A/N: Hi my Sparks! (No one told me if you'd like to be called something else, so for now, I'll stick with this) I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow, so I won't be able to update until late next week. Don't worry, though! Something will be posted as soon as I return-assuming I don't collapse in my bed first, that is. Please enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Do I look like a fifty-two-year-old man by the name of Richard Russell Riordan? Don't own it, never will own it. But a girl can dream...
Poseidon was going to kill his brothers. He was going to kill them and dance on the remains of their bodies and scatter their subconsciouses so thin that they'd never reform in Tartarus or any other place.
First, they want to kill a mortal woman that he loved almost as much as Amphitrite. Now, they want his son dead, again. They wanted him dead at age twelve with the bolt/helm fiasco; the following winter they wanted him dead, because they didn't know where his loyalties were; they wanted him dead because he existed.
He gripped the armrests to his throne, his knuckles stark white against the bluish tint of his throne. His trident was in its holster, sea green energy radiating from its spear points. Hestia was looking at him in concern, a small frown adorning her face. Poseidon waved off her concern with a brush of his hand, but she continued to sneak covert glances at him, worried that he was going to blow something up.
Zeus flashed in with exaggerated flair in the form of a blazing white lightning bolt. Hera appeared in a smaller bolt beside him, a regal expression settled across her face, but Poseidon could see the mix of worry and disdain in her coffee brown eyes. He had no idea what she felt about Percy, but he knew she had a tad bit of respect for his son. Maybe she would vote to keep him alive.
The rest of the council flashed in, Hades included. Poseidon was glaring daggers at both of his brothers; a storm almost began brewing around him. It took all of his willpower to not lash out on Zeus and Hades like he had done at the last council meeting. And there was still two weeks until the winter solstice.
"Hades and I have summoned this council meeting for one purpose only: The fate of Perseus Jackson," Zeus said, his expression a mixture of indifference and anger. His Master Bolt was in hand, sparking at his touch.
Athena groaned. "What did that sea spawn do now?"
"Treat him with some respect, sister," Hermes pleaded, tapping something into his phone. "He did win the affection of your favorite daughter, after all."
She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, sliding back into her throne with a scowl. "Well, Father?" Athena asked. "Why does the council care about Perseus' fate?"
"We care," Hades said, "because he has cheated death."
Silence filled the throne room, and no one moved a muscle. Aphrodite's lipstick stayed suspended in midair between her hand and her lips; Hephaestus dropped something he was tinkering with; Demeter dropped the box of cereal she was holding; Hera just stared; Hestia continued tending to the fire with a shocked expression; Hermes set his phone down; Apollo pulled out his ear buds; Artemis' fingers stayed frozen on one of the shafts of an arrow; Dionysus, well, the old drunk was sleeping in his throne contentedly.
"What?" Artemis asked, breaking the silence in the room. She placed the arrow back in her quiver. "First you say his mother has cheated death, and now him?"
"Yeah, what's the meaning of this, Uncle H?" Apollo asked, his expression actually serious for once.
"Don't you dare butt into this conversation, Apollo!" Poseidon growled, gripping his trident with both hands now. "I know about the note you gave to Zeus' son! Don't you ever play me for a fool!"
Apollo shrunk into his throne in shame, his face flushing, causing for Artemis to glare at Poseidon. He brushed it off. His niece wasn't the scariest deity the council had to offer, in his opinion.
"Care to explain?" Hephaestus grumbled, polishing something with an oily cloth in his lap.
He grinned like a mad man. "Gladly."
About an hour later, Poseidon had finished his rant of information, his face red with anger and from lack of oxygen. Many of the members of the council were stricken, looking at Zeus with unimaginable hate. They all agreed with Poseidon on the matter, save for Dionysus-because he was asleep-Hades, and Zeus. Surprisingly, even Athena agreed on the matter at hand: Percy was innocent.
Yes, he hadn't died when he should've, but that wasn't his fault. If he was still living after being hit with a god's energy, then the Fates obviously had something in store for him-whether it be good or bad, only time would tell.
"If this is how we reward a hero who has done nothing but save us from our destruction multiple times, then I will have none of it," Artemis said, shocking the council even further. "He is the one decent male out there, and the only man Zoe has ever learned to trust; he helped her pass on into the stars. If we kill him for something he had no control over, we're no better than the Titans and Giants."
"You dare compare us-?!" Zeus began.
"I dare, Father!" she snapped, standing up from her throne and taking the floor. "Because there is no evidence to base this accusation off of!"
Hades snarled. "Thanatos' word is all I need. He told me that Perseus saw him before running away like the coward he is."
"My son is not a coward!" Poseidon shouted, almost throttling his brother. He wanted to wring the scrawny neck of his like a chicken. "And before you say anything, know this, brothers: If you kill Percy, your children will despise you. Jason's already escaping from Camp Half-Blood with Piper, so he doesn't fulfill your wishes. Nico and Percy are hidden from all of our visions. And I guarantee you that if I was to tell Thalia about this, she wouldn't care that you're gods, she'd shoot your hides so full of arrows that not even ambrosia would be able to fix you up! Not to mention what Hazel would do!"
"He has a point, Father," Athena said. "It'd be unwise to kill Perseus."
Zeus slammed his Master Bolt into the floor at the base of his throne. The scent of ozone filled the room as every god's hair stood on end. "Silence!" he shouted. "We will be civilized and take a vote. I am allowing for Hestia and Hades to join in this vote as they both have close relations with Perseus. All in favor of smiting him?" Only Hades and Zeus and Ares raised their hands. Zeus visibly grimaced. "All that oppose?" Every other Olympian raised their hands, except Dionysus, but Hermes lifted the wine god's hand for him.
Poseidon suppressed a triumphant smile. It was good to know how many of his family members liked his son. He'd just have to keep a watch on his brothers and Ares. Setting his trident down in its holster once more, he allowed himself a small smirk, glad that he had kept Percy safe for now. He remembered his promise to the son of Hades, and he planned on keeping it. Soon, he'd meet up with them in Alaska. Soon, everything would be right.
He was back in the stupid glass tube from the previous night. Sighing, he allowed himself to slump to the bottom, feeling the already existing water soak through his pants. That same beacon of light shone relentlessly on him, forcing him to keep his head down. Again, Percy couldn't see any farther than a few feet, the glass glowing any time he touched it.
"Hurry up and show yourself!" Percy called out tiredly, really not looking forward to drowning in his own dreams again. Every time he woke up, it felt like someone had set his lungs on fire. He didn't know if he actually was holding his breath in the real world while that crazy woman teased him with the little remaining air before he ultimately drowned.
He heard the same psychotic laugh from last night, but this time there was a sort of sweetness in her tone that hadn't been there before. She shimmered into appearance, her dress and hair and accessories all still the same. The only thing that was different was the weapon at her waist. It was no longer her half silver and half gold weapon, but instead it was a sole dagger. Percy recognized the dagger instantly. It was the one Annabeth lost when they fell into Tartarus.
"Ah, I see you recognize this," she said with amusement clear in her voice, showing off the entire length of the dagger in front of his face. "What was her name again? Annie? Anna Lee? Annabel?"
"Annabeth," Percy hissed, getting to his feet, still mindful of the limited amount of air he had. "Her name was Annabeth."
The lady cocked her head to the side as if listening to someone speak to her. "Yes, it was. And such a shame, too. She was such a lovely heroine."
"You don't know her!"
"Oh, I don't?" She doubled over laughing, carelessly handling the dagger as the point almost stabbed her in the stomach. Percy wanted for that dagger to pierce her heart, but it was only wishful thinking. "Darling, I know everything about your Annabeth. Just like I know everything about your new love interest."
Percy banged into the glass at his back, like someone had slapped him across the face. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not in love with anyone."
"Lies! You know you're lying to yourself, yet you refuse to address your feelings."
He scowled. "Lady, this isn't 20 Questions. We spoke yesterday, so what do you want from me now? I'm not helping you take down any kingdom, so get lost."
She smiled, unnerving Percy. "Such bold words for someone that's going to die. You're my prisoner, if you haven't realized by now."
"I doubt that you're going to kill me. You said it yourself that you needed me for this crazy plan of yours."
"Who said I'd be killing you now? I can take my time, you know. I am immortal, after all." She fiddled with the hem of her dress until the embroidery changed to a sea green color, the exact same shade of his eyes. "Oh, I know a few of my uncles that would pay a pretty drachma to get their hands on you." Her glare came so unexpectedly that Percy flinched back, slamming himself into the glass, hard. "I'm keeping you safe now, Perseus. I'm hospitable compared to my brethren, but if you displease me…well, we shall see what Kronos would do with the demigod that destroyed him.
Percy felt like his entire body turned to lead at the last sentence. No, he was gone. They said he was scattered so far out that he'd never reform again.
"Isn't he d-dead?" Percy asked, fear crawling up his throat.
"The gods must be bigger idiots than I thought," she mumbled to herself. "Honestly, Perseus, my great uncle knew better than to let himself completely escape the pit. It's a wonder he didn't take you hostage during your time in Tartarus."
"How do you know about that?"
"My mother sees all, demigod. She was the first being to be an Oracle. If you know your myths, you should be able to figure out my identity. Or, even if you know the full name of one of my children that should be enough."
Percy thought hard about all the old myths Annabeth had told him about. Great Uncle, mentioned boring two kids for the Olympians, and she said she was cast out for something she hadn't done. He knew that of the original twelve Titans, Phoebe saw all…Oh, Phoebus Apollo and Phoebe Artemis. That meant…
"Leto?" he asked uncertainly. "You're Leto?"
Leto smiled wickedly. "Ding-ding, we've got a winner! Give the boy a prize!"
"But you're a good Titan!"
"Says who?" she hissed, her gold and silver eyes narrowing. "Homer? Ha! The old 'seer' was blind and only wrote what people told him. I've never been in many myths other than Hera cursing me for bearing the finest twins in the world. Or the time Python tried to eat me, and Apollo killed him for trying."
"I remember reading that you cared for other Titan's children, and you became the Titan of Motherhood. You must've been sweet and kind and gentle at one point in time," Percy argued.
"Oh, I was, once upon a millennia ago." Leto turned to face the darkness before pressing her face up against the glass, scaring the living daylights out of Percy. "But being imprisoned unjustly for over two thousand years, well, that's enough to make anyone bitter. Just ask my cousin, Calypso. Because she supported Atlas, she was banished. While I sided with the gods and did nothing wrong, I too was banished. All because of some stupid, ignorant, mortal woman!"
"Whoa, lady, you're taking your anger out on the wrong person! I have done nothing to you! So could you please stop invading my dreams?"
"Invading is such a…harsh word, Perseus. No, I prefer visiting. And this, my sweet, is only the beginning. Sooner than you think, Olympus will fall, and you'll be leading that army!"
Percy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "And what if I refuse?"
"You wouldn't dare do that. After all, we've got her." Leto motioned into the darkness as another glass tube became visible with its own harsh glow of grey light.
Percy saw a girl tied and gagged to the floor, her blonde hair in a messy ponytail out of her face. Her eyes were shut, but she could see the different bite marks covering her pale skin. He managed to make out the shape of hundreds upon hundreds of spiders crawling and running on the sides of the tube, lighting it up with an even brighter grey luminescence. Cobwebs shut the top off, just like that sheet of glass that had closed his tube off.
"Is she dead?" Percy asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Oh, she's been dead for about three weeks now. We've kidnapped her from Elysium as leverage."
Percy's eyes widened as the truth hit him. "Annabeth? You brought her into this?! You're a monster!"
Leto cackled, the light above his own tube flickering. "Phobos helped me with these devices," she said, trailing a hand against his encasing. "Your worst fear will come back to bite you. Those chains bind her to the mortal world, meaning that she'll be forever stuck with those spiders. As for you, well, it's good to know that the son of Poseidon fears drowning. My Lord and Lady will be most pleased."
"Kronos?"
"You still have much to learn about war, Perseus, but I will part with one tip for you: Never let your enemy know your plans. Ta-ta, dear!" She shut the light off of Annabeth's tube and winked out of existence. The water came rushing up in his tank with fervor, but he refused to feel afraid. Once the water was covering his head, and he was shivering from the coldness, he gulped in large quantities of the liquid, happy once he blacked out.
Nico woke with a start, hearing Percy sputter and gasp like he was having an asthma attack. He flicked on the light from the bedside lamp before turning on his side, facing Percy. The son of Poseidon made this strange gurgling noise in the back of his throat, almost as if he was underwater, before his body jerked unnaturally to the side of the bed as he hit the wooden floor with a thud.
He sprang out of bed, the cold floor stinging the soles of his feet as he watched Percy carefully. He knew he had to let the episode pass or he could do more harm than good. A handful of seconds passed, and Percy began breathing normally. Nico breathed a sigh of relief before attempting to wake him up.
"Percy," he said softly. "Get up. I can't drag you back in bed; you're too heavy."
On cue, the son of Poseidon jerked up, smashing his forehead against the corner of the nightstand he had been lying beneath. He winced, sitting down slowly, rubbing the spot as a thin line of blood traced down his cheek.
Nico winced, gently moving Percy to a part of the floor that had nothing for him to bang his head against. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm bleeding," Percy smartly responded, lifting himself off the cold wood. "Alright, I'm going to the bathroom."
"I'm coming, too."
He shot Nico the lopsided smile that he was so used to seeing but still managed to get his heart fluttering. "Sure, it's not like there's any harm in using the buddy system."
"Hey!" Nico protested like a kindergartner. "This is Alaska! We should be using the buddy system."
Percy laughed, gesturing towards the bathroom that was attached to the master bedroom. The boys had crashed in Emily's queen-sized bed under the thermal blanket as snow pelted the windows and doors from the outside. Alaska seemed to want to dive head first into winter.
Nico watched as Percy turned the faucet on and made sure the warm tap was going. He stuck his hand under the sink, sighing in relief as the water knit his skin back together. Nico had always found it kind of creepy to watch the water heal him, but after seeing Percy sustain so many injuries and immerse himself and come back perfectly fine, he had gotten used to it.
"The water feels good?" Nico asked.
Percy flinched slightly at the mention of water and shut the tap off. He looked at his wet hand, willing it dry with a glare. He shook his hand, the last bit of droplets flying off of his skin.
"Fine," he answered, still glaring at the water in the sink with disdain.
Nico wondered why Percy had flinched when mentioning water, especially with his father being Poseidon. Then he realized it: Percy was scared of water. He remembered fearing darkness when he shadow traveled half way across the world; and darkness and shadows was his own element. He knew that Thalia was afraid of heights, even though her father was Zeus.
"Percy," Nico said. "Are you scared of water?"
He didn't respond, shutting his eyes and breathing in deeply for a three-count. When Percy's eyes did finally open, he refused to meet Nico's gaze. "Not of water, exactly," Percy said through a sigh, scratching the back of his neck. He looked up at the ceiling, and Nico saw how embarrassed Percy truly was of his fear; there was even a few tears threatening to spill over. "I'm scared of drowning."
A sole tear traced down his cheek, and he viciously wiped it away. Nico didn't say anything for a while, letting Percy compose himself. With a shaky breath, he said, "You must think I'm insane, huh? 'The son of Poseidon afraid of drowning! Oh, the irony!'"
Nico frowned. "I don't believe that, Percy. I can't blame you for fearing drowning. There was one point where I was scared of the dark."
Percy looked up, his eyes on the verge of being red and blotchy. "It was with Reyna and Hedge, wasn't it? With the Athena Parthenos?"
Nico nodded, sitting down on the edge of the small bathtub. "Yeah. My dad himself told me that I could be killing myself by jumping so often and so far. There's nothing wrong with fearing your own element."
There was a few seconds of silence as Percy glared at the ground. "My fear started here, in Alaska," he began, clutching the hand towel so tight the veins on the back of his hand were bulging out slightly. "Didn't watch my step and walked head first into muskeg. If it wasn't for Hazel and Frank, I would've drowned in the earth. Then, in Rome, Piper's dagger told us that she and Jason and I had to go to this nymphaeum underneath the city to find something. Nearly drowned with the magical water there. Again someone else made sure I didn't drown, and Piper with her cornucopia managed to convince the nymphs to set us free."
He sighed, throwing the towel on the countertop of the sink in a tired manner. "Nico, I've never told anyone this; you're the first. Not even Annabeth knew."
"We're all your friends, Perce. We wouldn't judge you."
"I know you guys wouldn't; but what about the rest of the campers? I'm not as ignorant as people think. I know that I became a leader at both camps and that people look up to me, but I can't help but believe they'd look at me in pity if they knew the truth."
"That's not true."
Percy looked up, and only a meek spark of his usually happy-go-luck attitude was showing in his eyes. The rest of the sea green irises told the story: Percy was tired of being used; he was tired of being so heavily depended on; he was tired of being a leader. Nico knew that out of all the demigods that should get a break, Percy definitely deserved it. His body and mind and heart were marred with scars that no seventeen-year-old should ever have. He exuded this kind of sadness that you'd usually see around soldiers that had seen too much in too short a time.
And you couldn't call the reference out of the blue when it was so clearly on point. Percy was a soldier. All demigods became soldiers because of their nature. Nico wondered if the gods knew how much pain and suffering and anguish they inflicted on their children.
"Tell me, Nico. Tell me that I wouldn't be looked at differently because of my fear. Not even my dad knows."
"What don't I know?" a voice that Nico immediately recognized as Poseidon's asked. Said god finished appearing in the bathroom in the doorframe, a frown on his face as he looked at Percy. "Is something wrong?"
"Dad!" Percy yelped, backing into the wall opposite the sink. His face was cherry tomato red. "N-nothing. Everything's f-fine."
Poseidon narrowed his eyes in suspicion but didn't pry.
"To answer your question," Nico continued, "you wouldn't be treated differently."
Percy moved his hand rapidly in front of his neck in the universal Stop talking motion, nervously laughing when his dad looked at him in confusion.
"Percy? Nico? What are you babbling on about?"
"Fears," Nico answered simply. Percy buried his face into his hands, mumbling something quietly to himself.
"Oh? Like what?" Poseidon prodded.
"Dad!" Percy complained.
"I'll indulge him."
"You really don't have to do that, Nico!" He could tell Percy was on the verge of begging to keep his secret.
"Doesn't your father have the right to know?"
"It was Gaea's fault, not my own! Please, Nico. I've only ever told you about this," Percy pleaded.
Poseidon was watching the two of them argue like a tennis match, his head swiveling from side-to-side every two seconds. At least he wasn't interrupting them, Nico thought.
"Fine," Nico said. Percy sighed in relief. "But,"-Percy tensed up-"you have to tell him about that freaky dream you had."
"Nico di Angelo!" Percy shouted at the top of his lungs. The pipes in the sink exploded, dousing everyone in water.
With a wave of his hand, Poseidon shut the running water off, drying everything, too. He continued frowning as Percy seemed to be trembling in rage.
Nico watched as Percy shoved past his father, throwing on some warm clothes, lacing up his boots, and he threw the door to the backyard open, stalking off into the snowstorm. A blast of artic air flooded the house, sending goosebumps up Nico's arms.
"What was that about?" Poseidon asked, staring at the retreating form of his son as he plopped himself of the crest of a bank of snow not too far from the house.
"Not that I condone prying, but he needs to tell you something," Nico said, wistfully staring at the dark blob that was Percy against the white. "He just needed a little push."
"Must be one Hades of a secret then."
He winced at his father's name being used as a curse word. "Yeah, it is. It's a wonder no one knew."
"Not even Annabeth knew?"
"Not even Annabeth," he confirmed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as a way to warm up. "We should get him before he gets frostbite, though."
"Percy will be fine," Poseidon said, waving Nico's concern off. "He can feel the cold, but the water in the snow won't bother him."
"Uh, Poseidon, may I remind you that this is Alaska, a place beyond the gods? I don't know which of his powers work out here and which don't."
The sea god glanced worriedly outside the window. "You're right; Sally wouldn't appreciate me returning our son as a Percy-sicle."
"Neither would I," Nico grumbled under his breath, throwing on a heavy overcoat as he braced himself to walk into the freezing wonderland that was Alaska's winter. Gods, the things he would do for Percy.
Percy shoved his hand wrist deep into the snow, feeling the cold bite into his exposed skin, the skin-numbing pain being the only thing he was focused on. He couldn't believe that Nico was pushing him so hard to reveal his embarrassing secret to his father. He knew that eventually he'd have to tell Poseidon that he feared drowning, but he wanted it to be on his own accord, not by someone else's hand.
He heard the opening and shutting of the patio door from the door but didn't react. Instead, he yanked his hands out of the white powder, pulling them near his chest to warm them up. Yes, he wanted to concentrate on something other than his thoughts, but he didn't want his fingers to fall off from frostbite. He decided on only staying outside for a few minutes more before he'd go back inside.
Two people settled on other side of him, but Percy didn't show that he felt them nor did he care. He was still pissed at Nico, and it was going to take a little more than an apology to rectify this mistake. Percy saw Nico as a brother-sometimes a very annoying one at that-but lately he had been feeling something more for the son of Hades. Something similar to how he felt when he was with Annabeth. Now being pushed to do something he didn't want to do, it hurt more than it should have if it was a sibling relationship.
The thought terrified him.
Was he falling for Nico di Angelo?
He shoved the thought aside. That was impossible, wasn't it? Percy remembered when Nico had come up to him, saying that he wasn't his type. It took a handful of weeks, but eventually he had gotten together with Will Solace. And Percy and Jason were happy for the two, treating Nico like their little brother.
But things were different now. Back then he had Annabeth, and Nico had Will. They held nothing against each other for Nico's past feelings. He felt flattered, actually, if he was being honest with himself when he was told the truth. But Percy knew he'd never leave Annabeth, especially after he had fallen to Tartarus for her. He never wanted her to leave, period. At least, until death do them part, and death being of old age; not at the age of eighteen; and definitely not because of some stupid quest.
But he knew that there were feelings for a certain son of Hades stirring inside of him. He'd have to confront them sooner or later.
Percy shut his eyes, embracing the freezing, snowy wind which continued pinpricking the exposed skin on his face and hands. He heard the muffled voices of his father and Nico trying to get him to talk, but honestly, he couldn't even make out the words. His dream came back to him in flashes: Annabeth with the spiders; him drowning again; Leto's claim that he was going to lead an army against the gods.
Maybe it would've been a good idea to fall asleep in the snow and let hypothermia take him. He wanted to be dead. The only thing that kept him getting up in the moment was the thought that Annabeth would be so disappointed to see him so soon. He knew she wouldn't have wanted to see him for at least another twenty years, or unless he sacrificed himself for the greater good.
He exhaled, his breath turning into a visible cloud of white air as it rushed to join the mix of the storm. Suddenly, he felt his body being carried by burly arms, and Percy nearly dove head first into the snow. The arms set him down, and he found himself glaring at Poseidon. His father had knocked him out while carrying him like a baby; it would be a while before his father's arms would feel comforting to him.
"Don't touch me!" Percy hissed, yanking himself away from Poseidon.
A look of extreme remorse and guilt covered the god's face. "Percy, I-"
"I don't want to hear it! You put me to sleep against my will, then you shot me with your godly magic trying to kill my cousin! You've got a lot to make up for Poseidon," Percy spat, glad that his dad couldn't reach his death glare. "And I'm not in the mood right now, Nico. I'll tell him when I want to."
Nico looked down. "Uh, I kind of already told him."
Percy stopped dead in his tracks, whirling around leaving a circle in the snow beneath the heel of his shoe. His death glare stood frozen on Nico. "You did what?!" he shouted. Percy felt a tug in his gut as his power acted up. He looked around everywhere. There was so much water. And then there was their blood…
He shook his head, breaking himself out of his dark chance. He had terrified Annabeth with that ability, and he promised to never use it again-but he never swore on the Styx. His hands were trembling as he restrained himself from manipulating his dad and Nico from taking a dive off a cliff into a snow bank.
"You know what?" Percy reached up to the leather cord around his neck, his hand shutting around the shell Nico had attached there from Poseidon's palace, the only thing letting his father track him. "I'm done! I thought I could trust you, but obviously I can't! First at the Styx and hospital, and now, this? I'm sick of it!" Percy threw the shell to the ground, the snow being the only thing cushioning its fall. He then smashed it with the heel of his boot, almost smiling at the crunching noise it made as it broke into smithereens.
"I'm sorry!" Nico shouted, his face bright red from the biting cold. "I thought you'd be okay with it!"
"You thought," Percy said in a snarky voice. "You don't know how I feel, either one of you! So just leave me the hell alone!"
Percy stepped back from his family, picturing being anywhere but there. He imagined the house Hazel used to live in from her time in Anchorage, the image solidifying in his mind. He felt his limbs evaporate into separate water molecules as he disappeared, the looks of horror burning in the back of his mind.
Serves them right, he thought. I am like the sea. And the sea does not like to be restrained.
Jason helped Piper off his storm horse, Tempest, as they stopped for a break in northern California, down by Los Angeles. Piper's legs were jelly as she put her weight on them for the first time in five hours. Jason thanked his venti for his help, and Tempest neighed before turning to run as he transformed into a cloud of sparking electricity.
Piper placed a hand to her side, making sure that Katoptris was in its sheath by her thigh. She had consulted her dagger before the two of them had begun their cross-country trip to Alaska. She had nearly threw her blade into one of the forges of the Hephaestus cabin because of the visions she had received.
She had seen a woman clad in an elegant purple dress crooning over a blonde girl in a test tube crawling with spiders at one point. She had also seen two guys kissing full on the lips, but she couldn't make out whom it was. There was also one image that absolutely terrified her.
Piper had seen Percy in battle regalia with Riptide in his hand, shouting something inaudible in the direction of a massive army. But instead of the army being of demigods, it was of monsters and Titans and Giants. Unfortunately, there was a rogue demigod or two amongst the crowd, but there was always those few. Percy jabbed Riptide in the direction of a building that Piper later recognized as the Empire State Building as he yelled for a charge. There was a man beside him with eyes that were molten gold and a scar on his left cheek running from beneath his eye to his upper lip. He was in a chariot with a gold and silver scythe at his side with the Purple Dress Lady under his arm; she was swooning at his muscles.
She had shoved her dagger into its sheath before it could show her something worse. But then again, what was worse than seeing on of your best friends turn to the dark side?
"Pipes?" Jason asked. "You okay?"
She knew she was scowling; she could feel the muscles in her face cramping from being like that from so long.
"I'm fine," she responded, pasting a fake smile onto her face. "What are we doing in Los Angeles? I thought you said we'd stop in Seattle."
Jason shouldered his backpack, looking around the nearly deserted dog park. They had arrived around midnight, but that didn't mean people weren't still roaming around. Piper knew that New York was "the city that never sleeps", but Los Angeles should've been "the city with the strangest people".
"I thought you'd might like to let your dad know where we're going," he said. "Didn't you tell him you were a demigod?"
Piper bit her lip, remembering that her conversation with her father hadn't gone exactly to plan. He thought she was faking until she cut her palm with her dagger. Afterwards, Tristan McLean was a believer that the Greek gods were alive and that her mother was Aphrodite. Their relationship wasn't destroyed exactly, but it was slightly strained. Words were exchanged, painful memories were brought up...yeah, a little distance from her father would do the both of them some good.
"Yeah," she responded. "He knows everything."
He frowned. "You're not telling me everything."
"We had a fight," Piper confessed. "I haven't spoken to him in, oh, three months. But he's used to that. It would be like I was living with him again."
Piper was grateful that Jason didn't try prying for any answers or painful memories that she had from her childhood. It wasn't exactly the happiest, but she knew her boyfriend had it worse.
"Would you rather we just head off to Alaska now?" Jason asked, readjusting the gladius strapped to his back. "Or do you want to talk to your dad?"
"If we're escaping from the gods, Jason, they'll interrogate our parents first. I don't want to put my dad back in harm's way again. We should get going."
He gave her a curt nod before taking her hand. They walked in comfortable silence as the exited the dog park and entered onto the bustling streets of Los Angeles.
People didn't give them a second thought as they dispersed like water and oil around them in a sort of teardrop shape. Piper was genuinely surprised that the paparazzi hadn't begun snapping pictures of her and Jason together. She knew that Hollywood knew her face because of her father being Tristan McLean and all, but it was nice to be nobody amongst a crowd of famous people.
As the passed by an all-black building, Piper's hair stood up on the back of her neck. She stopped walking, pausing to appraise the building. She had passed by this street multiple times, but never before had she seen this place.
"Jason, what is this place?"
Jason squinted through his glasses at the small print on the glass doors. Piper had forgotten that just like she, he was dyslexic too.
"It looks like: DOA Recording Studios." Jason then jumped, backing away from the door as far as possible until his feet were in the gutters of the street. He stepped back onto the edge of the sidewalk, grabbing her wrist before breaking into a sprint, running down five blocks away from the building.
When they finally stopped, Piper was panting to get more air into her lungs. She looked both ways, expecting for a monster to be chasing the two. Once it no longer felt like her lungs were burning, she stood up straight, brushing the stray strands of hair from her face.
"What was that about?" Piper asked, watching as Jason ran a hand through his close-cropped hair with anxiety clear on his face.
"Nico told me about that place. It's where souls go to wait to cross the River Styx into the Underworld. Charon the ferryman runs the upper part, and we just walked right in front of the entrance," Jason explained, gripping the hilt of one of the daggers. "We need to get as far away from that place as possible. C'mon."
Piper jogged to keep up with him as Jason shouldered his way through the crowd, ignoring all the glares he was receiving when he bumped into people.
"Why does it matter if we see the building?" Piper asked. "I mean, we're demigods. We can see through the Mist."
"I know that, Pipes. It's just, with the whole deal with the Doors of Death, well, Nico told me that both Charon and Thanatos are tightening up on security so souls can't escape back into the living world again."
"Meaning?"
He sighed. "It means that the living, demigod or not, shouldn't be able to see the building."
"Stop being cryptic! What does that mean?"
Jason stopped in his tracks, his icy blue eyes meeting her own. "It means that someone's about to die."
Percy pushed aside the rotted wood and tangled vines that were long since dead, covered in frost and ice and snow. He managed to pry the door open to the long forgotten house, the wind slamming the door shut with a loud shudder. He winced as the door creaked on its hinges. Something told him it had been a while since they had been oiled, or even functional.
There was still a package of baby wipes from the last time he had been here sitting on a dust covered chair. His and Hazel's muddy footprints still stained the floor, but the mud had hardened and was now as slick as ice. The brown splotches covered the pale wood. In a corner by the broken window, Hazel's old pictures blew with every gust of the wind. He'd have to patch that hole up later. Her broken and discarded colored pencils reeked of broken dreams, and Percy felt a pang of sadness for his youngest cousin. She had died before her time, but at least she was back now, alive and happy with Frank.
The house was small, and Percy had a hard time of believing that Hazel lived there with her mother, Marie Levesque. He had heard all about the gris-gris queen on the Pax when Frank and Hazel thought he wasn't listening. Did people seriously think he was that naïve? He might've been when he first found out he was a demigod, but not anymore. He only acted silly and stupid as a defense mechanism. He had done so ever since he met Smelly Gabe.
(A/N: The flashback contains mentions of child abuse, so if this is a trigger for you, please skip ahead to the next subheading)
Flashback
Percy had just come home from his boarding school for the summer. This had been the fifth time he had been expelled; and this time it was from firing a Revolutionary War cannon at the bus. Thankfully no one was in there, but he was still blamed for it. Honestly, it was just a mistake! He bumped into the lever. How was he supposed to know the thing was loaded?!
He reached into the uppermost zipper of his backpack and pulled out his keys. Percy never understood why his mom insisted on him keeping his keys when he was always away at some boarding school or other. Carefully, he inserted the key into the lock, mindful to not wake Smelly Gabe should he be asleep.
Percy didn't know if he should've been relieved or terrified when he found his stepfather glaring at him with his beady rat eyes and greasy strands of hair in a comb-over. Gabe unfurled a sheet of paper, something circled in red marker.
"What's the meaning of this, punk?!" Gabe shouted, shoving the paper in Percy's face.
He walked back, attempting to read what the paper said, but his dyslexia began acting up, making it impossible for him to understand what it said. He blinked his eyes, hoping that would work, but the letters kept floating off the page.
"W-what did I do?" Percy stammered, his heart racing in his chest. An angry Gabe was something you didn't want to be within a five-thousand mile radius.
Gabe smiled, his crooked, yellow teeth and halitosis breath right in his face. "Oh, right, you can't read! Ha! I forgot that you're an idiot, boy! You're stupid and worthless and a piece of garbage! It's a wonder your mother even loves you! I'm not surprised your dad left! He probably was horrified at the thought of you being his bastard, idiotic, moronic son!"
Percy felt tears well up in his eyes; his bottom lip quivered. He forced himself to not cry, though. Oh, he knew how Gabe enjoyed making him cry. He wouldn't give the walrus the satisfaction.
"I h-have dyslexia," Percy argued, biting his lip to keep from crying out. "I can read. I just need t-time."
"'T-time.' That's priceless!" Gabe laughed until he was wheezing, probably from those smoker lungs he has. "You actually think you can read? Then what does this number say?!"
Percy attempted to read the number again, but the numbers did one-eighties in his vision, giving him a headache. "D-dyslexia," he mumbled again.
"Fifty-thousand dollars!" Gabe shouted. "For some damn cannon you shot!"
"It was an accident! Mason pushed me, and I bumped into the lever!"
"Do you expect meto pay for that?!"
"Uh, y-yes?"
Gabe scowled fiercely, crumpling the paper into a ball. He then rushed at Percy, pinning him, backpack and all, against the wall. Percy gagged as the scent of stale booze and cigars filled his nostrils. In one second, all the air in his lungs rushed out, and he was left gasping for air. Later he realized that Gabe had punched him in the gut.
"Listen to me, boy, and listen to me good. You're going to pay every single cent of those fifty-thousand dollars. I don't care how you get the money, but it ain't coming from my wallet."
"But I'm only el-"
"Don't care, boy. Deal with it yourself."
Gabe dropped Percy, leaving the eleven-year-old boy gagging on the floor as he struggled to regain his breath. He staggered to his feet, and in a moment of stupid bravery, he threatened, "I'll tell my mom!"
Gabe rushed back so fast, Percy barely felt himself getting lifted by the scruff of his neck until a meaty hand tightened around his throat. "You tell your whore of a mother anything, and what I do won't even begin to compare what I'll do to you. Speaking of which, you've been a bad boy."
Percy's eyes widened in fear, and he tried to shake his head desperately despite his throat being cut off. "N-no," he pleaded. "Plea-please."
His stepfather ignored him as he undid the belt around his waist. He then sat Percy down on one of the chairs Gabe used for his poker parties, using the belt to restrain him. Percy thrashed around, screaming for help, hoping that one of the neighbors would hear through the thin walls-but no one came to his rescue.
His screams were cut off when Gabe shoved something down his throat before clamping a hand over his nose and mouth, forcing him to swallow. Percy felt like the inside of his throat was burning as what he soon realized was glass made its way down his esophagus, cutting up the vulnerable part of his throat.
"This is just the beginning, punk," Gabe whispered near his ear. "And it's about to get a whole lot worse."
Percy could no longer scream as the glass had made it impossible for him to do so. He just hoped his vocal cords hadn't been cut. Gabe had grabbed a carving knife from the kitchen, twelve inches of wickedly sharp steel. He delicately stroked Percy's back with the tip, all of his muscles taut under the point of the knife, but he didn't break the skin. When he thought that Gabe wasn't going to do anything and relaxed, the blade was driven into his back, near his shoulder blade.
He screamed in pain, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Probably from those glass shards. Gabe viscously continued stabbing Percy with the knife until there was so much blood on his white uniform that he knew no amount of detergent would ever be able to wash out. He knew he had blacked out a couple of times until he found himself on his bed.
Groaning in pain, he sat up only to find Gabe staring at him in the face with the bloodied knife in his hand. The knife was thrown onto the bed, and Percy cringed away, holding the blanket up to his neck.
"Hide it," Gabe said gruffly, standing to leave the room. "And remember my warning. I'm going to Eddie's apartment. I want this place spotless by the time I come back, understood?"
It's not like I'm bleeding out or anything, he thought to himself darkly, but nodded to Gabe's response. The second he heard the door to his apartment shut, he hid the knife under his mattress. Not wanting to worry his mother, Percy made his way to the small bathroom and began expertly bandaging his wounds. It wasn't something he was proud of, but he had lived enough summers with Gabe to know how to deal with the injuries he inflicted.
Percy then went into his mother's room and found her makeup in its small case. He pulled out her concealer and worked to hide some of the forming bruises on his arms and legs. Everything else he could hide with clothing. After he took care of hiding his injuries, he went to work like Gabe asked of him, scrubbing the place clean of all blood and garbage. Only the scent of alcohol and his nasty cigars was left by the time he finished.
He sighed in relief once he finished and crawled into bed before his mother came home. Better she think that he was safe here instead of sending him off to another boarding school. The last conscious thought that he had before he fell asleep was, This wouldn't have happened if my father stayed. I hate him. I hate him.
Flashback End
Percy shook his head, snapping out of the flashback. He pulled the sleeve of his jacket up, though, his fingers tracing along the scars he had hidden from everyone from so long. Even when he was shirtless while he was swimming, he manipulated the Mist to hide them. When he was younger, he remembered going through a phase where he would only swim with a shirt on. His mom never questioned it, believing that he wanted to protect his skin, not her. And she still didn't know.
And he never planned on telling her. There were some secrets you took to your grave.
He yanked the sleeve of his jacket down, forcing that memory away. Percy hated reminding himself of Gabe. If he ever saw the statue his mom made of him, he'd slice the head off with Riptide like he had done to Medusa. Then, he'd crush the rock into powder, throwing his remains into the vast pit that was Tartarus.
Percy mechanically went over to the small bed, shaking the sheets to the best of his ability from their dust. Every time he whacked the pillow, dust clouds would shoot up his nose, making him couch uncontrollably. The mattress was hard, and he could feel the springs pressing into his back every time he shifted slightly. It was better than sleeping on the mossy floor, though, he consoled himself.
There was still no light coming over the horizon, and the wind was still howling with gusto. It would be a while before the sun would come up. And though Percy knew he should've been using this time to rest so that in the morning he could get going, he was too awake from his fight. He had wanted to tap into those dark powers of his, controlling someone else's body with his own mind. Now, the thought made him sick, but at the moment he had wanted nothing more than to send the both of them off a cliff.
Percy decided that instead of sleeping, he'd make the house a little more hospitable as he didn't know how long he'd be in its residence. He began cleaning up Hazel's drawings and color pencils, neatly folding the papers to be returned to their owner.
He picked one up, and it looked scarily like Leo. He then remembered that Hazel used to have a crush on Leo's bisabuelo, Sammy. Now she and Frank were dating, while she and Leo were great friends.
Percy frowned. When had he started referring Leo in the past tense? Shaking his head to clear his mind, he balled the picture of Sammy up, sure that Hazel probably wouldn't have wanted it anyways. Plus, no one needed that reminder that one of their best friends was a resident in Elysium. At least, Percy hoped he was in Elysium. Leo deserved it for killing Gaea.
For the second time since he had gotten there, he forced his mind to draw a blank, only concentrating at the task at hand and nothing else. Percy then continued cleaning up, not at all aware of the pair of golden eyes in the corner of the room watching him greedily.
Kronos knew he should've reverted his eye color back to that Luke's eye color, so he wouldn't get caught by the insufferable son of Poseidon. But he honestly didn't care. The boy was completely oblivious as to his presence in the room. Although he had no love for Perseus, he was surprised that Percy hadn't sensed him yet.
As if the Fates were listening, Percy stiffened suddenly, standing up uneasily. His hand crept to his pocket, where Kronos knew his blade, Riptide, was in its concealed form of a pen. He let his eyes turn back to their baby blue color. Percy gazed around the room, but when he saw nothing wrong, he shrugged, continuing to clean the dank and forgotten home of Marie Levesque.
Fool! Kronos thought. I am a TITAN! Tremble before me, demigod!
Kronos made sure he kept the dampers on his powers and aura. He was only sent to spy for the time being. Though he'd never be caught doing something as lowly as spying, he knew his master was far more powerful than him. His extreme power reduction after being defeated for a second time didn't help matters, either. But his master was generous. He had been promised Perseus, alive and for the most part uninjured, for his payment. Oh, Kronos was going to enjoy breaking the Hero of Olympus. He already knew the boy was cracked, but he wanted to be the one to watch the hope fade from his eyes, only keeping him barely alive so he could suffer more pain.
He shape-shifted into a small moth; the only thing that distinguished Kronos from others was golden bands on his wings. Kronos flew from the corner to the rotted nightstand beside the bed. He didn't know whether to be offended or grateful that Perseus didn't notice him.
But something must've tipped the son of Poseidon off, because he said, "Dad? Nico? I swear to the gods if it's either one of you…"
Kronos flapped his wings nonchalantly as Perseus jerked the door open, a breeze lowering the temperature inside the cabin even more. He might've been feeling cold in this form had it not been for his ichor.
"Guess no one was there," Perseus said with a shrug. "Gah! What are you doing here?" His sea green eyes finally caught a glimpse at him, and all the nerves in his little moth body froze. No, he wasn't afraid of the demigod, but when you have the instincts of a moth, they're all screaming to get away from anything bigger than you.
"Impossible," he muttered, holding out his index finger for Kronos to fly onto. "How are you not frozen?"
Kronos shifted his wings in response, sadistically smiling in his mind as he crawled onto Perseus' finger.
"Well, there isn't much here, but feel f-wait." He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the gold bands on his wings. "That's strange." He stayed silent for a few more seconds until he glared at the moth on his finger. "She warned me about this. Get out of this house, Kronos. Go tell your 'Master' that I am done with the gods and their crap."
Kronos flew off his finger and to the ground, taking on his mortal form, which was still the body of Luke Castellan. If anything, Perseus just glared even fiercer, a feral scowl tugging on his lips. Riptide was already out, pointed at his undefended chest.
"You're not as brain dead as I thought, Perseus," Kronos said coolly, a sinister smile on his face.
"And you're still the same sadistic prick I've been fighting for the past six years of my life," he commented, his voice being the only thing showing his anger. Perseus stood as still as a statue in a museum, holding his sword perfectly without so much as trembling.
"Now, be fair-"
"About what?" Perseus demanded, inching Riptide closer to his chest. "That I'm done being a pawn? Ha! I've been done ever since her death."
"Her?" Kronos asked, clearly puzzled. He had only been resurrected a few weeks ago and was still filling in on everything he had missed the past two years.
"Don't act all innocent with me. I know your master is holding her captive. I've been held captive, too, in my own dreams. But you should know how that works,"-he cut himself off, glaring at Kronos straight in the eyes-"as you've been doing it ever since I found out the truth. I'm not with or against anybody anymore. I'm on my side. I get to create my own destiny."
Kronos laughed. "You truly believe that, son of Poseidon? Go ahead, believe that you're not controlled by the Fates when we all are. And it's good to know where your allegiance lies."
"Gramps, maybe you'll be able to indulge me."
"As if I'd ever do anything for you."
Perseus grinned sadistically, something Kronos saw every time he looked in a mirror. "Who said I needed your consent?" Perseus tossed Riptide out to the side, but held his hands out as if he was preparing to manipulate the water. Kronos summoned a sword to his side, but by then it was too late. He felt as he was shoved from his own mind, and Perseus took control.
His movement began to become jerky, and he nearly impaled himself with his own sword.
"What is this?" Kronos demanded, jabbing himself in the eye with the hilt of his sword.
His grandson smirked. "Something I learned from my time in Tartarus. Thank your mother for that, Gramps. Water is sure in abundance in living things." With the waves of his hands, Perseus forced for Kronos to walk out of the dilapidated cabin. "Oh, Kronos!" Perseus trilled happily.
Kronos scowled. "I am going to break you, demigod!"
"You can't break what's already broken." He then felt his hair getting yanked back in Perseus' fist. The boy's lips were millimeters away from his ear. "Listen to me, Kronos. I am sick and tired of all this Greek crap messing up my life. You tell your master, whoever he is, that I want nothing to do with them. And should I ever see you again,"-Kronos felt the dark smirk on his face-"well, next time I won't be so friendly. Things have changed, Kronos. And you, you're just old news. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind."
Perseus shoved the door open, throwing Kronos out like week-old garbage into the freezing frost and ice and snow. Kronos brushed off the snow from his clothes, scowling back at the cabin in disgust and slight fear as he disappeared in a swirl of golden light.
A/N OOoooOOOoooh! Dark Percy came out to play! Reviews make a happy author, sp please review! See you guys in a week! (::) (::) (::)~RainbowSpark18
