Chapter 18.0

Percy


After Dumbledore had explained what happened that chaotic night, the students had stopped calling him mad. A student who'd fought off a werewolf was not a student to mess around with. Classes passed by, and Dumbledore held off complaints about Lupin. He'd promised to stay until exams, and that was only a week.

They were in their Care of Magical Creatures exam when it happened. The thing Percy had feared ever since he'd heard about an Oracle. She came to see him. The class was grooming hippogriffs, who suddenly fled into the forest. Trelawney appeared, walking stiffly towards Percy. He noticed the green tint in her eyes, and paled.

"No! I don't want to hear it! Take your godsdamn prophecy somewhere else!" He shouted, and his friends looked at him with confusion.

"Percy, what do you mean?" Hermione asked, but Percy was too terrified to answer. Trelawney stopped in front of him, and he was visibly shaking.

"Perseus Jackson, son of the Eldest, Chosen Hero of Olympus. Two Great Prophecies have been spoken, and two Great Prophecies have been resolved by you. I am not Delphi, but I know you." Percy was standing stock-still, rooted by terror. His friends were alarmed, they'd never seen him act like this before.

"Heed me, Perseus Jackson. Heed my words.

Son of Eldest, Son of the Youngest,

Both shall join against the Dark Lord,

The Hollows meet, Death awaits the Boy Who Lived,

The Dark Lord shall rise again,

Greater and more terrible than ever before,

Then he shall be defeated,

To threaten the peace nevermore." As soon as she finished speaking, she collapsed. Percy fell to his knees, and a few students screamed. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were talking to him.

He couldn't understand them, he was numb. The prophecy wasn't as bad as he'd expected, but it had said that someone will die. Curling into a little ball, he began to finally lose it. He hated the cycle of peace and war, suffering and loss. He sobbed, and felt his friends holding him. Aeto stood over him, he could feel the soft fur.

He felt himself being put on a stretcher, but didn't uncurl. He wouldn't. That would mean facing reality, accepting fate. Accepting another prophecy. He was placed onto a familiar bed in the infirmary, but he kept his eyes shut tight. He had long since stopped crying, but he was still rigid. He shook, he felt cold. He dimly heard voices, then felt someone laying a hand on his shoulder.

He curled even tighter, images of Luke, Daedalus, Leo, and everyone else playing in his head. Luke's smile at Camp, then Luke's face as he died screaming. Leo's wide, sooty grin. Leo, a flaming star in the sky. Beckendorf, strong and supportive. Percy, looking at the burning ship alone.

"Percy, listen to me. Tell us what happened." He heard them, but he ignored them. Who would he lose this time? How many of his new friends would end up dead?

After what felt like hours, he slowly relaxed and opened his eyes. His eyes were full of crunchy tear boogers, and his nose was still running. His friends were still there, and he took a shaky breath. Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey were there as well, looking at him with worry.

"Percy, what was that?" Harry asked. Hermione poked him, and Harry frowned. Percy sat up, his muscles cramping.

"It was a godsdamn prophecy, that's what." He growled, his fingernails biting into his clenched fists.

"Percy, what did she mean about you being some Chosen Hero? And two other prophecies?" Hermione asked, and Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Percy scowled.

"I've dealt with two other prophecies before. They were awful, a lot of people I cared about died. As for the hero part, it's just a term." He resolutely wouldn't look at them, and felt warm blood run from his fingers. He eased his grip, and stuffed his bloody hands in his pockets.

"Percy, do you remember the exact words? That's very important." Dumbledore said, and Percy swore to himself.

"I know. And I do. She said: Son of Eldest, Son of the Youngest, Both shall join against the Dark Lord, The Hollows meet, Death awaits the Boy Who Lived, The Dark Lord shall rise again, Greater and more terrible than ever before, Then he shall be defeated, To threaten the peace nevermore." He watched Dumbledore's face, and saw the small twitch when he said "Hollows". Madame Pomfrey gasped when he said the part about Harry dying, and he fumed.

"Prophecies are cryptic, Percy. Do not worry too much, I'm sure it'll all turn out." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Oh yeah, sure." Percy said, scathingly. He was irrationally angry, and he knew it. He watched his words, and wouldn't look at them. Then, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I'm just upset." Percy said, and Dumbledore nodded. He then left, and Madame Pomfrey made him drink something. She scowled at his bloody hands, and healed them with a wave of her wand. She left him and his friends to talk.

"Percy, why didn't you tell us about this before?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded. "That's too much for anyone to be keeping inside, hero or not." Ron said, face serious.

"It's a complicated thing, and I don't like talking about it. As I said before, I lost a lot of people." Percy was much calmer now that his friends were the only ones around, the shaking stopped.

"So you have experience dealing with them, right? What do you think of this one?" Hermione asked, and Percy scowled.

"Well, 'child of eldest' is probably me. I'm not going to tell you why, either. I don't know who the 'son of youngest' is. I don't know who or what Hollows are, and apparently Harry is supposed to croak. I won't let that happen and I know prophecies don't tell the whole story. My death has been foretold before, and here I am. It says Voldemort returns, and is permanently defeated." Percy said, and his friends nodded.

"Well, now I see why you hate Divination." Ron said, and Percy chuckled.

"Man, that woman is creepy." He said, and soon they were all laughing. Maybe a bit more than they should, maybe a bit too loud. But it was a relieved laughter, and they didn't stop until they couldn't breathe. Percy was glad he had them, and knew he'd fight with all he had to prevent any of them from dying. And this time, he would succeed.


Sorry, I know someone is out there thinking 'Damn, Percy looks like such a *ssy, why would you do that' and you're kinda right. Percy has been through some crap, and it should definitely leave a lasting impression. You don't just forget when you lose someone, not for the rest of your life. The thought of losing more people would definitely make him upset, and most other people would have lost it by now. I did recycle the other prophecy, and I know it didn't rhyme. I tried to blend the two prophecy styles, and this is what I got.