Chapter 7 - Aftermath of War
3rd Person's PoV
When Perseus walked back to Camp Half-Blood, he wasn't expecting a warm welcome. Not the ribbons or the cheers. Not even the congratulations or the pat on the back. Not the jealous looks or the side remarks about how he was always doing it alone, and they were good backup.
He was waiting for the hateful looks and the rumors behind his back. The arguments were a possibility and he was half waiting for them to kick him out of that place. Well, kick him out after he delivered the 'fake' heroes back to camp. It was almost funny, looking back, the way they reacted and the way they battled. Perseus knew that, if Clarisse LaRue was still alive, she'd had cursed more than a sailor if she saw the campers. She'd make them wake up at dawn, hell she'd even made them go to sleep, just before making them run 50 miles without any type of pause!
Something bumped with his floating bodies and Perseus forced himself to pay attention to his task. Groaning, he continued his path towards a place where he used to call home. But, that place was destroyed and, what was left were bad memories and one promise. Walking up the Hill, he thought what could had happened for things to get so different from before. But then, he remembered what he faced when he arrived. It wasn't hard to understand what happened.
The second he crossed the barrier, was the moment campers would step out to see what was happening. Still armed like they were robbing a bank, the looks of indifference, some of shock and many of mockery filled the faces of the campers. The more young the camper, the more mockery face they had. The eldest campers were exposing fear in their faces, and their grip on their weapons got even tighter. Perseus, without any ceremony, dropped the bodies of the unconscious campers by Big House, immediately approached by the nurses and healers.
But, before he could even utter a word, thunder was heard from the distance. Perseus hated that noise, but saw the faces of the campers. They didn't hate the noise. The noise terrified them.
"Where is it?!" A male voice boomed from the distance, while the campers even parted from the way or fled away to hide in the remaining ruins, "Where's the person responsible of my son's state?!" Walking between the campers wasn't one or two, but the entire Olympic Council. Surprisingly more than one.
"Dead." Perseus' voice was loud and clear and didn't give room to hesitations. Campers went into hiding for sure now. You simply didn't face the Olympic Council like nothing and live to tell the tale. Chiron was the only brave enough not to flee from his place, but even he was showing this wasn't going to be a good meeting.
"And how, would you know... Son of Po-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Zeus, before you say something you'll regret." Everyone held their breath upon the reaction from Perseus, "I'm no longer the bastard son of your brother-" While saying this, Perseus glared at Poseidon, who was uncomfortable under that glare, but didn't look away, "-but the son of Chaos, and you should reconsider giving your son this kind of responsibilities when he's not ready for them." He smirked at the end, in an open mock towards the King of the Gods.
"How dare you-"
"-speak like that to the God of the Sky?" He interrupted Hera, who was looking more like a mix between a tomato and a teapot by the second. "Simple, if he was even looking the situation for himself, he wouldn't had asked such a question." Half the Council was glaring at Perseus, some with motive behind it. The other half was full of indifferent looks. Which one hurt more, it was hard to tell.
"I swore that if I saw you again, I'd destroy you for what you did." Athena took the word, anger and fury dripping from her words, "Why should I stop right now?"
"Because, Athena, you don't want me to get angry, right?" A far away voice was heard and immediately, Perseus kneeled down, his head down in a bow, but not at the Olympians. The shadows concentrated in front of the Council and the most solidified appearance of Chaos showed up.
"Father... I wasn't expecting you." Perseus admitted, the surprise evident in his face and voice. Chaos placed a hand on his shoulder and he rose up.
"The unexpected surprises are normally good things." Chaos smirked at his honorary son, before directing to Chiron, who had been left speechless upon this view "Master Chiron, I must thank you for training my son into a fine warrior." Chiron was still without his voice but managed to bow his head in humility. "Now, son... Tell me all about the battle-"
"Those are not words for them to hear!" Poseidon rudely interrupted, pointing at the terrified campers. His ego had already been broken by Athena, but his pride was destroyed the second he turned his back on Perseus. Now, he didn't appreciate being not only ignored but looked down by his own son.
"You lost that decision the second you allowed them to march into battle without being prepared." Chaos replied, calmly. He wrapped an arm around Perseus' shoulder and, made a gesture of them taking a walk, ignoring the raging Olympians behind them. Chaos wasn't stupid, he wanted the campers to see how the world was really like. "Tell me, Perseus."
"It was Nyx and Erebus..." Perseus started, taking a deep breath. "And their son, Helix."
"Helix? I thought that rascal would be counting bricks inside the Mansion of the Night because of his last stupid decision." Chaos' comment made Perseus snort.
"He must had gone to Daddy to intercede. Anyway, they were leading the shadow army." That was news to Chaos, "We already know that the army can't be control if you do not have any link with the night, but who would help them create such a great army?" Perseus questioned to himself, noticing how the campers were whispering to themselves about the news that just spread.
"You know the answer to that question, son. That doesn't make it easier to accept, though..." Chaos nodded, thinking. "You proved to me that you can manage changing situations under pressure and, for that, I will grant you the command of my army…." Perseus' smile was one of the things Chaos wanted to see in his son all the time, "But, you'll have to share the command." Watching his face pass from happiness to pure confusion and ending in almost rage was a funny moment for the Creator.
"Can I know why the thought of me sharing something that you promised me is funny?" Perseus was almost barking at his father, which made Chaos smile even more.
"That's because the person you'll share the work with is someone you'll enjoy having around." And, as a conversation stopper, he gestured towards the path where it used to be the old Oracle's cave. From that far away place, a place that had been forgotten by the campers, the silhouette of a person was making more clearer. The closer it got, the more defined and molded it became.
The campers could see a young woman walking towards them, with her hair loose and wearing a white dress, barefoot. The look varied between the 'young bride' and 'virgin sacrifice', which was only the statement of how bad Chaos' fashion taste is. No one could deny the impact this young girl was having on Perseus. He had dropped on his knees, crying, but never tearing his eyes off her. The girl continued her path until standing in front of him and getting down on her knees and wiping his tears away, smiling.
"Happy to see me, Seaweed Brain?"
A/N: Ya great ending how touching… but anyway I'll try to get two-three more chapters up by the end of this weekend!
