Okay, I was gonna update in time for Christmas but motivation is my enemy, but happy Christmas regardless, and cool times for those who don't celebrate it. Happy new year too! Also,,,, 2000 motherfucking reviews? Hello? Yeah hi god what the fuck. Oh wait, im not talking to god, im talking to dicc. star, my number one fan. Hello u sexy beast I see you. Percy and his grubby hands are certainly going to try to save the world. I especially liked the 'Mona Lisa of fanfics' 'starry night of stories' 'better than canon'. I'd put that in my bio if there was room like reviews from newspapers. Much love also to Anon34726 (I see you), PassionateWords (I got drunk for my bday xoxo), Bean Man (I took notes from your review), AEceros (I'm so grateful for your words), OgFrosty (me too ;)) and Lucky (your wish is my command babe). Reviews make me feel like I can fly guys.

In other news, I saw Rise of Skywalker and loved it, and it instantly awoke my love for Star Wars that I haven't had in like two years. So naturally, I bought all the films and am about to binge watch the Clone Wars. From what ive seen of that so far, it sounds exactly like something id watch and take inspiration from. Anakin Skywalker is literally my man I love his character sm. I think I just really love good characters doing bad things. Wonder why I wrote this fic.

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Chapter 58

Percy XXXVI

"Everybody get out." His voice was low, but thankfully steady.

He didn't have to look up to know the kinds of expressions on his friends' faces. But the thing was, he thought grimly, he just didn't care anymore. Rachel judging him for cutting Zach's head off? She wasn't there. Not listening to him about the pendants? Demigods died. Killing the ones that did it? Apparently that wasn't the 'right' thing to do. Then they died anyway. Who would die next because they didn't think he knew what he was doing? He'd dealt with things they'd never even dreamt of. They didn't get to question him anymore.

"Percy, stop," Chiron's calm voice, once reassuring and comforting, did little more than irritate him now. He heard the cracks and wavers in it. "-we can't let you-"

"You're not letting me do anything." He shook his head, keeping his eyes firmly trained on Tyler, who squirmed in the chair, pupils wide and sweat dripping down him. "I'm doing this. I just don't want any of you in here."

"What are you gonna do? Torture him?" Annabeth snapped behind him. "Pull the blood out his body?"

His throat clenched painfully. He let his eyes close for a fraction of a second as he breathed out. He didn't want to turn round at this point. He knew what he'd see. She didn't understand. He'd thought that, out of everyone, she would. She had up until now. So it was the blood thing that had changed her, he concluded regretfully. He'd tried to keep it quiet from her. That was why he had pretended in the forest. Tracking by water droplets was difficult. Tracking by blood was a walk in the park.

"Right now, I'm the only thing keeping him alive." he said, "If you want me to stop, I'm happy to. But then we lose our only source of information."

He'd been treated like an idiot his whole life; this time, they had to see that he was doing the only smart thing. He sighed, and gave in. Dropping his arm, he turned fully around to face the others.

He saw Jason rush to kneel next to Tyler, hand coming up to apply pressure to the wound.

"It's fine," Percy waved him back before crossing his arms. "I've still got him." He didn't look away quick enough to miss seeing Jason's wide-eyed sideways glance.

"You said you could control new things." Annabeth said over his shoulder, and they made eye contact.

Tears threatened to spill over in hers.

"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed, reaching for her hand instantly.

He blinked as she snatched it away from him.

Her eyes burned at him like molten silver. The others backed off a little from him, Chiron resting his hand on Annabeth's shoulder. The whole atmosphere in the room had changed. Even Clarisse didn't seem to know what to make of him. Percy felt a disbelieving laugh choke out of his chest, his eyes flitting around in incredulity, before it sank gradually into a frown.

"Yeah." he said slowly. "I can control new things."

"Blood." Annabeth's voice was more serious than he had ever heard it. She shakily pointed to where Tyler was transfixed at the slit in his chest. "Blood?" she said again, for once lost for words.

Percy shrugged, instantly realising that was the wrong thing to do as her face contorted into angry disbelief. "I just- picked it up." he defended, "I found that I could do it- so I did." he shrugged again without meaning to.

"'Picked it up'? When you said, you 'picked up' new things, I thought you meant like the little Coke trick you were pulling. Not this."

"I told you anything liquid-y-"

"You could have mentioned the blood!" she shouted at him suddenly, her cheeks going red.

Percy felt some of his own anger start to shift in his chest. A scowl twisted his mouth.

"I didn't have a choice." he stressed, unaware if he was even telling the truth anymore.

"Rubbish!" she snapped.

Percy leant his head back, and lowered his hand from where he had still been reaching out to her. "What?" he asked, thinking he had to have misheard.

"I said rubbish!" Annabeth followed through, and though she still had tears drying on her cheeks, her voice was fierce. "Everyone has a choice. You chose to do this."

"It was this or- or be torn apart and eaten alive!" Percy hissed. "I didn't even know I could do this!"

"And I suppose you used it just that once and never again?" Annabeth didn't hold back; Percy didn't understand why she was so angry about this, why the rest of them were looking at him like that, like he'd stabbed Tyler himself in front of them.

"No," His lip curled, "I'd be an idiot not to use it again. I'd be dead if I never used it again."

Annabeth shook her head and pressed her lips tightly together before speaking. "When you said liquid-y things, my mind jumped to- to polluted water!" She snapped her fingers. "Water, but not pure water."

"Like rivers and streams?" Percy raised his eyebrows as he drew the words out sarcastically; Annabeth flushed.

"Better than blood!"

"What's the difference?" Percy threw his hands up in exasperation.

Annabeth stared at him. Next to her, Reyna looked at him as if he was a stranger.

"It isn't all just blood. The human body is seventy percent water." he offered, thinking it might help.

He winced as she recoiled. It seemed it did not.

"Do you even care?" she hissed, before she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, Percy could see more steadiness in her. "Percy, some things aren't meant to be controlled. Please."

She had offered him a way out. Maybe, in another life, he may have taken it. But the familiar hum of power tingled across his skin enticingly. And now he knew what he could do with it, knew what he had to do, he couldn't give this up. He was the strongest demigod in the room. Hades, maybe even the world, he didn't know. It didn't matter that they didn't understand. They would. They would. They had to. He'd prove himself to her. To them. He'd show he was strong enough to win this war and protect them.

He looked away from Annabeth. He heard her sharp incredulous exhale of a laugh.

"Percy?" she demanded.

"I have to do this." he muttered, and for a second, everyone in the room vanished.

He felt like he was talking to himself. And then he felt the presence of another, his eyes darting to the shadows in the corners of the room, black spiderwebs in every crevasse of the stones. Slowly, inch by painful inch, the face of Tartarus crept out of it, whirlpool burying itself under his skin and burrowing into his eyes. He slammed them shut, digging his chewed fingernails into his palms. If Gaia won, he'd be free. Hell on Earth. Literally. He couldn't. Silver eyes couldn't shine in blackness.

"I have to do this." he said again, stronger this time.

His tattoo burned slightly, and he straightened his back and his resolve. His eyes hardened. The Godkiller turned around.

"I said leave." he told them, not trying to hide the ice in his voice anymore, "I'm not asking again."

Annabeth looked at him as if she didn't know him. And it hurt. But it hurt Percy Jackson. And that wasn't really him right now.

"Percy-" Chiron murmured, sounding exactly like his mother did when they kicked him out another school. Percy's face twisted.

"Now!" he shouted.

Even Clarisse jumped. Annabeth looked at him as she walked out the room. She looked… scared. It wasn't an expression he saw often on her face. He realised she was scared of him.

His gut churned and he clenched his teeth to stop himself calling out to her. He loved her more than anything, but he knew he couldn't. He'd say whatever she needed after the war was over and he had protected them all. Jason and Reyna seemed hesitant to leave, but Chiron gently ushered them out. He paused at the doorway, and looked back.

"Percy," he tried, the hairs on his head greyer than ever. "You must stop this-"

"No."

Chiron looked up to the ceiling and whispered something in Ancient Greek. A prayer, maybe.

"At least- please tell me you know what you're doing." he pleaded.

Percy nodded.

The centaur hesitated, wavering on the threshold, then turned and closed the door behind him quietly with a click. Percy didn't know whether Chiron's expression had been relieved or further unsettled by his response. He turned to Tyler.

"Well." he breathed out.

With all the stone in the room, it smelled a little like a church. Percy had been to church before when he was younger, with a couple of his schools. He hadn't believed or prayed, but he remembered the smell. He doubted they'd let him through the door nowadays. It was also a little colder after the others left. Tyler was shaking in his chair.

"Does it hurt?" Percy asked, genuinely curious, gesturing towards the stab wound.

Technically, it wasn't even bleeding. Did that affect it?

Tyler shook his head violently, swinging it from side to side. Right, so that was a lie. He walked over to the stack of chairs in the room and pulled one down, settling it probably uncomfortably close to the demigod. He didn't know what he was doing. Didn't know how to do it. But he felt like he could take a pretty good guess. He'd just do what had been done to him.

Tyler was tied to the chair again; Jason must have done it when he wasn't looking. But he was tied loosely- he just seemed too scared to move. Percy sat down directly across him, their knees pressed against each other. He leaned forwards, resting his chin on one hand as he thought. Then he let go of Tyler's blood.

The kid gasped out a long drawn-out breath as red wept down his chest.

Percy took control back, freezing it in place. He reckoned he'd only lost about half a pint or so.

Tyler looked up at him.

"What's the second wave?" Percy asked him softly.

Tyler shook his head.

This time the blood reached his jeans before Percy held it still.

"This isn't hurting you." Percy thought aloud. "But you gotta know we're gonna run out of blood at some point, right?"

"I- I am loyal. To Gaia." Tyler said, and Percy noticed the way his skin had got paler.

"Yeah, and I'm loyal to the Gods." Percy said.

Tyler looked up at him, and Percy held up his hand, making the so-so gesture with a quirk of the side of his mouth.

"There's wiggle room. Tell me the second wave, and I'll let you go back to Gaia."

His head shot up. "You're lying."

Was he? Percy didn't know.

"I'm not, actually." Percy said in lieu of whatever the truth was, "Don't tell me, you die. You tell me, I let you go, maybe we meet on the battlefield later. I mean, come on, you'll die either way. I'm just giving you the chance to fight. Swear on the Gods. I haven't always been given that."

Tyler opened his mouth then shut it. "She'll kill me if I tell you." he mumbled, staring at the hole in his chest.

"You're dead anyway, man." Percy patted him on the knee. "Maybe Hades won't put you in the Fields of Punishment if you have a quick little defection. Come on, help a guy out?"

But he just kept shaking his head. Percy resisted the urge to smack him over the head with his chair. Instead, he reached a hand out to touch Tyler's arm. The boy tensed, and made a face, but Percy didn't see what; he was concentrating.

It was more difficult in practice than in theory. He found the blood vessels quick enough, but it was what to do with them when he had them. Hitting them against each other just caused the blood to swirl around, which, judging by Tyler's reaction, was uncomfortable but not what Percy was going for. Maybe if he pushed- outwards? Tyler squirmed; ah, Percy thought, now he was getting somewhere.

It was small at first, a circle on Tyler's forearm getting redder and redder. Then it got blotchy, big clumps of red. Then purple. Then blue. Tyler started breathing through his teeth when the bruise turned black. A whimper escaped him, loud in the small room. Percy glanced up at him, but refocused quickly. This was taking too long. Before, he'd always had adrenaline in a battle situation to do it. This was too clean, too clinical. He needed to do it in one snap motion.

Huh.

Percy snapped his fingers, pushing blood in two different directions as hard as he could.

The bone in Tyler's arm cracked audibly, and Tyler howled.

Percy exhaled, a grin coming out. Now that's what he was talking about. He sat back in his own chair, crossing his arms.

"The second wave?" he asked calmly.

"Mm-mm." Tyler's teeth were clenched tightly together.

"No?" Percy asked, taking hold of the blood in his arm again, "Your call, man."

He snapped again, and the bone broke in another place.

Percy shook his head slightly at the noise that followed; the kid had lungs. Hm. Except he wasn't a 'kid', he reflected. They were the same age. He looked at Tyler. Odds were he'd never even been on a quest. Percy could have been just like him if he had been a son of Hephaestus, or Hermes.

"Second wave?"

"I don't know."

"Sure."

Snap.

Snap.

"I don't know!" Tyler howled.

"I believe you."

Snap.

Snap.

Percy rocked back on his chair, letting it balance precariously on the two back legs. If his fourth grade teacher could see him now, he'd no doubt hear some lecture about the imaginary kid who tipped too far and suffered some debilitating injury. Oh, he thought. That's an idea.

Standing up, he discarded his own chair, and leant down to wrench the front part of Tyler's seat into the air, leaving it balanced on its two back legs.

"Tell me, Tyler. You ever hear about the kid who rocked on his chair, wasn't paying attention and slipped back, causing him to break his back and never move again?"

Tyler just cried silently. Percy faltered. He consciously dried the sweat on his hands. And then he remembered the look on Annabeth's face. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

He stopped Tyler's tears and tilted his chair back further. Some of Tyler's blood smeared onto his palms and trickled between his fingers.

"I'm annoyed now." Percy said truthfully, and watched the remaining blood drain out of the other kid's face. "Tell me the second wave or I'll break your spine."

"P-please-!"

"And then I'll come find you, in the Fields of Asphodel, or wherever you're going, and I'll break your spine there too."

"She will-"

"You'll be dragging your body around on your elbows for the rest of eternity."

Tyler gave a very juddery breath in. He sobbed dryly.

"The second wave?"

"Okay," Tyler whispered, so quietly at first that Percy almost missed it, "Okay."

"Awesome." Percy let the chair go back down, saw Tyler shudder as the pressure came off his mangled arm.

He got his chair back and sat down.

He waited for Tyler to get his breath back.

His leg began to bounce.

"Tyler?"

Tyler opened his mouth, then closed it again.

So Percy snapped the bone in his other arm.

"The s-s-second wave is-! It's-" Tyler panted after he screamed.

"Mhmm?"

"A Goddess." Tyler conceded, hanging his head, his hands twitching.

Percy wrinkled his nose. "A Goddess? Just the one? Who?"

"Akhlys." Tyler whispered, seemingly losing all strength.

Percy raised his eyebrows. "The real one?" he asked.

"What?" Tyler mumbled, confused.

"Ah, forget it." Percy waved him off. "Okay, second wave is a bit anticlimactic. Guess Gaia doesn't like her much. Where is she?"

"Waiting."

"For?"

"I don't know."

Every bone in Tyler's hand shattered, the fingers jerking like a tarantula having a seizure.

"How about any other waves?" he asked instead over Tyler's wail, "Is there a third? A fourth? What are they?"

"I don't know!"

Percy reached out for Tyler's kneecaps, but the boy jerked back, screaming.

"I don't know! I don't! I promise! I swear! I swear on the River Styx I don't know!"

Percy held up his hands as he dimly heard thunder above. "Hey man, I believe you."

"I'm sorry." Tyler mumbled, "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'm sorry."

Percy opened his mouth to reassure him, then caught sight of the dried blood inbetween Tyler's fingers. Demigod blood, and not his own. Percy may have not known personally any of the killed demigods in the first wave, but he knew Clarisse had lost siblings, and that was enough for him. He watched Tyler sob for a few seconds, then gave him back his tears. The boy choked out thank yous among sniffs, and Percy wrinkled his nose.

Did he look like this after what Koios and Krios did to him?

He knew that he cried; he would have dared even Zeus not to. He begged too, he knew he did. But he never thanked them. Percy chewed his lip. He thought. He hoped. His fists clenched and relaxed.

"Are you-" Tyler panted, "Are you going to…?"

"Hm?" Percy turned his head. "What?"

"Let me go?" The boy whispered hopefully.

Percy wrinkled his nose again, then smiled. It wasn't a kind smile.

"You got it, buddy."

Tyler smiled, for a split second. Then the blood began to trickle from his wound. It soon flooded down his chest like a punctured milk carton. He watched it in horror, looking back up at Percy, who watched him.

"You s-swore on the Gods!" he gasped breathlessly as the life in him seeped onto the seat of the chair and down the wooden legs. "You promised!"

"Sure did." Percy shrugged.

Tyler jerked in his chair. His skin drained white. He let his head fall back, tears trickling into his hairline, his arms looking like the bones were trying to impersonate cacti. The pit-pat of Tyler's blood dripping to the stones below lasted longer than his rapid shallow breaths. Percy stretched in his chair, then leant forwards to rub his temples. Akhlys was the Goddess of misery. Apate had called her pathetic. So why was she the only obstacle in the second wave? Why was Gaia even having waves? He tried to think about this logically; why would he use waves? He would use waves… to distract. Maybe Gaia was wasting time here, and was actually leading an assault on Olympus or New Rome. Maybe she was raising her husband. Percy shuddered on instinct. She could just be taking her time. If he felt sure he'd win, he was sure he'd drag it out too. Or maybe…he thought with venom sliding down his spine, maybe she was testing him. This was a test.

"Godkiller."

Percy jerked imperceptibly and turned around.

"My Lady, didn't expect-"

He froze.

Nyx had a hand wrapped around her waist, the other leaning on the wall. The door was closing behind her, through which Percy briefly met the wildly quizzical eyes of Jason and other demigods. He saw Chiron's stare flick from Tyler's still body back to him; an aged indecipherable expression shadowed his face. The door clicked shut again. Though she didn't have a hair out of place, Nyx had the stance of someone who had just been thrown through a car crusher. Her pure black eyes met his.

"I held her off as long as I could." she bit out, "You're welcome."

"Are you- okay?" Percy furrowed his brow.

"I'm fine. It's all down to you now." she said bluntly. "But I fear you are not ready."

"Ready?" he blanked.

"You don't even have your armour on, and I can feel the struggle inside you." she snapped at him, "You don't have that luxury anymore. It's time to choose."

"Choose what?"

"You're not strong enough." she said, "Take away your sword and you won't last long. I need you to be stronger. I need you to beat my sister."

Percy squinted in bewilderment. "I am strong." he defended. "Stronger than anyone else here."

"Almost." Nyx smiled at him predatorily, white fangs flashing at him. "Or at least you will be."

She held out her hand towards him, grasping towards his left arm, the one with her tattoo already burned onto it. Percy looked at her warily.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Give me your hand." she said.

Percy hesitated. He knew what she was going to do. If he made it out of this alive, his mother was going to kill him.

"Don't you want to be able to protect your friends?" Nyx questioned him. "From Gaia?"

Percy shook his head. "Yes, but-" he said.

Nyx frowned. "What?"

"Not just from Gaia." Percy's thoughts spilled out of his mouth. "From him too."

The Primordial regarded him for a beat. Then she surprised him by nodding gently.

"I'd heard you ran into my brother." she said.

The lump in Percy's throat got bigger. "How am i- how is anyone supposed to- to beat that?"

"You're scared of him."

Percy glared at her, but for once he couldn't hold it, because of course he was. He'd be an idiot not to. A face that didn't blink. Massive hands that didn't tire. Power that didn't end. The God of the Pit rested more heavily in his mind than ever.

"He and Gaia always were too strong for their own good." Nyx told him. "Perhaps you will have to be as well."

Percy swallowed and nodded. Nyx held out her hand again. Percy stared at it.

"There's no going back from this, is there?" Percy asked bitterly.

"Not unless you're willing to lose." said Nyx.

Percy thought about the feeling of Annabeth's hand in his and the bone deep pain of wandering around the pit for what felt like years. He would gladly throw himself at any monster, god, or giant to keep his friends from being hurt. But not being up to the task? Letting someone else do it? He'd never been good at that. He'd even had trouble with simple things like letting Jason take a turn at watch. In the pit, nobody else could've done what he did for him. He didn't want to rely on someone else to protect him, someone who could get hurt on his account. His mum had done that for him with Gabe because she thought it would save Percy from monsters. Grover had protected Percy for almost a year and had almost got killed by the Minotaur. Percy was far from a kid anymore and he didn't want anybody he loved taking a risk for him. He had to be strong enough to be the protector himself. So what if he went too far?

"I'm not." Percy replied.

He took her hand.

Soon afterwards, Percy would not be able to recall the sheer amount of pain that forced him to his knees with a heavy thunk. He didn't think he even screamed. His mouth must have just been paralysed open. When his vision returned in blotches of white, he found himself alone and panting. His skin burned. His blackened fingertips reached up, one going to prod his face, the other making sweeping motions up and down his arm. He blinked rapidly, trying to focus on his arm.

Gods, his mum was going to stab him.

His tattoo from Nyx had expanded. Her symbol remained clear and bold on his bicep, enshrouded in Ancient Greek patterns that swam before his vision. Rachel would certainly like it, he thought, staring at the black burns curving starkly around his arm from his shoulder to the start of his hand like tongues of fire. He saw wings, Greek columns, the snakes and eyes of Medusa. A wickedly sharp trident. He saw snarling monsters, bloody wars, vengeful souls of Hades screaming in the Acheron river. The hand of Charon outstretched and waiting for a drachma. It was a fearsome tattoo, one that even Percy himself did not care to look on too long. The burning did not stop either.

Percy turned his hand over and wiggled his fingertips. The burning rippled along his joints like liquid fire. He pushed it all into his fingertips and watched in fascination as smoke dripped from them. It wasn't pain he was feeling, he thought detachedly.

It was power.

He pushed himself up off the floor, blinking away the burning in his head. He staggered, falling on a nearby chair to support himself. His hand met something wet. Head lolling slightly, he glanced down, and frowned as he saw his hand firmly pressed against Tyler's chest. He pushed off, gripping the wall instead. He left a dark red handprint smudged on the stone. Percy pulled back his hand and gripped it by the wrist. He stared at the blood dripping from his thumb.

And vanished it.

He took the smallest liquid particles he could find, and completely dispersed them into the air. A tiny red cloud was visible for a second before he waved through it. Though the rest of his hand was red, his thumb had seemingly been wiped clean.

Percy wondered if he could do that to a person.

The burning in his head settled a little bit after a minute or two, and Percy found he could stand up normally. AKA, without the room feeling like it was going to cave in on him.

"Woah." he mumbled to himself, as he watched his tattoo twist and move on its own.

He looked around the room. The whole thing, from the others leaving to Nyx boosting his blessing… probably no more than ten minutes had passed.

He opened the door. The others snapped their attention his way and Percy didn't miss the 'up and down' looks he received. Jason's eyebrows seemed to have disappeared into his hairline. Chiron took one glance at him and looked away; he was shaking his head slowly. It was quieter in the cabin now. Wide eyed faces stared at him. He didn't like some of the expressions he found.

"Di Immortales." Clarisse was the first to speak, slowly raising her eyebrows at his arm. "What is that?"

"Present." he said. "From Nyx. Bit of a- power boost."

Chiron shook his head more. Percy could see he had closed his eyes.

"Akhlys." Percy addressed Annabeth, who was staring at him without speaking, "Akhlys is the next wave."

"Oh dear." muttered Chiron.

"Goddess of Misery." he added, even though Annabeth most likely already knew.

"I know." she told him bluntly.

Some strands of her blonde hair had fallen out of her ponytail. They framed her face.

"She'll be easy to beat." he murmured. "I heard she's a pushover."

Annabeth didn't reply.

She still hadn't smiled at him. Percy felt like he could barely concentrate over the burning in his skin, like his ADHD had been catapulted through the roof, but he knew that something wasn't right with that there. He held out his hand.

"Can we talk?" he offered.

She screwed up her nose in disgust. Percy furrowed his brow, then turned his hand over. His palms were a dark red.

"Oh." he frowned, and vanished it, before holding it out again.

But she stared at it as if she could still see the blood. Maybe she could. Percy didn't know. He just wanted to make things okay with her, and he could feel a muscle in his jaw jump every time she ignored him.

"Annabeth?" he stated. "Talk to me. Please."

"Percy I don't- I don't exactly want to talk to you right now." she replied, crossing her arms, and her eyes flickered over the left side of his face where his scar was.

Percy scowled. He had fallen in love with her for her stubbornness, against Clarisse, against Hera, against Kronos- but he found he wasn't a big fan when she turned it on him.

"Annabeth-" He raised his voice.

"Just go." she snapped, "Go on, go find your little Goddess and fight her. You've made it clear you don't need our help." She held up her hands in a mocking surrender. Percy could see that he'd hurt her, but he just didn't understand why.

"I don't know why you're acting like this." he got out.

"You don't?" she bit back.

"No, I don't!" Percy saw the others shift uncomfortably away from them and heard the silence in the cabin behind him. He dropped to a hiss. "I get that you don't like the blood thing, but you understood before with- with Gaia's demigods. What happened to 'friends of Gaia are our enemies'?"

"'The blood thing'?" she hissed back, "Percy, of course I don't like it! And you know what? I didn't like you hunting down those other demigods either!"

"They killed some of our people!"

"So we would have dealt with them the way we always have! Everybody has the right to a fair trial! Just like we did in the first war!"

Percy ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "So why did you act fine with it?"

Annabeth's eyes dropped. Her voice came out lower.

"Because I love you." she said. "I just don't like you acting like this."

Percy clenched his jaw. His skin burned.

"I love you too." he forced out truthfully, "But I'm not acting."

They stood off against each other. Percy realised with a sinking feeling that neither of them were going to back down.

"Think about it." Annabeth told him. "You can't tell me that you've considered every possible outcome of using- this." She gestured at his hands and towards the door, behind which Percy suspected Tyler's body was starting to smell.

"I did." he tried not to glare but his face was set in resolution. "When I first started using it in the pit. I didn't have anybody watching my back, I didn't have you watching my back, so I had to. This is how. With new powers and new weapons. Didn't you see all those monsters out there? Didn't you realize how useless it all is?"

She stared at him with an expression that suddenly seemed very sad.

"I've grown up with you, Percy." she said quietly, turning a wise gaze on him. "I know you. Better than anyone. I knew you when you struggled to control a wave and were still learning how to use your sword. These 'powers' are wrong and I don't like what they're doing to you. This isn't natural. This isn't you."

Percy stared back at her. He remembered a little blonde girl as well, forcefully proud of her intelligence yet insecure in her confidence. But they were a long way from who they used to be. Slowly, he shook his head.

"You don't understand." he told her softly. "I know how to defeat Gaia. I'll protect us, I swear."

Annabeth screwed up her eyebrows.

"You're not listening." she urged him. "Percy, you're going to destroy yourself."

She reached for his hand and snatched it tightly in hers, even pulling him down a little so they were eye to eye. She glared at the others, who had been politely not listening while they eavesdropped, and they all turned around. She faced Percy with fierce desperation in her eyes.

"Percy, I'm scared for you." she whispered gravely, "You're not slowing down."

Percy gave in to the churning in his gut and rested his forehead on hers.

"I know, and I'm sorry." he forced out, in a last ditch effort to help her understand, "But I know what I'm doing and I-"

Annabeth shoved him away from her. The others turned around in shock. Chiron looked to intervene, his sad but cautious eyes flicking from Percy to Annabeth. The daughter of Athena glared at Percy.

"You're not sorry." She took a breath and, glaring harder, she said with finality, "If you're so sure of yourself, you can go fight Akhlys on your own."

"Annabeth-"

"Luke always said he was sorry." Annabeth said, with tears glistening furiously in her eyes, and her bitter words were powerful in the silent room. "And right now Percy, you sound a Hades of a lot like him."

Percy clenched his fists.

He nodded slowly, acknowledging her words as he gritted his teeth. To his right, Jason and Reyna looked cautiously confused, while Chiron and Clarisse stared at him. Okay, he thought, okay.

Okay.

He let the burning in his skin override his thoughts, let it drown it all out.

"Fine." he heard himself say bluntly.

He turned, and walked between Reyna and Clarisse, who moved aside for him. He strode down the makeshift pathway inbetween the sitting clusters of demigods staring up at him in confusion and alarm. He didn't care. He reached behind his back and took out his sword. He felt better with it in his hand, even though his chest felt just a little hollower with every step.

"Where are you going?" Annabeth's voice echoed across the marble walls.

Percy turned around, still walking backwards. Annabeth's arms were crossed tightly. Her face rippled with emotions. They didn't break eye contact.

"To go fight Akhlys by myself." he said, "Just like you told me to."

"Don't be an idiot." Annabeth snapped, "She's a Goddess and she's fighting for Gaia."

"I reckon I can handle myself." Percy replied coldly, shrugging with feigned casualness.

"She'll kill you." Annabeth said bluntly.

"Not if I kill her first."

"She's a Goddess!"

"And my sword can kill them!"

Murmurs filled the cabin all the way to the mosaic-covered dome ceiling. Annabeth forgot to glare in her bewilderment. They all stared at his sword.

"What?" Reyna said, and Percy saw her hand tighten around the pommel of her sword.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? How stupid of me." Percy said, his lip curling spitefully. "Didn't I say my sword can kill anything? Because it can. Blessed in the water of all five rivers of the Pit. Now, y'know," he held his hands out and waved them tauntingly at the ceiling, "Strike me down if I'm wrong or something, but isn't a God anything?"

"Percy-" Annabeth whispered.

"Don't worry, Wise Girl." Percy said, his false grin twitching. He couldn't stop talking. He didn't blink. He saw demigods leaning away from him. Naiads and Dryads avoided eye contact with him. Was that disappointment or fear in Chiron's eyes? Half of him ached to stop. The other half bared his teeth and let his poisonous words shoot out. "I killed enough Gods in the pit to know what I'm doing."

With that, he turned and strode towards the doors. His insides churned. His skin burned. With one final grin, he glanced back at Annabeth. She stared at him in horror. She didn't move. Her pride was keeping her firmly rooted in place. He longed to comfort her, but knew it was too late. Nothing he said would help her. He'd gone too far for her to follow him.

"I'll bring you her head." he tossed over his shoulder.

The doors banged shut behind him.

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Damn. Now I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW yall hate me :( and I'd love to say that things will be resolved, but a) spoilers, and b) I lowkey don't actually know. I've never had a concrete plan for this story, let alone the ending. I don't know what's gonna happen, I don't even know if it's a happy ending. Im just surprised I got this far tbh. I'm literally just writing it off the cuff and noting down any foreshadowing so I can somehow work it into the future chapters. So you ask? What am I doing? Good fuckin question. Usually, I just open my laptop, open a blank word document (all at like 3am), put myself in the mindset and let the characters turn and twist the story for me. Apparently this is the direction they're heading in. yikes. Blame them not me.

But it's okay, I get inspired as I write, and actually, I reckon ive got at least the next scene played out. I think it's gonna be an emotional one. Not sure if it'll be percy or Annabeth, but,,, well, youll see. And so will i.

These authors notes have got so long over the years. I just really wanna talk to u guys :s