Heyo everyone, this chapter is a little bit late sorry. It is a long one though so hopefully that makes up for it. Hope you enjoy it. Read on!
We were sitting around the small table in Percy's kitchen, silently mulling over the new world we found ourselves in. Paul, having arrived around two hours after the gods' announcement, had his arm wrapped around Sally. He'd stayed to make sure the students made it all home safely, despite the threat of monsters gone. Sally had given him one of the tightest hugs I'd ever seen when he walked through their front door, second only to the one she'd given Percy when we returned from saving the world from Gaea.
Hermes had gone on to outline a brief history of the gods and then focused on the recent wars, detailing what seemed like everything but specific names. He finished up with a wink and a "Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming." Before disappearing in a flash of light and the TV turning itself off.
Paul broke the silence around the table by whistling lowly.
"So…" He said, drawing out the vowel.
"I understand how you manage to cause all those fires now, at least." Paul said.
Sally barked out a laugh.
"You don't think the gods would actually get rid of the Mist, do you?" Paul asked.
"No, I don't. It doesn't make any sense for them to remove it, though when have the gods ever worked with the best of sense?" I said. Thunder rumbled lightly and I rolled my eyes.
"I think, Hecate has either gone rogue or left or lost her powers somehow. Either way, the gods are revealed and they would never admit they made a mistake, especially to mortals."
"So they're just saving face?" Percy said.
I raised my eyebrows at him. He considered me for a moment.
"Yeah, that checks out."
Sally stood up, Paul jumping to assist her and brushed off.
"My back is hurting, so I'm going to sit in the living room if anyone would like to join me."
Paul quickly followed her to sit on the couch and I took the armchair while Percy sat crosslegged at my feet.
"We might as well see how the rest of the world is reacting to this." Said Paul, who switched the TV on and flicked through the channels until he found the news.
"-footage has been submitted by a bystander, who witnessed and filmed a couple of these so-called demigods in action." The newsreader was saying. The image of her was replaced by extremely shaky footage clearly taken from a phone. It showed the Minotaur clearing charging at someone before stumbling in pain. A blonde girl popped into existence out of nowhere behind him and jumped on his back, quickly slamming her sword into his chest. A dark-haired boy ran up to her as the monster dissolved and pulled her into his embrace. The video ended there and Percy was shaking in anger next to me.
"Oh, gods."
I slipped my hand into his and Sally and Paul looked over at us.
"These demigods have yet to be identified, but the New York Police Department urges them to come forward for questioning. If you have any information, please call-"
"I hate cell phones." I said, grabbing the remote and shutting the TV off.
"That was you, right?" Sally asked.
"Yeah. You know I've been on the news before but even when we were the subjects of a nationwide manhunt, I don't think I felt quite this anxious."
"The video was really blurry, it's hard to tell it was you unless you already know," Paul said optimistically. I leveled him with a stare and he shook his head and shrugged.
"Plus, you know people on the internet are going to claim it's all edited anyway."
Percy had started pacing across the living room.
"Why can't we just get a fucking break? Haven't we done enough for them? Haven't enough people died?" He started ranting.
"Percy, calm down." He ignored me and kept pacing. Sally had stood up as well and we exchanged looks.
"No, you don't understand. They are going to ask us to clean up their mess again with no thought as to how we feel about it. You think they would have learned by now." I put my hands on his shoulders, stopping him in his place. Looking him right in the eyes, I made him focus on me.
"I do understand, Percy. I'm just as frustrated and angry as you are." I placed a palm on his cheek.
"But we don't know what this means for the rest of the world. For us." I emphasized. "And if someone is in trouble, we can't just stand by and not help."
He shook me off.
"No. No, I refuse to help them again when they've done next to nothing in return for us. What did we get after the wars? After Kronos, I had to basically blackmail them into acknowledging their own children. And after Gaea, all we had were new scars and shrouds to burn, with barely a thank you for saving their holy asses."
He stood up taller.
"Someone else can handle it this time, we've done enough."
With that, he let out a whistle and Mrs. O'Leary came bounding out of the shadow behind the couch, knocking it, and Paul who was still sitting on it, over. Percy grabbed two handfuls of her fur and flattened himself against her hide in the very limited space left in the room.
"I'm going for a swim - clear my head." A pat to her neck had the hellhound disappearing back into the shadows she'd come from, Percy with her.
Sally came and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.
"He'll come around. He knows you're right." She said.
I looked at her gratefully and sighed.
"I don't know if I want him to. He wasn't exactly wrong, either."
There was nothing but understanding in her eyes. Paul was a little more confused, but he always was when it came to the matter of our other life. He propped the sofa back onto its right side up.
"I'll make some tea, shall I?"
"No, thank you," I said. "It's been a long day, I think I might just go to sleep."
Sally gave me a hug and a kiss on the temple like she did for Percy, and I was never more glad to have her in my life.
I made my way to the bedroom I shared with Percy and shut the door behind me with a thud.
His room was a medium size with an attached bathroom. His queen size bed dominated the room. Despite that, he'd made space for a second desk to match his, both of which were home to the mass that was my hundreds of pages of designs. A couple of papers had been blown to the ground from a light breeze through the ajar window and I picked them up, letting them join their kin in the sprawl.
I flopped onto the covers of the bed, hugging the pillow from Percy's side to my chest and burying my face in it.
I tried my best to sleep, using all of my usual tricks for when my brain was too busy to rest, but none of them were working. I knew I wouldn't be able to until Percy had returned. We needed to talk.
I decided to read one of the few books he had in his room, a cheesy romance novel I would absolutely tease him about later.
About a half hour later, a large shadow appeared on the fire escape outside and two tan hands were pushing the window up and further open. The rest of Percy climbed in, tripping over something and he rolled back up into a standing position.
"Nice save."
He whirled around, obviously surprised to see me in bed already.
"Thanks."
I put the book down on the bedside table and sat straighter against the headboard. I crossed my arms over my chest just to make sure he knew I meant business.
His expression grew a little wary.
"I'm just gonna let Mom know I'm back, and then we can talk, okay?"
He disappeared into the hall and I heard light conversation over the top of the drama they were watching. He came back not long after with a plate of cookies in his hands, holding them around the door frame before entering himself like a peace offering.
I rolled my eyes at him fondly and he smiled in relief.
"Before we start, I know I shouldn't have left like that. I'm not a toddler and I can't throw tantrums and I want to say that I'm sorry." He put the plate between us on the bed and climbed so his back was resting against the headboard as well, his knees bent.
"Thank you, but honestly, I probably would have done the same if I had somewhere peaceful to go as easily as you do."
He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. I reached up and dusted some residual sea salt out of it and he ducked his head to let me get it all out.
"We can't ignore that there's a problem, Percy. You know that." I said when I finished.
"Yes, I do." He replied. "But that doesn't mean we have to be the ones to deal with it, right? Don't we deserve a break from fatal quests at this point?"
"Technically, none of them have been fatal for us."
He leveled me with his self-proclaimed wolf stare. I raised an eyebrow in response.
"That's not the point, and you know it." He said. "All I'm saying is there are plenty of other demigods out there itching for a quest and to prove themselves, so why should we take this opportunity away from them?"
"So, you'd rather a pair of thirteen-year-olds die because of their lack of experience, than try and help? I'm sorry, but that's selfish."
Percy gaped at me. The noise from the TV in the living room rose in volume. I hadn't realized I'd been shouting.
"That's not what I meant. Of course, I don't want anybody else to die. We've lost far too many friends already. We still don't know if Leo is even alive."
"Then what do you expect us to do?"
"I don't know!" Percy was shouting now. "I don't know, okay! All I want is for this to be over, for us to be able to live like normal people for once in our lives without some bigger-than-life, unearthly beings coming along and forcing us to clean their fucking messes."
He was breathing heavily.
"I'm sorry. You don't deserve this."
I put my hand on his shoulder and wordlessly passed him a cookie. He chuckled.
"The gods have treated us like crap basically since we were born." I began. "But they're still family. We can't turn our backs on them, because that would be the same as turning our backs on Tyson, or my siblings, or your mom."
Percy hung his head.
"We haven't been issued a quest. No one has sent word of a prophecy and Chiron hasn't contacted us."
I blew out a breath.
"If the gods want to treat this like it was their plan all along, who are we to argue? If we're not being summoned to help with something when we can't even say there's actually a problem…"
He lifted his head and met my eyes.
"We deserve a rest. And a chance at going to high school like regular teenagers. And if we need to help, we will. But… until then, why not go along like normal?"
A moment passed before Percy launched himself at me, planting kisses all over my face. His arms wrapped around my waist and pinned me to the bed. I heard the plate of cookies fall off the bed and onto the carpet but I couldn't find it in me to care as Percy's lips finally met mine.
A while later, the TV in the living room had been turned off and Percy and I were a little disheveled and picking up the remnants of smashed cookies out of the carpet.
Percy went to go put the plate away, stuffing his mouth with as many of the cookies as he could while I gagged at the sight. I jumped back into bed, satisfied that I could finally get to sleep. I drifted off waiting for Percy to return.
I was in a large cavern, the mossy stone walls reaching higher than I could see. There appeared to be a dark, thick fog encasing the cave, the only light source a strange, shifting glimmer coming from a limp figure on the ground. Inspecting closer, I found the light came from two sets of glowing chains wrapped binding the wrists of the person to concrete bases embedded into the stone floor. They seemed to be made of glass, and fluctuating yellow and purple lights whirled within each link of the chains leaving an eerie, water-like reflection bouncing off the walls. They were thick chains, as well, each link at least the size of my fist.
I moved closer and the figure moved, rising up off her knees to fight against her restraints. Hecate's dark hair was coming free of its high ponytail, and dirt streaked her beautiful face. Her farting polecat and Labrador were nowhere in sight.
"You! You're not who I wanted!" Hecate shrieked when she noticed me. I winced at the golden ichor pouring from the ripped skin at her wrists where she was pulling on the chains.
"Where is the daughter of Pluto? I meant for her to receive this."
What could only be spots of raw power popped and flickered around her as two separate faces appeared on either side of her already existing one. The disappeared as soon as the appeared and she slumped back down onto her knees.
"Fine, daughter of Athena, you'll do."
I rushed over to her, already knowing it was futile and that I wasn't physically there. It didn't stop me from trying to pull the chains off, but hands just passed through them like a ghost. I'd never seen a goddess detained and in pain like this. Hecate exclaimed in pain.
"I've become too weak too quickly. These abominations are pulling my power from me faster than I can harness it." She yanked at her restraints again and grunted as they pulled at her wounds.
"You need to listen to me, child. I don't know how long I can hold the connection. You have many enemies around you who you can't see. And you'll have gained many more before this is over."
"He has grown in power faster than even we could have anticipated and his allies are spread far and wide. You need to tread carefully, half-blood."
"I don't understand. Who did this to you?"
"Have you not learned? Names have power, child. I cannot speak his name. Especially not in his domain like this."
The walls around us started to rumble and Hecate shrieked again. The strange light swirling inside the chains brightened and they seemed to constrict around the goddess.
"Hurry! I'm afraid the gods will not be of much help to you on this quest, not with the Mist gone. You will need to do it yourselves."
A shadow grew on the wall behind Hecate, and I felt the presence of… something approaching.
"Look after my children. They will be weak with my powers gone." She whispered.
A deep, throaty laugh sounded from behind me, but I found myself frozen in place as if someone was holding puppeteer strings over me and pulled them taut.
A shiver raced down my back as the presence put a hand on my shoulder. The heavy grip pierced my skin and seemed to wrap itself around my spine and I found it hard to breathe. Another hand appeared in my line of vision and waved towards Hecate who instantly slumped over, unconscious. I would have been shaking if I was able to move. Any force that could put a goddess out of commission like that wasn't someone to be reckoned with.
"She made a mistake bringing you to me, daughter of Athena." They said. Their voice reverberated around me and it was almost like multiple people were speaking at once. And yet at the same time, the voice was seductive and familiar.
"Run, to your precious friends and centaur, tell them all about me." They continued.
"It will change nothing. You all have to fall someday." They seemed to become playful. "I'm just here making sure it happens sooner than later."
I tried to gasp out some words.
"Uh-uh. I know you have questions, but I'm speaking now."
They paused and it felt like they were considering me.
"Perhaps you can be persuaded. I know you and your little boyfriend, the son of Poseidon are frustrated, sick of never getting the gratitude you deserve. I can give you that. You want to live mortal lives? Come fight with me."
I had been fighting against my invisible restraints with all my might and I felt a finger twitch.
The voice chuckled.
"I'll leave you to think about it. I'll contact you again, myself."
I jolted awake and Percy stiffened as woke up next to me.
Later, Percy was stifling a yawn as he watched me fiddle with a strand of my hair. He didn't ask what I was doing when he woke up at three in the morning to find me retching in the bathroom. Only held my hair back and stroked the back of my neck soothingly.
He sat next to me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder without a word. His boxers were covered in goldfish and had speech bubbles proclaiming "I'm a good catch!" and they were such a Percy pair of boxers I had to blink away tears at the sight of them.
When he heard my sniffle, he tucked my head into the curve where his neck met his shoulder and kissed the top of my head. We sat in silence with only the slow trickling flow of the water fountain Poseidon had gifted Percy accompanying us. It wasn't until much later that either of us spoke.
"Was it Tartarus? You haven't had one that bad in a while." He whispered.
I shook my head minutely, knowing he would feel it.
I couldn't help but tell him. About Hecate wrapped in those glass-like chains screaming at her unseen captor and the strangely heavy voice that had spoken to me at the end. We'd been through far too much together for me to keep secrets from him. I went to tell him everything the voice had told me but something in the back of my mind was telling me he couldn't know about the mysterious voice's last words. You want to live mortal lives? I can give you that. I couldn't force them to come out of my mouth. I knew that after everything, we might be too tempted.
Percy blew out a harsh breath when I'd finished.
"Well, at least it wasn't what I first thought it might be." He finally said.
"And what was that?" I asked.
"That you're pregnant."
I sat up to look him in the eyes, judging how serious he was. Seeing the cautious laughter in his expression I dug my elbow into his side and settled back on his shoulder.
"You aren't, right? Because you know your mom would kill me and then my mom would kill me and that's a lot of Percy killing when really it's both of us to blame-"
I let out a weak chuckle to appease him and told him to shut up. By the small, satisfied smile he gave me it seemed like that was the reaction he was going for.
Then I sighed, my mind whirring at all the new information.
"You know we have to head to camp now, right? Chiron needs to know." I said.
He nuzzled my hair briefly before saying "Yeah, I know."
"I hate this as much as you do." I continued. "But we agreed, we can't ignore a direct summoning from the gods."
"No. But we can ignore it until morning. And I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. And going back to sleep." He dropped another kiss to my head before flopping back onto the pillow and wriggling his way under the covers.
I couldn't help but laugh at his antics and Percy looked extremely pleased with himself, at least the half of his face he was showing from under the blanket did. He always knew how to lighten the mood.
I shook my head and curled up against him for an extra few hours of sleep.
How did everyone like it? I'm hoping I'm doing the characters justice, and as always constructive criticism is appreciated. Also, a quick side note, has anyone else seen the new How to Train Your Dragon movie, because I have and I've been crying over it for the past month. The soundtrack came out the other day and I'm a bit obsessed, haha. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely week. See you next time :)
