she heard a thump. Quickly, she threw open the door to see Annabeth half naked on the bed.
"Mom!" Annabeth exclaimed, "Knock once in awhile?!"
Athena averted her eyes, "I apologize, I thought I heard a noise. Just making sure you're okay." She paused, "Do you need anything from the store? I'm going out right now."
Athena did not plan to go to the store, but was smart enough to piece together what was actually going on.
"Umm- ah- sure, can you get me some Skittles?" Annabeth responded, clutching her sheets to her chest.
"Yes, I'll be back in an hour."
The door shut, Annabeth visibly relaxing at her mother's presence being out of her room, and away from Luke, who was shirtless and hidden behind her bed, on the ground.
"That was too close!" Annabeth whisper-yelled.
Luke peeked his head just above the edge of the bed. He had the widest grin on his face, "I know right, kinda exhilarating." He grinned, before dodging a thrown pillow.
"You are so crude." Annabeth laughed, pulling on her shirt.
Luke took the cue, and pulled his shirt back on over his head, "Well, I'm sorry that our fun was cut short. My house next time?"
Annabeth blushed at the thought of getting caught, "I don't think that's wise…"
"Relax, I'll make sure my dad takes a vacation with my mom in the next few days. We'll actually have the house to ourselves."
She blushed a darker gray, "Well, when you put it that way, it does sound reasonable. Sure, let's do it. Text me when you get the date."
Luke nodded, then took his leave out of her room, and then her house.
Annabeth fell backwards on her bed, inhaling deeply. 'That was too close.' She told herself, 'And yet, it was kinda fun.'
She giggled in an almost too girly way, kicking her legs in the air, 'He's really muscular too.'
Athena sighed as she got back in her car. She knew this would happen one day, her daughter getting a boyfriend. She just wished Annabeth would tell her beforehand, so nothing like this would happen.
She sighed again, then started her car, and began the drive to the store, 'Might as well pick up something to cover that hickey on her neck.'
Percy wiggled his toes again. No pain.
He smiled, the drug was finally done.
Then he frowned, the only strange ability he gained from that abomination was talking to fish, which was pretty cool, but it wasn't really that 'superhuman', and he definitely didn't feel like a demigod.
While he was trapped in his prison, he decided to at least try out whatever new abilities he got.
The first thing he did was try to teleport. With all of his focus, he tried forcing his mind through the wall behind him and out the door. Unfortunately, when he focused that hard, all he did was fart, much to the amusement of Fins. He was put off of motivation at that point, and gave it a rest.
It didn't last long.
The long hours of confinement and no interaction were very, very boring. With nothing to do, he tried again, although with a different power.
Fire, it was always the coolest in Percy's mind. Hottest as well, when he thought about it. He focused on his hand, trying to summon fire straight from it.
It worked.
Of course it didn't, why in the world would you believe that? It did do something, however.
Deep within Percy's gut, he felt a tug. Suddenly, the IV bag to the left of him started floating. Percy stared, eyes wide. It slowly moved across the gap between him and the stand it was on previously.
The door opened.
"Percy!" Aphrodite whispered, "They've come for you!"
She was carrying a roll of gauze and a key. Percy stared in amazement as she unlocked his restraints.
He automatically took a step backwards, "What's happening? Who's here?" Percy responded, rubbing his wrists.
"There's no time, run!" She yelled. Aphrodite ripped the IV out of his wrist, causing him to scream. She wrapped some gauze around the wound, handing him the rest of the roll, and pointed out the door.
"Take the hallway to the left, go right all the way down to the window, then go left and out the door. I'll stall them from the other direction!"
Percy stared as his unlikely ally sprinted out of his prison, and then he walked out himself.
"Perce! You gotta save me too!" Fins called from his tank. He was a small goldfish, swimming in frantic circles near the top of his tank.
Percy searched the lab he stood in, seeing chairs and tables in one corner, lab tables taking up the majority of the room, and then shelves next to where he stood.
He grabbed a large plastic bag from in one of the cabinets, and hoped that one bag would give Fins enough oxygen to last for however long was necessary. Percy scooped up Fins, smiling a little at the whoop of, "Freedom!" by the little goldfish, and sprinted out of the room.
Percy's legs were shaky after not running for several days, but he followed Aphrodite's instructions to the letter. He took the hallway to the left, then a right.
His legs began to tire during the full sprint down the long hall. People in lab coats stared as he sprinted past in a hospital gown. The gray glimmer of the sun glinted in the window he just arrived at, breathing heavily.
To his left was a short hallway, and he jogged the rest of the way. Exiting the building, the sun glared right into his eyes.
Squinting, he jogged down the sidewalk, spotting a street sign on the corner.
'Ok, I'm not far off from where they kidnapped me, I'm just a few blocks from home.' Percy thought, and he dashed down the sidewalk.
Percy thought he got weird looks in sixth grade when he walked down the hall after Luke gave him a swirly, but this was a whole other level. The amount of stares that he got from people was amazing, especially when he sprinted past them.
It looked to be about eight, so his mom would be home, about to leave for work. Percy sprinted even faster, flying up the stairs to his apartment complex, and up the flights of stairs to his apartment.
Percy bent over, hands on his knees, as he waited for his mom to answer. He huffed and puffed, and when the door opened, he was immediately engulfed in a hug.
"Percy!" Sally cried, holding her son close. Tears flowed down both of their faces as they clutched each other. Sally pulled back, "You have some explaining to do young man!"
Percy was marched through the living room, where Gabe was strangely absent, and into his room, where his mom sat him down on the bed.
Sally started to pace, "You have been gone for four days Percy. Do you know how worried I've been?" She stopped, "Don't answer that. Your friend Grover came by yesterday, looking for you. I had to tell him you were sick with a virus, and couldn't go to school for a few days. I almost called the police young man! You are grounded for a week, no friends, only here, school, and back to here! You understand me?" Sally exclaimed.
Percy's head was bent, "Yeah, mom."
She deflated, "Now where were you? You're in hospital clothes for goodness' sake!"
Percy looked at his mom, juggling whether to tell the truth. It would be ridiculous, but he had proof, he had the fish and, more importantly, his powers.
Percy caved. His internal sense of being rebellious was no match for his mom's teary eyes, and so he told the entire story.
Back when Percy was escaping the facility
Aphrodite sprinted down the hall, glancing behind her to make sure Percy ran the correct way. When she saw his frame dart around the corner holding a plastic bag, she smiled with relief.
Aphrodite Lymp, short for Olympus, rounded a corner at a peaceful walk, no sign that she had been sprinting the moment before. She made the climb up a set of stairs, before riding an elevator up.
The elevator dropped her off at the top floor, where she exited the elevator. Aphrodite nodded to the secretary, and strolled up to her father's door, and knocked.
"Come in." Came a gruff voice.
She entered, taking in the expansive office. A large, wall sized window took up one quarter of the room, a formidable desk centered on the window wall. A large rug decorated the hard wood flooring, two simple leather chairs placed in front of the large desk.
"Sit, daughter."
Aphrodite did so, "Father, do you think we made the right decision? Perhaps if we had offered the boy money, or even other enhancements to his body, like strength, or endurance he would have listened."
The man spoke, "None of those have been proven successful."
"Well neither was the Poseidon Injection!" She retorted.
There was a silence. The man spoke once more, "You care for the boy."
Aphrodite glared lightly at her father, "Of course I do. Despite what you may think, people have emotions. Even if you made me act like I was friendly to him, seeing someone suf- ahem -suffer only makes you want to comfort them." Her voice cracked at the word suffer.
The man was quiet for a time, then, "Aphrodite, you know we have to take measures to ensure our empire stays strong. We are making advances in genetics and biochemistry that no one thought possible, and we must make sure that our only contender stays weak and behind in the race."
Aphrodite stared at her father, "You truly have no compassion for what you do, do you father?"
Zeus smiled, the first emotion on his face during the entire conversation, "The ends do justify the means, Aphrodite."
"Do they?"
Ooooh, what a dramatic chapter. Aphrodite was secretly in on the whole thing, and the entire experiment was planned. What's gonna happen next? Only I know ;)
Anyways, do that review thing. I hear it's really popular these days with you kiddos. o/
