Chapter 27: Lily Drowns Percy

Words: 3,618

Recap: Jack is now free from the seal, but instead of him fixing everything, it will be up to Lily that will help seal the Wisp back to the lantern. She wasn't sure how a salt would help them but she wasn't complaining.

However, just when things are looking up. She found that things got worse when she faced a Blue eyed Percy standing her way.


You know that they say dreams only lasted few minutes and in real time few hours passed?

Well they lied, because I felt it more than a few minutes while dreaming my nightmare. Good thing was when I wake up, I barely remembered the details of what I did and how long I stayed like that, but the Dream-Me felt like it was years I was stuck there. That I even felt I was lucky not to remember. I fought nonstop within the hell that is Tartarus. Trying to protect the friends I had left, fighting off monsters and Titans that my hands felt like it might fall off. My voice was hoarse from yelling out war cries throughout the battle so no one would be left in despair no matter how true that is.

I'm not going to tell you all those gory details that would make me angst, we've got better use of time than that. Besides, that would take up more than a chapter to cover that. Instead, I'll tell you how I got myself possessed in the end.

It was when the army of demigods had just went past the Mansion of Nightmares. We had to leave some who peeked and got stuck in the horrors of the mansion that no one who survived will ever know. We took our time catching our breath and rested, I winced at the number of demigods there were and was losing hope but had to keep my head level and not let my emotion overwhelmed me.

"Percy, what should we do now?" Rachel Elizabeth Dare asked the question on everyone's mind. Her long red hair that used to be curled and disheveled was now cut into short bob, her jeans and black tanktop showed cuts and burns, and she was sweating heavily that her cheeks were flushed and she looked like she had been to a sauna.

I was about to answer her when realization hit me in the oddest way. I looked quizzically at Rachel's form standing before me, my breath still heaving and panting for breath, and asked her "What are you doing here?"

It was her turn to looked at me quizzically, "What do you mean Percy? I'm here like the rest of us when we were pulled down by Gaea and Tartarus working together as a form of revenge and we've been fighting for survival ever since."

I didn't even realize I was shaking my head at her when denial and disbelief rose inside me, "That's not possible. I've experienced Tartarus and I barely survived with Annabeth. There's no was a mortal without even formal training could survive as long as you, not even with your prophecy."

"Percy, you're not making any sense. I'm right here so what other explanation can there be?"

There could be a number of explanation for that. It could be that she's an imposter, maybe she turned into a spy so Tartarus was being kinder to her, maybe the effects wasn't so prominent to a mortal or for an oracle. But the first thing that popped into my head was "This isn't real," I managed to let out before letting the grip around my sword fall, closing my eyes with my arms spread, waiting for the the blow that should kill me but accepted it as isn't real. It was a gamble. For all I know, I'm just sentencing myself to death. Yet when the death blow still didn't come, I open my eyes and found the scenery changed to one of plain white. And when I meant the scenery turned white, I meant like someone had cut you out and put you inside a blank sheet of paper.

"We are impressed," a voice echoed the place that jolted me from my spot. I whirled around to find who said it and was confused when I found no one until I noticed one spot of the white scene that seemed to be swaying. I edged closer to it and wasn't surprised as more of curious wonder at the form of a giant white flame floating around. "This is a first we've seen that we failed to elude both dreams and nightmares on someone" Then the memory came back like I was hit by a giant crab. About the quest to the past, on Sev and Lily, about Hogwarts, and the Will 'o Wisp. Anger coursed through my veins and wanted more than anything but to put that stupid flame out once and for all. The power of the sea doesn't seem to answer me so much in the dream realm and I felt vulnerable, but it didn't stop me from pulling out Riptide and slashed at the fire. Off course it only went through harmlessly but it didn't stop me.

This thing showed me my worst nightmare and expose me in my most vulnerable. I was more than angry, I was pissed. I kept trying to slash it many times knowing it's no avail from the first slash.

"Save your strength Percy Jackson, you can not vanquish us."

"Yeah? Well it's a good stress reliever," I said while following it up with another stab. But this time when the fire seemed to split, it separate itselves into two before multiplying like an amoeba. They're endless, and they were surrounding me like a cage.

"Give up. You are trapped in your own mind, and we are your guardsman. We have control of this place and you will succumb to our power."

"Not a chance Buddy."

"Oh...but you already have."

The moment he said it, one of the floating fires flew and stuck itself to my arm, making me hissed in pain. I tried to snuffed it out, but that only gave the opening for the other floating fires to stuck itself on me and spread its burning sensation. One by one, I was engulfed in blue fire but I wasn't burning, I only felt I was and I didn't know it that was any better.

"You will rue this day as the day you succumb to our power, our fear! We won"

"You haven't...ugh...win yet," I hissed as more and more Wisps started covering me in blue flames until only my head was left untouched.

"And why is that?"

"Because Lily is still out there and she'll send you to the curb once she's done with you."

"Ha! You mean that foolish witch girl, she doesn't have a chance against us!"

"That's where you're wrong. Lily is one of the brightest witch I know. She wouldn't fail."

"You're delusional."

"I've trust more unlikely people than her." Like Clarisse, Luke, Bob and they've done beyond what I imagine they could. "You'd be surprised what people can do when they set their minds to it and what faith can achieve. Bare this in mind that you will fall." With those words, ny sight was engulfed by the bright blue light and the overwhelming pain spread throughout me as I strangled out a cry.

On the other side where one demigod lay asleep. He awoke with two bright blue eyes instead of green and got up to deal with what he currently know as a pest.

. . .

Lily stood agape at Percy...no, at Percy's body being used to stand opposite her. His face lack of any emotion and nothing seemed to frighten her more than this moment. "Percy?" she coaxed his name, hoping desperately he would react to the name, but still nothing. Plummeting any kind of hope left in her.

Slowly she edged away from him before she turned and broke into a run. The fast echoed pacing of Percy Wisp from behind gave her a more eerie feel to the hallowed hallways. "Jack, help!" she cried. But no response came and the fear heightened at the sound of bronze metal hitting the concrete floor.

Lily turned at one corner and burst into a random room, she didn't stop to analyze what kind room it was before she came to hide beneath the teacher's desk, she hugged her knee close to her and bit her lip from sobbing. Lily would not cry, she'll force herself not to.

She could feel the floor slightly vibrated from his deliberate loud steps. Her cheeks and eyes were red from tears, and she tried to slow her breathing as to not let him caught where she was. However, when the sound of footsteps stopped and Lily took a shuddering breath in, the sound of the wind whooshing followed by the creaking of torn up wood of the desk being slashed in half caused her to scream. Lily rolled away and ran once more, she was too afraid to fight back, what's more against the face of her best friend.

She made to run once more through the corridor until she saw the back figure of Hogwarts caretaker, and her heart soar in relief for Pringle's presence. Lily cried out his name even after she buried herself to his side and pleadingly ask for help.

Pringle then turned, grabbed her shoulder, and she stared up in horror when she those familiar piercing glowing blue eyes.

She screamed again and all seemed hopeless seeing as she couldn't budge his hard grip on her. But much to her luck, Jack made that moment to appear and startled Possessed Pringle out of his grip. "Run Lassie!" he cried out. Lily didn't need to be told to do that. Together, they made their getaway and Jack pointed out a secret entrance behind the statue of a greek witch. Lily didn't paused to realize her surrounding and that she was in the Astronomy Tower. She was just glad she got away.

"Are they gone?"

Jack looked around too and glided through the walls to see if they were following them but saw no sign of the possessed bodies and Jack nodded at Lily. It was finally then that Lily broke down crying. She wailed not too loudly but not quiet enough to make them unnoticed, but she didn't care, it was too much for her as she fell to her knee.

"I can't...I can't take it any longer. Why is this happening to me? I didn't ask for any of this!"

"You don't always get what you ask Lass, that's the whole point of life!" Jack said indifferently.

Lily continued to cry and Jack made no effort to show he cared or stop her crying, he was too busy gazing the meadows surrounding the tower and making sure no Wips had come past them.

"It's not fair," she sobbed out.

"Life isn't fair," he replied briskly. "Yet people move past that and deal with it, do you think your friend ask to be a Half Blood and worried about monster all the time? No, he deal with it and become stronger from that."

Had Lily been more attentive, she would have noticed the weird correlation between Half Blood and the monster Jack had indicated in his sentence but Lily was too distraught to notice. "I'm not Percy, I can't do things like he does."

"Then you're going to let your friend resign in their fate as puppet for the rest of their lives?" That made her stopped trembling and sobbing, "Not that I could blame you. I would have done the same if I'm in your position. Look out for yourself first I say, screw other everybody else who cares about them!" Now Lily was standing and facing Jack with snotty angry face.

"I CARE!" she cried, emphasizing her angry tone at him. "Don't you ever think I don't the least bit care about what happens to them, but look at me! How am I supposed to be this heroine that saves the day when I barely could save myself?! I'll only make things worse, it's...it's hopeless."

Silence dawn on them and Lily said nothing as she slumped back down and hugging her knees to her face. Jack sighed and scratched the back of his head, clearly not used at what to do. He's used to children crying when he scared him off when Halloween came for him to spread his mischief. Consoling a crying children though? He's the last person anyone would ask him to.

"Listen Lass, I can't say much about you since we've known only...what? 4 hours? Wow, time sure flies. Anyway, I know for a fact you're not Gryffindor for nothing and if you want proof, look down to your hand." Lily blinked in confusion before she gazed down at the jar of salt she still had on her hand. She looked surprised that she still had it on her, "Even throughout the confusion and chaos you went through, you held the jar close to your chest and not once you let it out of your hand. That my dear, is a combination sign of sheer strength, preservation, and stubbornness."

And somehow his words combined with the one little jar in her hand gave her the confidence she needed. Her hand clutched it more tightly than ever with both her hands and she closed her eyes, looking like she was doing a prayer. She wiped the tears from her eyes and cheek and her emerald eyes were now glinting in determination. She looked up to Jack and the ghost couldn't help but grin at the fierce look she had. A look he saw many times in Half Blood that was ready to face their destiny.

"What do I need to do?" she asked him.

Jack was about to answer her but was cut off by the sound of more than one footsteps from the flight of stairs. "Blasted Styx, they found us already!" Jack cursed.

"What do we do?" Lily asked again, but this time a little more desperate.

"What else we do? We run!"

They backtrack their way into the secret entrance and to the school. Jack had gave her a heads up of a Wisp waiting behind the door alongside a possessed Pringle on their side. The moment the painting opened, she shot out a spell that paralyzed Pringle and shoot out green smoke at the same time, giving her enough time and opening for her to run away out of their sight.

She turned one corner and she almost got her head chopped from a swinging sword. Lily screamed as she duck to the floor, and crawled back from him while trying to regain her footing. Percy Wisp made a sneering expression, one she never saw Percy wore on his face before and the reminder that his body was being used as they like and it sickened her.

"So you're the girl destined to stop us? How laughable. We can't see how Circe takes special interest of you."

Questions popped in her mind of what the Wisp could actually meant but she didn't have time to ponder when she's too busy trying not to get killed by Percy's sword. She only was glad that Percy's reflex was much slower when being possessed. Lily tried hard to run but Percy Wips was always blocking her way. He creepily made a smile that caused her knees to buckle and made desperate attempt to edge away from him but her back hit the wall and Lily whimpered, fear choking on her breath as she watch him raised his sword and was about to swing it down. She imagined dying by his hands and tears started prickling in her eyes and closed it. Mentally, she apologized to Percy for letting him, to Sev for not being able to save him, and to her parents and Petunia that she couldn't see them again and wished hear death didn't end this way.

She waited for the pain, but a second or two ticked by and she felt nothing. She flickered her eye open and found Percy's eye were wide watching his sword stuck on her stomach but without any sign of injury or blood, as if the sword went through her and Lily's own mouth gape. "Lassie, get away from him!" Jack's word broke her shocked thought and on impulse, Lily pulled out her wand and shouted, "Aguameti!" A jet of water shoot out from her wand and hit Percy, just so she could give some distance from him.

I know, another water spell? This is the third time Lily uses it throughout the story. Even I'm not sure what fascination she has for that spell.

"Idiot! You just make him stronger!" Jack yelled at her.

Lily didn't understand what he meant by that sudden statement, but she did cut her spell and backed away from him. Ready for a change of outburst that might happened. Instead, she saw him stood in place with his back ram rod straight in attention, his head shaking every second along with his fluttering eyelids, his eyes shone between stormy green to fiery blue. Jack saw that and immediately he laughed maniacally until he almost rolled away in the air.

"Genius! You just make him stronger!" Jack cried jubilantly.

"So which one am I?" Lily flatly asked, unamused by the sudden change of opinion of herself.

"Never mind that, we need to get him in the water. He'll do the rest then!" Lily didn't question him. She can question the weirdness later, at that moment, she only cares in getting Percy back.

A plan suddenly formulate in her mind, well...that's a stretch, it was more of Lily recalling one of the boy's prank ideas but she was using it so it was hers now. Lily took a deep breath in steeling her resolve and after giving some distance from him, she began waving her hand frantically to get the Possessed Percy's notice, "Hey, Dim, Blue and Stupid! Get out of my friend's body or you'll be sorry!" she cried out.

Percy tilted his head, wondering what she had in mind for getting his attention because nothing came to mind and despite clearly having walking into a trap, their intentional purpose to possessed Lily hasn't lost to them yet and they marched to her with Percy's body.

Lily ran, making sure she was far from Percy but never out of sight. She thought she needed to slow her pace, but she learned fast no to after glancing behind her once and saw she was at arms reached from him so she picked up the pace.

Lily led him to desolate class. It was covered in dust and the tables were at the side of the room with its chair placed on top of it. The only source of light was the moon that shone through the windows. The fear and adrenaline made her jittery, and her palm sweaty, but there was no turning back now. Waiting patiently, she let him get close to her without her moving herself. Waiting until he step to the middle of the room before she drew her wand and called out "Locomotor mortis!"

Percy's legs then locked onto each other, refusing to separate with one another and forcing it to move would result in him smooching the floor.

Her mouth was ready to utter the next spell, but she hesitated, thinking she never used it on anything heavier than a book. Then she saw Percy struggling to get up and she pushed that feeling far back to her mind.

"Wingardium leviosa!"

Lily lifted Percy and levitate him in the air. It was struggle to focus her mind, but she didn't let doubt crept into her mind. She's first in her charm class so if anyone can levitate a person and chunk over a mile toward the school lake, it's her.

Concentrating, she tried to move Percy through the window, but miscalculate a bit and ended up having him smack the wall next to it. Lily winced and whispered sorry before properly moving him over. Lily watch with only the moon to light her surrounding the distance in which Percy was propelled, high up in the air before slowly (in her point of view) descending toward the black mirror of water before he plunge down and she heard the sound of splash that followed.

Lily looked proud at her work and puffed her chest high, "I did it! Ha, who says a girl doesn't know her prank. The boys are so going impressed once they found out what I did."

Maybe saying that next to a master of deceit wasn't such a good idea of her. Because as much as Jack starting to like Lily, he always make sure to peg down anyone who thinks too highly of themselves, it was his nature as Jack of the Lantern. Jack's mischievous smile grew before he drew closer until he was next to her and wore a concern look instead. "Yeah- about that Lily- I don't think using that curse was a good idea. I mean, if you planned to drown him then that's fine but don't you think locking a boy's leg together and pushed him off to a lake is a bit much?"

Silence was drawn for a while before Lily's face became ashen, her eyes round as plates and her jaw drop in horror. Jack had to stifle a laugh, seeing her worrying about the Son of Poseidon dying in water, but hey it's not his fault she didn't know his heritage.

It took every will to keep his poker face when Lily finally shrieked, "Oh my God, I'm drowning Percy!" Then ran off, most likely to reach for the lake before she accidentally killed her best friend.

It's only when she was considerable away from him did Jack start laughing.


AN: Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for your reviews as always :)

2 chapters left until we reach the end of Act I. I'll update it tomorrow around the same time so please wait in suspense.

In response to RealAnnabeth, thank you for your kind words and virtual cookies, oh and also for your ideas you shared. Unfortunately, Lily and Severus wouldn't know about Percy's Demigod status this years. As interesting as your idea was, if the secret is blown that quickly, there wouldn't be enough drama to spare for the coming years and you know there are long years coming, you'll just have to be patient. However, I must admit that I took a line or two for the next chapters and inspires new ideas for future acts. Hope you're patient enough by then.