Chapter 7: By The Pricking of My Thumbs, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Pip stared at him, dumbfounded.

"You…How?"

"Hmm, how?", He said in mock confusion, "That's an odd question isn't it? It can mean so many things. How did you capture this Cyclops? How are you able to do that with the shadows? How did you trick me?"

Pip struggled against her shadow's grip.

"Well, that last question's answer is obvious, it's because you're a good person. A Protector. She who helps lost wayward souls find their way home. Such a good person. Such an idiot."

Eric walked up to her and stared into her eyes with his own, which were having a strange red glint in them.

"Although, I didn't really expect you to know who that Cyclops is. I just picked him randomly from that pack of Cyclopes. Heh, those idiots didn't even bother to do a roll call. Speaking of which."

He then turned to the Cyclops.

"Hey! Great job! You really did do good today. I especially have to mention the whole dust cloud thing, very effective."

The Cyclops turned his head away from him.

"Aw c'mon, don't be so glum. Look at me. Show me that smile."

Immediately he looked at him and smiled. She noticed that Eric was subtly moving his fingers to the Cyclops' actions.

Shadow Puppeteering? Likely.

"Aww. Look at that smile. Such a cute lil' goober ain't ya?"

Eric sighed.

"But then again, all good things must come to an end. You can turn back to normal now."

The Cyclops looked confused before realizing what he meant. His eye widened and he began to say something before a gag made of shadows came over his mouth.

And then the shadows began to leak out of his body, puncturing his flesh. He began to scream and Pip saw his skin stretch even more along his bones now that the materials that created the illusion of mass in his body had disappeared. Then, she heard something break. His joints had started contracting. The physical shadows that were extending his arms, fingers, legs and toes began to break, starting with his right arm. The physical shadows cut through his flesh, escaping his body and merging with his shadow. The skin underneath which the shadows were was crumpled and riddled with holes. He was crying in pain now.

Pip was horrified and saddened. She wanted to get up and cave Eric's skull in, but she couldn't. She glared daggers at Eric, who was simply watching his torture. But something was wrong. Pip, much like any other descendant of Pan, was an empath. She could sense the emotional state of anyone she saw. That was one of her talents, alongside beating people up. She saw Eric looking at the Cyclops and realized that he wasn't feeling anything.

No sick amusement at the expense of others.

No innocent cruelty.

No sadistic joy.

There was no emotion in his face. Nothing.

The bones in his left leg contracted and it was over. The Cyclops was sobbing quietly now. Pip too wanted to sob but she had a feeling that that was exactly what he wanted.

"But unfortunately, I can't let you go. Gotta tie loose ends after all."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a six shot revolver. He pointed it at the Cyclops' head. His eye widened with fear.

Eric pulled the trigger and a spear fired out of its muzzle. It hit the Cyclops dead in its eye and he slowly crumbled to dust.

He turned to Pip and suddenly she realized that the shadows had let her go.

She stood up and looked at Eric, who regarded her with those dark, cold eyes.

"Well, that was quite a show wasn't it?"

Pip charged the demigod, pinning him to the wall and putting her arm to his neck. He said in a strained voice.

"Getting frisky aren't we?"

"You…Why?"

"Hmm, this question isn't as vague. But I do believe that you figured it out already, haven't you?"

"What?"

But before she could say anything else, her arms jerked back and stuck to her sides. Eric put a hand around his throat.

"Damn. You could have snapped my neck."

"I should have. Goddamnit. Why didn't I notice it before?"

"Hmm? Were you able to sense me before you met me?"

Eric began to laugh.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"…What do you want?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you want?"

"What I want? Well. It's a rather taxing request, y'know? I'm not sure whether you could fulfill it."

"Shut up and explain your villainous motives so I can beat the shit out of you!"

Eric paused at that before smiling once again.

"Villainous? You give me too much credit. All I want to do is join your little camp!"

"…What?"

"Yeah! Meeting with demigods of my age, participating in fun activities and…whatever else is cool there! Oh how I wish to be a part of that grand scheme! It gets really boring on the streets once you get used to it."

Pip began to laugh.

"You're asking me to take you to Camp? After what you just did? There's no way in Hades that I'm going to agree to that."

Eric looked at her with disappointment.

"You really don't get it, do you? Well, let me tell you something."

He picked up the gun from where he had dropped it.

"See this? On the surface, it just looks like a regular gun, right? And look!", He showed the barrel of the gun to Pip, "It's completely empty!

"But when I fire this thing, it is able to fire bullets, swords, spears, shields, people, basically anything that's not rooted to the ground, ya dig?"

He held the gun sideways in front of his face.
"So let's say I go outside, and I fire this thing up at the sky. Whatever I fire will dart up into the sky like a regular bullet, and come down. It could be anything, y'know. It could be a speck of dust, a snowflake, a thumbtack, a bullet, a sword, a shield, a spear, another gun, a person, a car, a cruise ship, an intercontinental ballistic missile, The Master Bolt. Point is, I can use anything as ammunition. And here's the best part."

He said, the red glint reappearing in his eyes in the form of a slit, making his eyes look serpentine.

"I don't have any control over it! All I have is the ability to pull the trigger."

And then it hit Pip. The meaning behind his actions.

"This…This whole thing was some sort of twisted character introduction, wasn't it?"

Eric's smile widened from ear to ear.

"Correct! Bingo! Right on the money! But now, there's another thing you have to figure out."

And Pip knew what that was. Whether to bring him to Camp or not.

This should have been easy. Pip absolutely cannot let that thing into Camp. He isn't human. Even if he's a demigod, that thing isn't human. He could very easily endanger everyone at Camp, so she shouldn't let him in. And yet…

She can't let him be free to do whatever he pleases. He doesn't have any self control, he's cold and ruthless and he's pretty much the type to commit gruesome crimes just because he got bored. He's too powerful and to dangerous. He would become a threat to everyone, even Camp half-Blood itself. But if he was at Camp, he could be monitored. Chiron and the others can make sure he stays in line. And yet there's no guarantee that he'll become less dangerous. But it's better than letting him get off scot-free isn't it?

She could try to kill him. But he was extremely powerful, his shadow manipulation and that damned gun of his weren't going to be easy to go up against. Killing him was going to be nigh impossible for her. So those two options are the only options she has

Pip was thinking hard and yet she couldn't find an answer. Should she let him endanger the campers she was sworn to protect? Why was this question so difficult? She hated it. This question was the worst thing she's had to face. It was a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation now. And Pip couldn't decide.

She looked at him glaring gleefully at her. This was what all of his elaborate planning was leading to. Forcing her to make this decision. He was reveling in seeing her conflicted and struggling.

In the end, she knew that there was nothing else to do.

"Fine, I'll take you to Camp."

Immediately, she could feel her arms again.

"Splendid! Now, let's make this official. I, Eric L. Smith, would like you to shake my hand." He said, holding out his hand.

Pip did not want to shake his hand but her hand darted towards his and shook it.

As they walked out and headed towards Half-Blood Hill, Pip said to him.

"You're not human."

And to this Eric pondered and said,

"Nah, I'd say I'm the most human of them all."

...So that happened. Yikes.

-AlbusTheMage